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  • BBC Science Focus Magazine

    TRULY EGG CELLENT

    Aug 11, 2021 5 minutes
    WORDS: JULES HOWARD
    by
    JULES HOWARD

    EGG EMOJI

    “What looks like a mouth is actually a fracture-line that runs along the top of the egg,” says shield bug expert Maria Justamond, commenting on this cluster of emoji-like insect eggs on the underside of a leaf. “When the baby shield bug is ready to emerge, the egg opens up like a trapdoor.”

    More than 99 per cent of all animals that have ever lived on planet Earth have, in the first moments of life, hatched from an egg. Yet for all their abundance, eggs continue to amaze scientists with their unique adaptations and mind-blowing evolutionary workarounds.

    “I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for their eggs,” Justamond adds. “I love how varied they are in colour and size, and how each shield bug

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