Bugs Teach us Uniqueness

Man has only discovered about 900,000 different kinds of living insects.  Most bug experts think there are way more than that that haven't even been discovered.

thorn bug

Here is what the Department of Systematic Biology, Entomology Section, of the Smithsonian Institution states on their Bug Info page:

"It has long been recognized and documented that insects are the most diverse group of organisms, meaning that the numbers of species of insects are more than any other group. In the world, some 900 thousand different kinds of living insects are known. This representation approximates 80 percent of the world's species. The true figure of living species of insects can only be estimated from present and past studies. Most authorities agree that there are more insect species that have not been described (named by science) than there are insect species that have been previously named. Conservative estimates suggest that this figure is 2 million, but estimates extend to 30 million. In the last decade, much attention has been given to the entomofauna that exists in the canopies of tropical forests of the world. From studies conducted by Terry Erwin of the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Entomology in Latin American forest canopies, the number of living species of insects has been estimated to be 30 million. Insects also probably have the largest biomass of the terrestrial animals. At any time, it is estimated that there are some 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects alive."

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Did you count all of those zeros?  That's 19 zeros!  There could be over 10 quintillion individual bugs walking around; each one created by our Awesome Creator. I'd say that that is a whole lof of Uniqueness!

God is infinitely creative, but His creativity doesn't stop with bugs!  Take a look at people around you! You know who did that?  God did! 

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The more we discover about other people, the more our Uniqueness becomes evident and stands out to us.  It's so important to embrace the qualities or GIFTS He has given you and USE them for His glory.  Bugs are a great way to show kids that there is purpose in the way God creates things.  Some things that may seem to be differences that are ugly or unwanted, are really things that help or protect each species.  This can lead into a great conversation about self-worth and accepting all of the ways God made each one of us.