Wildlife in Full Color - Ohio Department of Natural Resources

COLOR SCHEME: SPLIT COMPLEMENTARYSplit complementary color combinations consist of a foundation hue and two colors equally spaced oneach side of its opposite color on the color wheel. This color scheme has the same strong visual contrastas the complementary color scheme.Other colors are created by lightreflecting off of the structure, or shape,of the insect’s body. Over the soft tissuein the body of an insect are two layersof material, together they are called thecuticle. One layer is waxy and waterresistantand the other is hard and madeof chitin, a substance also found in crustaceanshells.ACTIVITY: OBSERVATION CHARTGrab a notebook and spend five minutes in your favorite outdoor area looking carefullyfor insects. Search on trees, flowers, grass, and even swing sets for these tinyanimals. Keep track of how many insects you see and what colors they are. You do notneed to know the names of all the insects, just write down your observations of theircolor, shape, and size.Create a bar graph by filling in a square for each insect of that color you see.(example: you saw (3) red bugs, so you fill in ( ) boxes)When light passes through the insect’scuticle, it bounces off the layers of materials,like light bounces through a prism. Thebouncing light appears to you as differentcolors. Usually, this bouncing light givesinsects “cool” colors like purple, blue, andgreen.1098765Sometimes, depending on the way youlook at an insect, it may look like it ischanging colors. This is called iridescence.You can see great examples of iridescenceon dragonfly wings and tiger beetles.Other insects, like the metallic woodboringbeetle, have a metallic shine totheir bodies. Both iridescence and metalliccolors are created by the structure ofan insect’s body.4321BLACKBROWNREDORANGEYELLOWGREENBLUEINDIGOVIOLETWHITEClose observation can help you seea whole new rainbow of color outside.Your challenge is to find as many differentcolored insects as possible. The graph onthe this page will help you track whichcolors you see most often.BLUEBOTTLE FLYby DANNY BROOKSTRUE KATYDIDby JIM M C CORMACIS A SPIDER AN INSECT?While they may seem like the samecrawling creatures, there are definite differencesbetween spiders and insects.Here are a few: Spiders have a total of eight legs (comparedto an insect’s six legs). A spider’s body is two parts, cephalothoraxand abdomen, unlike the three--part head-thorax-abdomen of an insect. Most insects have wings - spiders don’t.BOXELDERby LISA BROWNWhat colors did you find most often? ___________________________Why do you think you found those colors more than the other colors?2011 - 2012 WILD OHIO MAGAZINEPLUME MOTHby DANNY CHAPMAN17