Not Much of Consequence

25. Butch. She/They. Environmental Scientist

[fragrantblossoms]

John Dillwyn Llewelyn. Fern leaves, circa 1853. Salted paper print.

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Common Green Lacewings: these tiny insects build loosely-woven cocoons that measure just 3-6mm (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch) in diameter

Each lacewing spends about 5 days maturing inside its cacoon, and then it cuts an opening in the top and emerges as a fully-developed adult.

Above: a common green lacewing emerging from its cocoon

Green lacewing larvae (genus Chrysopidae) are also known as "aphid lions," because they're voracious predators that often feed on aphids. They've also been known to prey upon caterpillars, leafhoppers, planthoppers, thrips, spiders, mites, and insect eggs, which is why they're widely used to help eradicate pests in agricultural contexts.

Once the lacewing nears the end of its larval stage, it builds a small cacoon out of silk and then tucks itself inside, allowing the pupal phase to begin. Its tiny green body is often partially visible through the thin, loosely-woven walls of the cacoon.

Above: a lacewing developing within its cocoon

These breathtaking photos of a lacewing climbing out of its cacoon were taken by a Danish photographer named Frederik Leck Fischer.

Above: the lacewing preparing to emerge

When the insect initially emerges, its wings and antennae are still compactly folded down against its body, and the wings have a dark, shriveled appearance that makes them almost unrecognizable.

Above: the fully-developed lacewing waiting for its wings to expand

The wings then gradually expand until they have reached their full size, which usually takes about an hour or two.

Above: the same lacewing just a few hours later

Fischer's photographs provide a stunning account of the entire process.

Above: close-up of a common green lacewing

This is a rewritten version of a post that I originally published three years ago.

Sources & More Info:

iNaturalist: Common Green Lacewing

University of California: Family Chrysopidae

Texas A&M: The Green Lacewing

Washington State University: Lacewings

Tennessee State University: Insect Predators: Green Lacewings (PDF)

Pacific Pests and Pathogens: Green Lacewings

[underthehedge]

So there's actually something way cooler going on here (for a given value of cool). The thing emerging from the cocoon? That is not a mature adult.

That is the pupa. Green lacewing pupae are mobile, and when it's time for their final moult they first cut their way out of the cocoon and wander off before actually eclosing! You can see the shed pupal skin in the photo where it's expanding its wings. Before that though? That's a pupa that is walking about.

[thoughtlessarse]

Light pollution is key 'bringer of insect apocalypse'

Exclusive: scientists say bug deaths can be cut by switching off unnecessary lights

Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date.

Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects’ lives, the researchers said, from luring moths to their deaths around bulbs, to spotlighting insect prey for rats and toads, to obscuring the mating signals of fireflies.

“We strongly believe artificial light at night – in combination with habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species, and climate change – is driving insect declines,” the scientists concluded after assessing more than 150 studies. “We posit here that artificial light at night is another important – but often overlooked – bringer of the insect apocalypse.”

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[rqqu]

death to the city

[notlayingroses]

Everything I read about recovering from burnout is like “it takes months or even years to fully recover” and it’s like okay…. I have a weekend before I gotta clock in on Monday

[imagine-darksiders]

[heavyweightheart]

We always have to bear in mind when reading media and the scientific literature on body shape and health (e.g. abdominal fat and insulin resistance) that science is ideologically embedded, and in the global north that means embedded in imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Anti-fat biases are racialized, gendered, and classed. While it’s true that there are some risks associated with certain bodies—not only people who are larger in the abdomen (which is natural for many populations from the global south) but also shorter life span in tall people, skin cancer in redheads, osteoporosis in thin people, and so on—the risks and bodies that become stigmatized, that are used to fearmonger and to manipulate people’s behavior, are the bodies of the oppressed. We don’t want to dismiss research data out of hand but we do want to remember that prevailing biases shape Science and serve ruling class interests, and we perpetuate harm by collaborating in that

[hykedike]

bigass cave entrances nearby Grotte de Lombrives in the northern Pyrenees

[sab3rtooth]

patterns left by woodworms on driftwood

[danhumphrey]

as a human my ideal way to die would be something quick and painless in a national park at a very old age. as a bug my ideal way to die would be being accidentally crushed by a little girl playing outside and cried over and buried with a leaf headstone

[formlab]

Pleinair, Francesco Lo Castro, 2026

[jewish-rock]

it should be socially acceptable to wear whatever type of clothes you want anywhere and i am not kidding

[jewish-rock]

dress is an indicator of status that poor people, people of color, disabled people, some religious people, and women consistently fail to meet due to social prejudice or barriers to acquiring the appropriate clothing

[jewish-rock]

obviously there are scenarios where specific clothing is required (like PPE at a job site)

but a person coming to an office job in sweatpants doesn't make them less qualified to do their work, it just means they're more comfortable while doing it

[jewish-rock]

"you're required to wear a face shield, an apron/coat, and closed toed shoes in this lab environment for your safety" awesome perfect, i love safety, and i can wear whatever i want under it.

"you're required to wear a suit to present your lab work" i do not become less intelligent wearing non-formal clothing, and this presentation has now become inaccessible to someone who cannot wear appropriate formal dress

[jewish-rock]

I FORGOT FAT PEOPLE IN MY ORIGINAL REBLOG, DONT REBLOG WITHOUT INCLUDING FAT PEOPLE

[shisasan]

7 June 1926 Letters to Véra by Vladimir Nabokov

[aliquid-de-magis]

his tuoy...

[nubbsgalore]

flamingos flying over tanzania’s lake natron, a salt lake which is home to three quarters of the world’s three million lesser flamingos, as well as toxic multicoloured extremophile cyanobacteria that thrive in water so hypersaline it would strip away human skin. for the flamingos, however, the tough skin and scales on their legs prevents burning, leaving them uniquely free to drink from the near boiling freshwater found from springs and geysers at the lake’s edges.  (x, x, x, x, x)

[suburbanscrimshaw]

[simena]

Jette Stoltz

[fadeintoyou1993]

the idea of laura palmer is haunting because she's a woman suffering and people know she's suffering and don't do anything and then when she dies they make her into a saint and grieve her because she was too young to have gone through all that suffering like it's truly about how women's pain is only put in evidence when it's too late

[fadeintoyou1993]

like it's how now there are countless articles going "we have failed [female celebrity who went through an international smear campaign after coming forward with the abuse she suffered through the hands of a respected man in society]" and it's like no we didn't! you did! you made a spectacle of her suffering and you mocked her and made people hate her for her suffering and called her a liar and an abuser and a criminal for not being a perfect victim! it's too late to apologize for not supporting and helping and believing women who are suffering when you didn't take her seriously when she needed your help! it's too late to cry at her funeral when you're complicit in her downfall!!!!

[creekfiend]

"There is an indirect but tangible connection between my family’s inability to purchase health insurance, and the quality of the hors d’oeuvres at this party. The world that makes my childhood friends go on large, unnecessary detours to get a shot at their dreams is the same world that heaps largely unappreciated splendors on these party-goers. It’s not an intuitive conclusion to draw, but when you think about it, the reason this chocolate truffle tastes so good is that my brother and I went to a state school. The reason this champagne is on the house is that the house is largely on Africa, South America and rural India."

reading brennan lee mulligans essay about the parties of the mega rich to soothe myself