All Arthropods! (and sometimes molluscs)

Hi! I'm just a gal who likes arthropods. Looking for my art account? it's https://arthroart.tumblr.com/

[arthro]

Forcepstail

Family Japygidae

This small, eyeless creature seems unassuming, but it is actually quite elusive and rare! This family of entognathous hexapods – not insects, but close cousins with internal mouthparts – has been recorded worldwide on every continent but Antarctica. Despite this ubiquity, they are very rarely seen due to their small size and subterranean lifestyle. For reference, the last time one of these guys was recorded on INaturalist in my state was 2015! I was lucky enough to find one while I was digging through a small patch of leaf litter while nature journaling. I suspect these animals are much more common than they seem. The number of records are heavily linked to major cities OR places where leaf litter fauna enthusiasts live, which implies that we just aren't looking hard enough. You might even be able to find some in your own area if you have a good eye and are willing to dig a bit!

[bogleech]

I'm so sorry if you've talked about this already but I just saw it and you were the first person I thought of

Anyways have you seen this absolutely INSANE rove beetle

I HAVE HOPED TO SEE ACTUAL CLEAR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THIS FOR YEARS. I have seen nothing but scientific drawings and some microscopy slides!!! Oh my god it looks even sillier and more far-fetched than I thought it would. I want everyone to know before they carelessly continue scrolling that this is how the beetle pretends to be a termite and freeloads in termite society and the entire fake termite is just the beetle's abdomen. If you look closely you can see that's what it is, that it just has a massive weird butt so big it can hide entirely under its own butt and that it (the butt) is shaped like a different, inflatable decoy bug with fake antennas and fake legs.

Just four fake legs because it did not study entomology but luckily neither have the termites.

[parkarts]

Wasp-posting-wednesday!!

Ever heard a wasp tantrum before?

She (a great golden digger wasp, sphex ichneumoneus) was trying to dig a hole for her offspring, but the blades of dead grass were getting in her way. So while trying to grip and tear them out, she was buzzing and huffing which made it look as if she was having a tantrum. Pretty funny and cute. Turn up your volume to hear her squeak!

[parkarts]

Random bee behavior fact for those who wish to read, just because I feel like it and because it’s late and I’m stalling on sleeping:

Bumblebees may seem like passive, cuddly, and docile creatures, but they won’t hesitate to defend themselves if they feel as if their warnings aren’t being read or taken seriously.

I.e. the photos and diagram below, when a bee feels threatened they will raise one or more of their legs into the air, signaling to whatever or whomever may be bothering them as a message essentiality saying: “hey, back off, too close!”

species pictured: bombus pascuorum, bombus impatiens

If their defensive posture goes unnoticed or ignored, they may be pushed into defending themselves by stinging (which is also a stressful experience for not only one such as yourself, but also for the bee.) If you ever find yourself getting close to a bumblebee while taking pictures, walking close to them, or just admiring them, remember this posture! If a bee does this, it is simply asking you to take a step back as it feels it is being threatened.

Now you can understand and use this knowledge to your advantage if you ever come across one in the future. (Of course, because it’s very hard not to anthropomorphize animals, I do have to admit that they do look pretty cute when doing it. Just remember to respect them though!)

[usgsbiml]

There are prairie species in the Mid-Atlantic.  Maybe a residue of historically drier times, more open savannah like vegetation, more fire, hard to say, but we still can find them.  This is Andrena rudbeckiae which is found in Maryland in plantings and “wild” populations of Black-eyed Susans

[salticidaeily]

(source: Hill, Glaser & Galvão, 2021. Extension of fangs during the predatory jumps of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae))

With a carefully calibrated camera setup, researchers were able to document and confirm that jumping spiders pounce with their fangs already out – even fangs-first. Their “claws” are meant for grip, not for attack, so this fangs-out posture allows them to safely and surely attack their prey.

[arthro]

This paper also mentions that jumping spiders immediately use venom upon contact with the prey; something corroborated by the fact that one of the authors was bitten in the lab!  Said author is fine and even saw it as a photo opportunity (see below image). The bite swelled immediately and itched for about a week, but cleared up within a month. Jumping spiders aren’t dangerous to humans and getting bitten is near unheard of even when handling them extensively, so it’s a very unconventional method of finding out. Of course, this is also backed up by many spider-prey observations where the spider sometimes bites and then backs away from prey while they wait for it to be paralyzed by the venom (which works much, much better on other arthropods). 

[Image text: Figure 7. Adult female Phidippus mimicus from western Oaxaca. 1, The dorsal color pattern of both males and females of this species may represent mimicry of mutillid wasps (Edwards 2004). 2, Immediately after its bite this female continued to threaten one of the authors (DEH) with exposed chelicerae and venom dripping from the fangs. Between extended chelicerae the light-grey rostrum of this spider is visible (19 MAR 2019).]

[andmaybegayer]

I love insects where the juveniles eat meat and the adults drink nectar. Wasps with huge wicked sharp jaws and venomous stingers all to carry some spider back to its nest for its big soft wriggly babies to eat. She's going to go lazily drink nectar while they really go to town on it. So many fly larvae are voracious carnivores to be feared and avoided and then they turn into dopey flies that wander from flower to flower only stopping to lay eggs conspicuously close to a bunch of caterpillar eggs.

[bogleech]

Tons of insects are like if king cobras grew up into deer. Although in the case of wasps, it's like a deer with a gun

[gardeneticist]

I think one of my favourite jumping spiders is Opisthoncus necator just because its common name is just “The Murderer” for some reason, so if I ever go to look at it on iNat, I am greeted with this very accusatory title and what is essentially its mug shot

[arthroart]

Another art fight piece - this one a woolly aphid OC from the mind of user rotten_pears! I went with a recreation of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album cover.

[arthro]

Encyrtid Wasp

Encyrtus sp.

This tiny parasitoid wasp was found wandering on the armrest of a particularly cushy library-owned chair. This genus is known to parasitize scale insects, which are often plant pests. I love the little spike of hairs (setae) on their thorax right between the wings and their distinctive walk that led me to notice this little critter in the first place!

[arthro]

Cosmetid Harvestman

Eupoecilaema magnum

Over spring break, I took a one-week study abroad course where I stayed in a tropical rainforest research station located in Costa Rica. Seeing the ecosystem there was a bit of a shock compared to the temperate forests I'm used to! The nutrient turnover is so fast you'd be hard-pressed to find a stick that hasn't already started to decay, and everything grows on everything. Note the lichen(?) on the leaf and the two hitchhiker mites (red) on the back of the harvestmen for examples of just how high the species density can be! This harvestman is from one of my many night hikes trying to search for an elusive velvet worm. I never did end up finding one, but learning that many neotropical harvestmen glow under ultraviolet light was equally as interesting. Expect more posts of insects from the rainforest soon!

[arthroart]

Hello all! I figured I’d kick off this new art blog with a recap of some of my art from last year. As you might be able to tell, I got off to a bit of a rocky start but hit my stride starting in July (thank you, Art Fight)! This selection is more-or-less an accurate sample of the kind of stuff you’ll see from me; furries, humans, obscure and not-so-obscure fanart, and of course bugs (not exactly pictured… oops)! I’ll be setting up a queue for some of my older art for new eyes.

[arthro]

I made a side blog just for my art! For those only interested in my insect-related art, I’ll be reblogging anything of that sort here so don’t worry about missing out. For those interested in my art style and non-bug interests in general feel free to follow over there!  By the way, bonus points for whoever guesses the insect family that inspired the art for June. Hint: it is designed after a nymph, not an adult!

[arthro]

Hello all! I made this little poster to raise awareness about some lesser known bees! All these types are found pretty much worldwide, so no matter where you live this poster might be quite helpful to you. Despite their ubiquitousness, a whole lot of species within these taxa are in decline or endangered due to human activity. If you or someone you know happens to manage a lawn or garden, I'd recommend following a few of these tips to provide good habitat for these bees and many more insects that use similar shelter!

P.S. Bee experts: please let me know if anything on the post is inaccurate! That last part about stem cutback is purely based on observations in my own garden, so I just gave a ballpark estimate.

[arthro]

Hello! I recently made a presentation about evolutionary novelty that featured the plural/exite origin, dual origin and tergal origin hypotheses for the origin of insect wings. I just wanted to share with you that your post explaining the exite hypothesis really helped me understand it better. I'm not in the field of evolution nor are arthropods my main study focus, but your explanation was really direct and helped me understand the related literature a lot better. Thank you!

Haha, that explanation wasn't made by me! I'm just one of the many who reblogged it. I believe this praise is best given to @zoologicallyobsessed, the original poster (and they really do deserve it!)

[onenicebugperday]

Do you know any good resources for identifying fireflies by the color, duration and timing of their flash? My parents have been observing their backyard (Texas) and trying to identify the ones that flash bright white starting around 10pm, starting closer to ground level and gradually moving up into the canopies. The local college's entomology department hasn't provided a lead yet and they're still trying to figure out how to catch one unharmed.

I'm afraid I don't! I've never looked into it since we don't really have them where I live. But get them a butterfly net! That's the easiest way to catch them unharmed and they're quite cheap. The common eastern firefly is by far the most numerous in Texas, but they glow yellow, or sometimes it looks greenish-yellow. Not sure which it is if it's white.

[arthro]

If it's flashing bright white, it could be a femme fatale firefly (Photuris sp.)! These ones tend to fly higher and flash later in the night, which fits your description. The genus has been documented in Texas, too! This chart from the national park service is for the Smoky Mountains area so all but the bottom two groups are not found in Texas, but it's still nice to have.

[otaharuo]

ヨツモンキヌバコガ、Scythris sinensis、8月25日、愛知県

[onenicebugperday]

White belly owlfly, Suhpalacsa sp., Neuroptera

Photographed by Steve & Alison1 in Airlie Beach, Australia

Photos shared with permission; do not remove credit or re-post!