If you’re in a city under lockdown, you might feel as though you’re socially distancing from nature but as an incredible new exhibition in LA has proven, some of the most magnificent examples of adaptation can be found all around us.
The Natural History Museum of LA’s new exhibition – Spiky, Hairy, Shiny – is displaying in incredible detail the jaw-dropping morphologies of their local insect life. Volunteers from the museum have been working with scientists as part of the BioSCAN (Biodiversity Science: City and Nature) project to collect and photograph insects in the Californian city.
The project has been running since 2014 and has seen entomologists capture and identify millions of insects around the city.
In total, they identified 800 species, 47 of which were new to science, proving sometimes nature’s latest surprise is right on our doorstep.
Lisa Gonzalez papped the most striking of the tiny LA inhabitants using a digital microscope to create a portfolio of images that show in stunning detail the remarkably complex anatomies of these tiny critters.
The project began after entomology curator Dr Brian Brown wagered he could find an insect species anywhere, prompting a museum trustee to challenge him to find one in her LA garden.
Rising to the challenge, Brown and colleagues erected large tent-like ‘Malaise traps’ at 30 sites across the city, where they remained for an entire year to sample the local insects. One of the captured specimens was this acorn weevil (Curculio occidentis) whose "fur" is excellent for camouflage.
Each month, the insects were collected and preserved in ethanol so they could be identified as part of the enormous entomological analysis. You can see the full photo library by visiting the online BioSCAN exhibition here, where you'll also find a wealth of entomology facts and more information on the findings of the four-year project.
