DarthJak @darthjak - Tumblr Blog

lowpolyanimals

Rat from Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure

slimgiltsoul

The Cat of the Cat Who Fell to Earth

angelicdewdrop

nickelcrack

vespulainfernalis

45 seconds of a very small thrip

revretch

For those that don't know, a thrips (both singular and plural) is its own order of insect entirely, on par with groups like beetles and flies! They're so tiny we don't notice them most of the time, but they're really unique little guys with all these different traits:

- Each wing is like a feather! Because they're so small, they don't need the sturdy flat wings that other insects have.

- They have asymmetrical mouthparts! They have mandibles more like beetles, but it's like they're trying to turn them into a beak like true bugs have by gradually making one side a little bigger.

- Some of them are eusocial like ants or bees, with a queen and everything. These eusocial thrips make plants grow little houses called "galls" for their families to live in!

- Like ants, eusocial thrips have soldiers and go to war with other eusocial thrips. The soldiers have big, beefy arms for crushing other thrips. At least, that's what we thought--but it turns out that those big, beefy arms secrete a medicine for healing their injured family members. More than soldiers, they're medics!