bugs!bugs!bugs!

[dangnabbitsonnyjim]

howdy ladies and gaydies, I spent ages making this What Tarot Card Are You quiz which has ZERO pop culture references and lots of horror / surrealist writing! (also if you get death I’m sorry)

[onenicebugperday]

Went on a hike again, found this really cool millipede. In the California redwoods! I believe it might be a yellow spotted millipede or a cyanide millipede.

Ooooh what a pretty little friend. Stylin’. Most likely a yellow-spotted millipede, yes! And they do indeed exude hydrogen cyanide as a defense, and thus sometimes smell like almonds. They’re not really dangerous to humans, although handling them and getting their secretions on your skin can cause irritation or even skin discoloration! One of many reasons I don’t encourage handling bugs, especially with bare hands. Thanks for sharing!

[ramenreptiles]

Needed to take a mental break from a current custom to try something I would never have been able to do with normal clay. A flame leg millipede with cosclay legs and antennae! It looks like I can actually make invertebrates! This guy is in my shop, let me know if you all would be interested in more stuff like this.

[sinobug]

Frog-legged Leaf Beetle (Sagra cf. femorata, Chrysomelidae)

by Sinobug (itchydogimages) on Flickr. Pu’er, Yunnan, China See more Chinese beetles on my Flickr site HERE…

[onenicebugperday]

Red widow spider, Latrodectus bishopi Found only in Florida

Photos by mattireland, old-bean-adams, and erikamonster

[onenicebugperday]

Suuuuuuuure so it’s in the same genus as the black widow (Latrodectus) but the red widow has a suuuper limited range down in the pine scrub habitat of central and southeastern Florida.

Like black widows and other species in Latrodectus, they’re venomous, but rarely come into contact with humans, so no bites have been reported.

Scientists think their range is so limited because they’ve become specialized to eat a certain type of prey - only five species of scarab beetle that also live in the pine scrubs. These scarabs are known to fly just above the tops of the vegetation, and the red widows create their webs in palmetto shrubs. Sometimes the beetles smack into the palmetto fronds and fall down into the webs.

Here’s some pictures of a web:

And the spider lurking below:

And a link to a paper on the study of red widows feeding habits.

Photos by old-bean-adams and dr_greg

Hope that was enough red widow spider info for you :)

[signsmp3]

the influence of your birthday

did you know your birthday is under the governance of a planet? so this means the day of the week you were born will influence your personality:

calculate on which day you were born here: x

Monday: ruled by the moon, monday born people are sensitive, intuitive, emotional and romantic people, seeking their one true love

Tuesday: ruled by mars, tuesday born people have strong personalities and are real fighters, fighting either for success, love or anything really, they don’t give up easily

Wednesday: ruled by mercury, wednesday born people are very smart and have amazing communication skills but have also workaholics tendencies

Thursday: ruled by jupiter, thursday born people are family oriented and are very generous, honest, freedom loving people 

Friday: ruled by venus, friday born people are harmonious people destined to art, fashion and creativity and have a weakness for luxury

Saturday: ruled by saturn, saturday born people are typical individualists and prefer to be alone but have great organisation skills

Sunday: ruled by sun, sunday born people have a strong leadership potential and are very vain and proud

read more about the day you were born here: x

[skerp]

[glazecake]

[onenicebugperday]

Goliath beetle, Goliathus albosignatus, Africa

Photos by ryanvanhuyssteen (1-3), ernestporter (4), alexanderr (5-6), and cheekychew (7)

[onenicebugperday]

Carolina wolf spiders, Hogna carolinensis

Photos 1-3 by afroherpkeeper, 4-5 by bobbyfingers, and 6-8 by royaltyler

Please remember rude and negative commenters will be blocked. Positive spider vibes only. :)

[onenicebugperday]

Mitchell’s Diurnal Cockroach, Polyzosteria mitchelli, Australia

Photo 1 by jovirens, 2 by beezzy, 3-6 by Jean and Fred

[onenicebugperday]

Brachycybe lecontii millipedes, native to North America

Photo 1 by Marshal Hedin, 2-3 by Dave Thomas, 4 by milkweedhunter, 5 by musselhead, 6 by gcsnelling, and 7 by muir

[mantischildren]

what are some myths about earwigs? they are a little offputting to me, but every but is beneficial!

myths as in what people say about them but isnt true?heres stuff i was told as a kid that definitely isnt true

- for one they definitely do not /want/ to be in anyones ear and they also dont crawl through your ear and lay eggs in your brain or anything. in fact, the females are super particular about where they lay their eggs because they want it to be really secure! (mostly on the underside of dead leaves)

- theyre not really house pests. they live outside and only really get lost in houses the same way most other insects do. they like narrow moist places  (maybe thats where the ear myth comes from?) so it /is/ possible to have them in your basement or bathroom, i guess. 

- earwigs genuinely dont want anything to do with humans. they eat dead plant matter and mites and are therefore actually useful little helpers in your garden. however, if there’s an overpopulation they can of course also damage your plants, but too much of anything is no good! earwigs arent special that way :D

- they only pinch humans in defense and while it can be quite painful, it isnt poisonous or harmful to humans. the males also use the pincers to fight which i saw once in a gif and it was awesome!! imagine having butt spikes that you can poke people with if they annoy you :D

so while i understand and used to share the apprehension, theyre definitely good little bugs who only want to live in peace and garden with you :D

edit: [heres a cool article with gifs and video about the pincers - actually thats where i saw that gif!]

[celestialmacros]

Katydid Wasp (Sphex nudus) on Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica)

September 1, 2019

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[azzaventura]

Did you know, jewel spiders add tufts of white silk to their webs so larger animals will see and avoid them?

[the8thpage]

Liphistius jarujini (adult female, 3″)

See more photos of this species here!

[sinobug]

Horned Leaf-rolling Weevil (Lamprolabus bihastatus, Attelabidae) by Sinobug (itchydogimages) on Flickr. Pu’er, Yunnan, China See more Chinese beetles on my Flickr site HERE…