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Some very cool lifelike sculptures of insects by artist Gary Staab were recently installed in the courtyard of the National Geographic Society headquarters here in Washington, D.C. They’ll be on display for about a year, so if you’re in the area, stop by to take a gander.
When I asked a colleague if she had seen the bug sculptures yet, she looked at me as though I had four heads. “They’re not bugs,” she admonished me. “They’re insects.” I knew that. I merely had forgotten that we take our critters seriously here at National Geographic. Although “bugs” and “insects” are commonly used as synonyms, entomologists make a distinction between the two: True bugs have a feeding tube instead of chewing mouthparts and are a subgroup of insects. All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs. Staab’s sculptures of a beetle, dragonfly, praying mantis, and leaf-cutter ants depict insects, not true bugs.
So is there anything bugging you these days? Any slips of English usage that creep you out or get under your skin? (Such as incomplete sentences?) Let us know in the comments section.
—Text and photo: David Brindley
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Comments
Mar 26, 2009 12PM #
What would be an example of a bug?
Mar 26, 2009 12PM #
Good question! Any insects from the Hemiptera order are true bugs. These include aphids, cicadas, stink bugs, and water bugs.
Mar 26, 2009 12PM #
I love bugs!
Mar 26, 2009 12PM #
This sculpture looks so real!
Mar 26, 2009 12PM #
Great sculpture. I think I saw some bugs that size in the rain forest. lol
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