#abominationimperatrix

[onenicebugperday]

What are a few species of dragonfly which you find particularly interesting/noteworthy/aesthetically unique or impressive?

My favorites are the crimson and violet dropwings just because they’re so pretty! Here’s a crimson dropwing, and the violet looks similar:

(Photo by tiark)

Honorable mention to the Halloween pennant because it’s pretty and I like the name:

(Photo by ckhunt)

And the giant petaltail because it’s the biggest living species:

(Photo by matthew_connors)

Tbh I don’t know enough about their individual behavior to be able to pick one species out for something interesting it does!

[chimeride]

Colacho, 186th Known One.

“An armless, hairy creature with goat horns and eagle-like beak and claws that lives on trees, dropping on its victims from above. Whoever hears their repulsive call assumes it is their loved ones calling, and clothing woven from its fur can turn the wearer invisible”, @bugcthulhu (source)

“During the act, known as El Salto del Colacho (the devil jump) or simply El Colacho, men dressed as the Devil (known as the Colacho) in red and yellow suits jump over babies born during the previous twelve months of the year who lie on mattresses in the street. The "devils" hold whips and oversized castanets as they jump over the infant children.“ - Wikipedia

Suggestion by @abominationimperatrix.

[onenicebugperday]

I know it's probably hard to narrow it down to just a couple, but what are some of the groups of bugs which you would consider to be the most unappreciated, even by people who really, genuinely, love them and talk about weird/lesser-known ones online regularly?

Do you mean unappreciated because people think they're gross, or unappreciated because people just aren't aware they exist? I'll answer for both, I suppose!

Ticks, for one. I don't see many people talking about how cute or interesting they are, even people who like other "gross" bugs. Not a lot of mosquito love, either, or lice! I understand why in all cases, of course, as they can be pests and potentially spread disease.

As for those that are under appreciated because people don't know about them, I'd say Proturans, Diplurans, Notopterans, Zorapterans, web spinners, thrips, earwigs, and stoneflies! For a lot of those, they're very very small and/or not very commonly seen in every day life, so it's understandable they're overlooked. But thrips, stoneflies, and earwigs are quite common!

[chimeride]

Puttikan, the 174th Known One.

Suggested by @abominationimperatrix​.

Puttikan, another imaginary being, like a horse, having a large mane and a tail sharp like a cutlass; whenever he meets the blacks, they go towards him and draw up their lips to show that the tooth is knocked out; then he will not injure them; but should the tooth be still there, he runs after them, and kills and eats them. He does not walk, but bounds like a kangaroo, and the noise of his leaps on the ground is as the report of a gun; he calls out as he advances, ‘Pirrolog, Pirrolog.’

From Threlkeld’s An Australian Grammar (1834) p. 49. Source and more quotes here.

[onenicebugperday]

I have to ask. What is the origin of the phrase "freshly peeled angel?" Is it something you came up with, or was it already a thing? Either way, it's hilarious.

I agree, I love it. But I didn't come up with it. I think some other bug blog on tumblr? I don't recall, it was a long time ago!

[onenicebugperday]

On the subject of how bugs hear, how does it tend to work with spiders specifically? I have an OC who is a Jorogumo (a type of spider yokai) and including alien senses like that would be really neat and help reinforce her "monstrousness" even if she is pretty anthropomorphic.

Spiders "hear" by detecting sound vibrations in the air with very sensitive hairs on their legs, usually on their forelegs. :)