doing a mermay-style thing focused on bugs this may! so...
may-fly 2nd: hatsune michura
i'm the number one "crustaceans are bugs" proponent, so, what better way to start off may-fly than with a crab? more info n stuff under the cut!
michura is, obviously, based on a crab! she isn't any one specific species or clade, i just kinda took the general look of a crab and put miku into it. her name comes from miku (duh) and brachyura, which is the infraorder under decapods that all so-called "true crabs" fall into
the idea for this came from when, a couple days ago, i just Completely misinterpreted miku fanart i saw on twitter, and thought she had crab eyes. immediately fell in love with the idea after hastily scribbling this out on my phone at like 12:30 in the morning
so! i had to learn crab anatomy for this. and it is. fucked up.
first and foremost: understanding how the hell their faces work. surprisingly, it's not as complex as you'd think. those rectangular "jaws" you see?
yeah, those are a pair of modified legs, neatly folded up, called maxillipeds. all the other mouthparts (including two other pairs of maxillipeds!) are tucked away behind those. so, thankfully, i only needed to give michura one pair of maxillipeds if i wanted to be particularly accurate!
something else i've learned that people tend to get wrong is how crab claws work. most people draw them opening from both sides, with a jagged and sometimes even hollow inside. but if you take a look at them on a real crab...
see that divide between the lower and upper "fingers?"
that's because only the top part of a crab's claw can move! the bottom part is just an extension of the "wrist" segment!
as for what's up with her arms... well, it's simple, really. i wanted to keep the claws because that's what crabs are known for, but i also wanted her to have more dexterous grasping appendages. originally both pairs of arms were on the torso, which was... more than a bit cluttered. i almost completely ditched the second pair, until-
"why not do two smaller front legs?"
in reference to how people give spider characters those weird stupid chelicera/palp/leg things. while i despise it on spiders... it's actually pretty in-line with how crabs are built, given their claws are just modified front legs! so, naturally, instead of putting the claws down there, i moved her hands down to where her frontmost legs would be, because i thought that would be kind of funny. i think it was a good call, honestly! since, i'd argue it's better for the more precise and dexterous grasping appendages to have the wider range of motion, and be able to reach the ground more easily, and i think it gives the design that "fucked up kind of weird" factor i really really like
uhhhh tldr, crab miku. i learned some stuff about crab anatomy in drawing her and now you have too
the second may-fly drawing! vocaloid* autism hitting Hard this summer, so. expect a couple more of these lol
(*i am using vocaloid in a colloquial sense i know teto isn't one)
not much to this one! i thought an earwig fit the vibe i get from teto, so i went with that for her. i'm not a big fan of her synthv design so i used her utau one ::P
name comes from kasane teto and dermaptera, the order of insect that earwigs make up!
quick one that's a little late since i didn't have much artistic drive the past few days! mecha suggested jyun as a joke when i was asking for some ideas for may-fly, but i wanted to draw her regardless n figured she'd make for a good break from drawing vocal synths ::P
SORRY i forgot to post this yesterday, and all day friday i was busy moving out of my dorm 😭
regardless! with miku and teto done, i couldn't not complete the trio with neru. i went with a wasp- specifically the genus polistes of paper wasp- since, i felt that fit her. and, honestly, i just LOVE wasps
not a ton to say on this one either! her names comes from neru and polistes, i debated in my head a bit over whether it should be nerustes or neristes, but i think nerustes works a bit better
