Even the most exquisite royal jewels can hardly compare to what mother nature has been cookingup in the insect world...

This collection was photographed at an insect fair, and while these beetles may look like something an artist painted in the studio with brilliant metallic textures and iridescent coloration, they are in fact real insects that you can find in the wild if you know where to look.

Tropical places of the Earth are well known for their diverse collections of strange and beautiful creatures, some of the most spectacular of which are insects. Each species shown here has its own tactic for survival, which sometimes involves elaborate and spectacular colors, shapes, and patterns, the full purpose of which is still not completely understood in many cases.

There are more than 400,000 named species of beetles, comprising nearly half of all described insects, and about 1/4 of all named plant and animal species on Earth. New ones are discovered/described regularly, with estimates of between 5 and 8 million described and undescribed species in existance today.

A note about insect collecting (to be fair to insect collectors)...

While it may seem like insect collectors endanger these amazing bugs by taking them from the wild, in reality they take only a tiny fraction of the wild populations, which can easily recover in a healthy ecosystem. Many collectors also contribute greatly to the discovery, knowledge and subsequent conservation of wildlife, and often advocate ecosystem preservation to ensure that all these amazing creatures can continue to exist for both collecting and enjoyment in the wild, long into the future.

Habitat destruction is the biggest threat to our fellow creatures. It's the #1 cause of animal extinction, and unfortunately, something we are ALL guilty of. Each time we clear land to build houses, farm crops, or otherwise "improve" our surroundings, we permanently deny habitat to many native creatures, forcing them into smaller, less suitable ranges, and thus reduce their numbers. This is happening everywhere praries, rainforests, even in the deserts. Top that off with the #2 threat, pollution, and we have some very complex issues to solve in order to prevent further loss of earth's diversity. :/

The soundtrack is a trio of tracks; "Slap Miner", "Prophet", and "WindUp" from the "Random" CD by Technician (yours truly), album and single tracks available on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rand... full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com

This is copyrighted material, however, you may download this footage directly from YouTube and use it free of charge in your own nonprofit/noncommercial YouTube videos. The full free usage policy and YouTube copyright notice/ad info can be found here (please read before using JCMDI material):
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Soundtracks by Technician (yours truly), available on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/tec...
Full artist discography at
http://technician.jcmdi.com

I hope you enjoy the show! =)