Articles

Fluted vase or sensory appendage?

By Mark H. Armitage

The scarab beetle pictured in these scanning electron micrographs is a member of the Family Scarabaeidae in the Order Coleoptera. It has chewing mouth-parts (protected and not shown) and well-developed antennae that are folded into slots built into its exoskeleton(Figure I).

In addition, a pair of hard, opaque, waterproof wings (called elytra) which cover and protect the thin flight wings and the body characterizes the scarabs. Many of them have brilliant colors and patterns, but most are dull. They range in size from less than I/32 in. (l mm) to more than 6 in. (I5 cm) in length. One of the most famous of the scarabs is the dung beetle, with many different species, which according to some is responsible for most of the earth moving on the planet.

The closer one looks at the surface features of living creatures the more intricacy and detail becomes apparent to the observer. Notice for example, as a small portion of the scarab body near the antennaa nd the compound eye is enlarged (Figure 2), what appeared to be white hair-like structures in Figure I now takes on more of a three-dimensional appearance. The compound detail of the eye becomes apparent, as does the ribbed nature of those objects we once thought were merely spinesI. It is now clear that there are indeed spines on our subject, but they are much different from the fluted structures we are studying. These structures are tapered at the end where they appear to be embedded into pores on the exoskeleton. In Figure 3, the dramatic detail of these fluted vases now becomes clear. They have fluted ridges which terminate n an open mouth surrounded by spines and they are hollow. It appears that they serve some sensory function, perhaps communicating temperature and humidity changes or the proximity of a food source to the organism. If one were to study only a single magnification of an object, an erroneous assumption about what we are observing could easily be made.

What is abundantly clear from the world of the electron microscope is that there is order and complexity at all levels of magnification, from l00X to 10,000X-an order that speaks of an ordering intelligence. I postulate that this Intelligence is God.

Creation Research Society Journal Dec. 1999 p. 135

(Note: Photos available at original source.)