Explore familiar and unexpected views of the microscopic world of insects and cells with these colorized images from electron microscopes at the University of Hawaii. Some of them we see rarely and perhaps wish we never do.
Electron microscopes use a beam of electrons as their source of illumination; light microscopes use a beam of light. Light microscopes have glass lenses to control and focus the beam of light; electron microscopes have electromagnetic lenses to control and focus the beam of electrons. A beam of electrons has a shorter wavelength than a beam of light, so it is possible to see things at a higher magnification and resolution.
These insects are strange and beautiful in their own essence. The complexity of each animal in its tiniest parts is unbelievable. And if I see a butterfly wing I have to think of this gospel that “not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these”.