It is always the pretty bees and butterflies that get the glory. 
We may not be as pretty, but we have purpose.
Plus, we hang out on the same plants that the bees like.
We pollinate too! Even if it is by accident.
And some of use help with those pests you wish were not in your garden.
Some of us are really tiny, but some of your plants are just the right size for us. And we get places others can’t.
Down the hatch.
All the world is our stage. We like to pose, what do you think?
Charming! A hymn for the unsung inhabitants of the garden.
There are so many insects that go unnoticed in the garden. So many that are too small to even notice. It seems it will not be far off when we are wondering where they all went. It will take not having them for them to be of concern.
They are very pretty, just not as lovable as bees and butterflies.
Thanks Denise.
They said the threat to humans was unclear.
“Our findings suggest that the contaminants are causing ecological damage. I do not know its implication to humans,” said Joji Otaki of the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, a member of the team that conducted the research.
A separate study, released this week, found very low levels of radioactivity in people who were living near the Fukushima plant when it suffered the meltdowns.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, measured caesium levels in 8066 adults and 1432 children and found average doses of less than 1 millisievert, a level considered safe.
It was the first such study measuring internal exposures to caesium in a large number of people.
The research shows contamination decreased over time, particularly among children, in part because more precautions were taken with their food, water and outdoor activity.
“No case of acute health problems has been reported so far. However, assessments of the long-term effect of radiation requires ongoing monitoring of exposure and the health conditions of the affected communities,” the report said.
So far, the actual radiation doses inflicted just after the accident are not exactly known, though exposure is thought to be very small, said David Brenner, a radiation physicist at Columbia University, who was not part of the research.
“We do need improved estimates of the radiation dose that people in and near Fukushima prefecture actually received,” he said.
“Right now our estimates are based on very, very rough calculations.”
The research on the butterflies was published in Scientific Reports, an open-access online journal by the Nature publication group, which provides faster publication and peer review by at least one scientist.
It says pale grass blue butterflies, a common species in Japan, collected from several areas near the Fukushima plant showed signs of genetic mutations.
Other experts said they viewed the research as significant.
To study the genetic changes, the scientists raised the new generations of the butterflies in Okinawa, which has not been affected by the radiation releases, mating each abnormal butterfly with one unaffected by such changes.
AP
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/fukushima-radiation-causes-insect-mutations-researchers-20120817-24cy2.html#ixzz23oxtzrK5
Sorry, the whole article didn’t post – but mutant butterflies is the study, Go to the link for heartbreaking photos.
Thank you for adding the study. I have been following this coincidentally. It really is sad what effect our actions have on other creatures. They have enough to worry about just living a normal life.
I love all these little guys too! I think critters on the plants make the shot that much more interesting. Great captures…when they are so small I find it harder to take a good shot not to mention that they tend to scurry off before I have focused and set the camera.
I agree, the insects steal the show from the blooms pretty often, but they make the flower shots far more interesting.
Karin, Advanced Photography Network, APN, has a blog post on Beautiful Flower Photography and you can upload an image of your own. You have beautiful work and sharing it in a wider manner might be helpful.
I added two just, hopefully, to get more photographers visiting GWGT. Here is the link if you are interested. http://www.apnphotographyschool.com/apn-assignment-beautiful-flower-photographs/
Thank you Donna! This looks really interesting. I will sit down and explore it more this weekend. It is interesting that you mention getting more photographers to visit your blog…I think there are typically three camps, gardeners, photographers and garden photographers. I have been working on my photography this summer and doing a little less gardening. Partly because it is so hot and partly because I want to improve this hobby. You are such an inspiration but I understand that in every talent there is always more to learn.
So true. It is more to learn, but also learning new ways to use setting and equipment. I have a number of photographers visiting and subscribing to GWGT, but have found now, some coming from APN, before I posted the two images. So I am waiting to see where this leads. I keep saying I have no desire to sell my work, but I would not say no to magazines should they request an image.
Oh, I love the picture of the spider spinning the web! I actually love to watch the little things in the garden. It’s a whole different world that we don’t usually see.
I love it when you do insects. Having them all posed on the same flower makes for very effective photos.
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I have been exploring the blooms looking at the interesting insects to be found among the blooms…so many little ones and I really enjoy when you capture them so beautifully.
How lovely, Donna, that you focused on the less photographed little critters! Beautifully done. P. x
You have been one observant lady…thanks for sharing the almost-secret lives of these beautiful small creatures.