Here are a couple bees I’ve illustrated as part of a commission that I’m working on! 🙂
The green bee is a striped sweat bee of the Agapostemon genus & the black bee is a leaf cutter bee within the Megachile genus!
It’s always a treat to see our native pollinators, including bees of either of these genera, out in the world. Do you have a favorite pollinator, insect or otherwise? I plan to do some more pollinator illustrations, so let me know if there is a particular species you’d like to see!
SHOP'S BACK OPEN we got:
🕸 spider bandanas in black and purple!
🎆 @anthrocon posters and mothman stickers!
🐝 many other fine bug arts and accessories!
👉 shop.mothmonar.ch 👈
I'll be open for ~2 weeks and then taking a break while I recover from surgery!! GET BUGS GET BUGS 🐛🌟 GO!
The “Lady” in the name “ladybug” is the virgin Mary. People just cannot stop giving religious names to this bug.
The reason for this was that if you lived in an agrarian society then your survival was a throw of the dice every year, depending on the success of the crops. A failed crop year is a very hard year where deaths are expected. And if you grew a cereal like wheat, there were several things that could cause your crops to fail, but one of the big ones was if you happened to get a fuckton of aphids. You know what eats aphids? Ladybugs! If there are lots and lots of ladybugs around, there was a good chance that it’d be a good crop year! They were little crop protectors! When your family lives or dies on the success of that crop, of course they’d be seen as a blessing and given an appropriate name!
Flag-footed Bug (genus Anisocelis), a member of the leaf-footed bug family (Coreidae). The “flags” are tibial expansions. They serve several purposes: attract mates, a warning they might be toxic and as a diversion, hoping predators will attack the flags and not the insect.
there are few more beautiful things in the world than people who love roaches. who coo at wasps and see the beauty in an ant nest.
we’re raised to hate and fear them, in societies that profit immeasurably from the pursuit of their eradication
still, humans aren’t born with hate. it’s a great advantage when they can learn to overcome learned perceptions
it just reminds me that even with all the bad, the spaces where the light shines through persist. the lichen grows on the light pole. . . the moss fights through the grass. . . the spider weaves her web in the doorframe. . .
to all my fellow bug enjoyers, i love you and all your love for the neglected things
every time a little life finds itself safe with you, is something more important than i can put into words. the world will beat us all down again, and again - but your heart is soft and your gaze is not scathing. for that, you are an incredible gem
"Little Spring Garden"
Friendly bugs and leaves and flowers - all the charming delights one hopes to see in a spring garden! I drew this pattern traditionally in my sketchbook, then cleaned it up digitally to share.
Available on home goods & more: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/180024646 🐝🍀🐞
Start with a large sheet of cardboard. Stores like home depot have large moving boxes that come flat like this, perfect for this project.
I use a projector to trace my butterfly, but you can also put tracing paper up to a screen and glue it to your cardboard, or ask your library to let you use their projector.
Make sure to trace not just the outside, but also all of the markings and patterns. Doing the antennae as well and keeping the scrap cardboard will allow you to measure out the right length.
2.
Cut around the outside of your lepidopteran and crease where the wings meet each other and the body. I use my hands, but a ruler can help. After bending your wings into a natural position, make the body and head with your clay of choice, mine is foam clay which is cheap and easy to use.
Blend the sides of the body into the wings just enough to stick, this will hold the pose you've chosen.
Prop up the wings with whatever is around and keep in a safe spot to dry. Mine dries overnight at this size. You can see I've used bottles for mine
3.
Once dry and solidified, the clay holds the wings in place in the way you left them.
Measure your antennae wire a little longer than needed and poke it into the clay. If it doesn't stay, add a little dot of super or hot glue at the base.
Glue a mounting bracket on the back. You can angle this however you like to have your lepidopteran upright, sideways, or even upside down
4.
Paint your sections individually so you don't lose your trace lines. I go in with white first to cover up the print on the cardboard, then put the correct colors over that.
If making a high contrast lep like this, go in with black at the end to clean up your edges.
If adding any fur to the body, get a piece larger than you need and hot glue it on, then trim the backing underneath the fibers with tiny snips, as not to cut the fur itself, and carefully glue the edges of the backing to the body as well
5.
Brush a matte finish like mod podge over your final product. Hold your lep up to where you want it to hang, then mount with a nail
A Red-Patched Emerald (Nemoria saturiba) moth, late last Fall I found I had carried a small caterpillar inside with me. I decided to stick him on my houseplant rather than back outside. I did not see it again, but lo and behold a moth on the window today. I took a few pictures and put it outside...
