Beauty is in the Eye of the Bee Holder

TJ/Audax | 24 | They/it/ey | Main is @enderpearlgurl13 | Silly little sideblog to share the critters I see

[phidippus-audax]

Hey there! I'm TJ from @enderpearlgurl13 with another sideblog for my latest interests. I'm conquering my arachnophobia and general fear of insects by self-induced exposure therapy; this blog is to share whatever critters I see, as well as reblog other posts so my friends and followers with phobias don't have to see them on main

CAUTION: This blog is primarily about insects, arachnids, and other invertebrates. If you're here to tell me how much you want to kill and eradicate every bug in existence, this blog is not for you.

I do my best to tag photos as the species I believe they are, but I am human and do make mistakes. Feel free to correct me if I get an ID wrong!

[dogpuppy]

[revretch]

These aren't just any scarabs--these are bess beetles! They live together in big families in logs, and make sounds to communicate with each other. They have eight known "words"!

Skip to 4:48 in the video to hear them talk!

[ciircuitdragon]

“Hey, that’s me!”

[cicada-swarm]

so embarrassing to have a funny thought and unironically be like “this will do numbers on tumblr.com!” and oh boy! numbers is zero.

[shower-thoughts-last-responder]

I feel like some of my best work gets nothing. Look at this!

This was a flop, but like, pede is feet! So the outside is the milli. I still think this is so funny, it's still making me laugh right now. Milli. Pede.

[shower-thoughts-last-responder]

I showed this tp my friends and none of those bitches found it funny. It's been like 7 months since this post and well over a year since the original and I'm still mad no one else thinks this is funny. Milli. Pede

[cicada-swarm]

as a certified millipede enjoyer I find it funny #milli #pede

[mikufanclub]

[mikufanclub]

the pic in question btw

[shinraalpha]

i am losing my mind over discovering that there's a species of jumping spider (Pellenes nigrociliatus) that builds nests in empty snail shells and makes little silk webbing curtains to close off the entrance

look at her!! she is so cute!!! i want to cry!!!!

[cosmonautroger]

[i-draws-dinosaurs]

I was taking in the washing and accidentally brought in a teeny little orb weaver so I brought her back outside and put her on a leaf and she walked around a bit and settled herself down like a cat snuggling into a cozy spot I'm going to die

Precious Sweet Baby You Deserve The World I Love You

[hapalopus]

[auckie]

[communist-hatsunemiku]

[virtualgirladvance]

You are a bug in bug hell but your spider torturer so fucking bad at their job that the devil himself has to grab you with his gay pitchfork and help them

[scolopendramorsitans]

the moment mindflayer found her ham .... I love how she goes back like WAIT A SECOND!!! ✋️ 🥩

[phidippus-audax]

Almost everyone at work knows me as the critter catcher because I will not hesitate to relocate a bug that found its way into the store. I can get really cool photos if I'm fast enough!

[Image description 1: a small ground cricket is perched on my fingertips. End ID.]

[Image descriptions 2 and 3: two angles of a Virginian tiger moth, showing the details of the wings and face. End ID.]

[Image descriptions 4 and 5: two angles of a Polyphemus moth, showing the wings open and closed. End ID.]

[Image description 6: a lesser meadow katydid sitting on my hand. End ID.]

[phidippus-audax]

Brushing the dust off this blog (again) with some updates!! It's been pretty busy this time of year, both with work and with critters! I have so many pictures I need to share so I'll be queuing them for the next few days

Gonna start off with the biggest project- raising caterpillars!

We've had a total of ten monarchs this year, and the last bunch is still pupating but due to emerge by the end of next week! It's so cool seeing how quickly they grow (and also stressful because holy shit we were not ready to feed six of them all at once; they DECIMATED our milkweed)

Unfortunately we had two casualties from an Ophryocystis elektroscirrha infection :[ we quarantined the sick ones as soon as we saw the signs to keep the others safe. One died before emerging, and the other one couldn't even fill its wings and had to be culled. It's tragic, but it does happen; at least they're not suffering and we didn't lose any more

[Image description: an adult monarch butterfly, perched on my hand. The wings are shriveled and deformed from an infection during pupation; this individual was euthanized soon after this photo was taken. End ID.]

It was also our first year raising black swallowtails! We had three hungry babies that we got to see change through their instars in real time! I snapped a photo of one just after molting and the little white face is so adorable, but it was even better watching the stripes develop!

[Image descriptions: two photos of the same black swallowtail caterpillar. The first was immediately after shedding its skin (shown by the pure white face and feet), while the other was after it was left to dry for a while (shown by the vibrant face markings). End ID.]

These guys will (hopefully) overwinter in our garage! Number three just pupated today, so we'll be waiting for spring next year to see some gorgeous adult swallowtails!

[great-and-small]

“People suck”

Okay but what about the person who brought this injured dragonfly to a wildlife rehabber

[onenicebugperday]

Rolled-leaf orbweaver, Poltys cf. idae, Araneidae

Photographed in Malaysia by Nicky Bay // Website // Facebook

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

[bogleech]

This is the kind of spider I’m thinking of when I say every piece of media with giant spiders should be required to look at some actual spiders and make theirs look even remotely interesting

[lycomorpha]

[Siren wailing]... Big pink hawkmoth season is upon us. I repeat, big pink hawkmoth season. This is not a drill.

This is an elephant hawkmoth, warming up its wings & taking off. It's caterpillars are also magnificent chonks, and they eat rosebay willow herb (AKA fireweed in the US I think?) This is a perfect reason to do less weeding. Keep some weeds, get big pink hawkmoths like this one.

Thank you from the Moth Promotional Board ✨🦋🐾🛹✨

[onenicebugperday]

Florida ivory millipede, Chicobolus spinigerus, Spirobolidae

Found primarily in Florida, along the Gulf coast to Alabama, and north along the Atlantic coast to South Carolina

Photo 1 by eli4721, 2 by cannizag, 3-4 by handycoordination, 5 by jeanloujustine, 6 by techgrl18, 7 by jeanmartins, and 8 by emilycbell