Good Vibes Only

Wolfstar and random happy things. No drama. 18+. Minors dni.

[immortalbeingz]

[yorgen-sh]

[pikaole]

Cock-of-the-rock

[herpsandbirds]

Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica), male, SINGING MELODIOUSLY!!!, family Muscicapidae, order Passeriformes, Netherlands

This bird was formerly considered part of the Thrush family, Turdidae, but is now in the Old World Flycatcher family.

photograph by Dick van Duijn

[nasa]

Earthset

The Artemis II crew captured this view of an Earthset on April 6, 2026, as they flew around the Moon. The image is reminiscent of the iconic Earthrise image taken by astronaut Bill Anders 58 years earlier as the Apollo 8 crew flew around the Moon. The Apollo 8 mission was the first crewed spacecraft to circumnavigate the Moon.

For more imagery from the mission, visit our Artemis II Multimedia Page.

[theycantalk]

made

[rxttingcorpse]

[curiouswisp]

Kids Design Glass

I went to a glass museum recently and they had a program where they let kids design glass artwork and it brightened my day so much that I had to share some of my favorites:

Kids have such neat ideas and I love that a group of artists were willing to bring them to life.

[a-queer-little-wombat]

I *love* that marbled swan and am reminded of IKEA's ongoing thing where kids design stuffed animals (link). My favorite of these remains the one my family calls "linear tiger"

[Image ID: photo of a stuffed animal that is like a tiger (yellow with black patches like stripes) that has been flattened from the side, so all four legs are in a line coming out of the body, next to a marker on paper drawing the stuffed animal represents. /end ID]

[radiovys]

women in stem

[monamoni]

Peacock spiders performing mating dance.

Jumping peacock spiders are known for their vibrant colors and elaborate courtship dances. Peacock spiders hunt by stalking their prey until they are within jumping distance, then pouncing and delivering a deadly bite. They are native to Australia.

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Fairy Wasps: these wasps are the world's smallest insects, and some species can measure as little as 0.13mm long, which is roughly the size of a single human ovum

Mymaridae is a diverse family of wasps that contains more than 1,400 known species, and they're often described as fairy wasps (or "fairy flies") because they are so incredibly tiny. In fact, these are some of the smallest multicellular animals ever described, with most fairy wasps measuring less than 1mm long.

Above: a species of fairy wasp, Lymaenon aureus, depicted on a lime

One species of fairy wasp, Dicopomorpha echmepterygis, is regarded as the world's smallest known insect, measuring as little as 0.139mm (139 microns) long, which is roughly the size of a single human egg.

Above: Anagrus fairy wasp

As this article explains:

Fairyflies are not actual flies at all, but chalcid wasps; they get their name because of their fairy-like wings, and for being tiny and "invisible" like the mythical fairies. Fairyflies have the smallest known adult form of any insect: wingless and blind males of the species Dicopomorpha echmepterygis have a body length of just 0.139 mm, about the average width of a human hair. The fairyfly family Mymaridae consists of many species, including Tinkerbella nana and Kikiki huna, the smallest known flying insect species with a body length of 0.16 mm.

Above: the photo at the top shows a fairy wasp of the genus Anagrus, while the photo on the bottom shows another species from genus Polynema

Most fairy wasps have fully-functional wings that are lined with long, feathery bristles:

Fairyfly wings are not only small, but their structure is comb-like and made of several bristles instead of a planar sheet. Their very small size means that the air around them is more viscous than it would be for larger insects. At such small scale, the ratio of inertia to viscosity, the Reynolds number, is so low that any movement provided to an air packet quickly dampens out. It also means that a single wing bristle drags along with it a boundary layer of a comparable size. Thus, if the bristles are sufficiently close, the comb-like wing can act as a paddle to generate the requisite aerodynamic forces, while reducing the overall mass of the wing.

Above: a fairy wasp depicted beneath a push-pin

All of the wasps in this family are parasitoids, and they lay their own eggs within the eggs of other insects. They often parasitize the eggs of booklice, aphids, scale insects, thrips, water beetles, and other tiny arthropods. The female fairy wasp inserts her ovipositor into the host egg, depositing her own offspring within, and the process is then repeated many more times as she parasitizes as many eggs as possible.

Above: this composite image shows male and female fairy wasps of the genus Polynema standing on a pinhead

This seems like a good time to point out that fairy wasps do not parasitize mammalian ova, nor do they parasitize the eggs of any other vertebrates, and they are completely harmless to humans. In fact, they're actually beneficial, since they often parasitize agricultural pests.

Above: a fairy wasp trapped in a tiny guttation drop produced by a fungus

I posted some information about fairy bees a few weeks ago, so I figured that I should share these little fairy wasps, too.

Above: a Mymar fairy wasp with an aphid standing nearby

Sources & More Info:

Current Biology: Fairyflies

Annual Review of Entomology: Small is Beautiful: Features of the Smallest Insects and Limits to Miniaturization (PDF)

Journal of Hymenoptera Research: A New Genus and Species of Fairyfly, Tinkerbella nana, with Comments on its Sister Genus Kikiki, and Discussion on Small Size Limits in Arthropods (PDF)

iNaturalist: Fairy Wasps

[herpsandbirds]

Hi! What’s ur favorite color :3

I will countenance no other color asks after this.

But you deserve an answer...

Purple Flower Beetle (Chlorocala africana oertzeni), EAT A TASTY BANANA!!!, family Scarabaeidae, found in Tanzania

Other subspecies are green.

photograph by Richard Nakamura (@richards_inverts)

Purple Gold Jumping Spider (Irura bidenticulata), males, family Salticidae, found in SE Asia

photographs by Artur Tomaszek Inglourious Reptiles

Violet-backed Starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster verreauxi), male, family Sturnidae, found in much of Sub-Saharan Africa

photograph by lexvanvught_photography

Violet Sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus), male, family Trochilidae, order Apodiformes, Costa Rica

photograph by Gates Dupont

Purple-breasted Sunbird (Nectarinia purpureiventris), male, family Nectariniidae, order Passeriformes, Nyungwe Forest National Park , Rwanda

photograph by Will Wilson @2wsphotography

[tinylongwing]

A question I get a lot is “how do you tell female Cooper’s Hawks apart from males?” Key features are eye color (red-orange for females, blood red for males), auriculars/“cheek” color (tan in females, gray in males), back color (warm gray in females, blue-gray in males), plus look at head shape - female has longer skull, male has shorter bill.

Young males can have coloration similar to females (tan auriculars and orange iris) and very old females can get those blood-red eyes so paying attention to all of these features together is the key! Bill shape and relative size of the eye to the head are both crucial. Since males have smaller, daintier skulls overall, they sometimes look like they have larger eyes than females (although I admit that’s not as obvious in this illustration).

[herpsandbirds]

Rainbow Leaf Beetle (Spilopyra sumptuosa), family Chrysomelidae, SE QLD, Australia

photograph by Hongming Kan

[happyllamaglama]

when the weird relative shows up to the farm

[krisrisk]

i have never seen an animal moving this silly

[bluewizardnonesense]

“Camels are far too intelligent to admit to being intelligent”

“Camels are largely made of knees, going in all directions”

“Camels gallop by throwing their feet as far away from them as possible and then running to keep up”

-Sir Terry Pratchett, discworld series

[lumosinlove]

Breakaway is occupying my brain 24/7 and it’s not even out yet 😂 Could you give us a snoop pretty please?

this brings me joy!!!

“We could get…” Finn nods to a sign. “Library hot chocolate.”

I follow his gaze to a small stand with a steaming cup painted on a sign.

“We’re at a football game.”

“Yeah, but—I don’t know, I sort of feel like every hot chocolate I get with you should be library hot chocolate.”

I adjust my beanie, pulling it lower as our breath fogs between us. “Ouais, I want.”

I stay close to his shoulder as he walk through the crowds. I guess he doesn’t want to lose me because suddenly he’s reaching behind his back and he’s got his hand around my wrist. The crowd presses in so close that all of our coats just become a blur of sheeny fabric and snow dewing up on fabric, so. So.

I turn my palm up into his and lace our fingers together.

When he squeezes back, I just don’t think winning a trophy could be better than that.

When he looks back over his shoulder and smiles at me…

Well, suddenly we’re out of the crush, and his hand slips out of mine easily before the open air but he throws that arm around my shoulders and keeps me close. He stops in front of the vendor and looks up at the menu as if there’s so much to choose from. But it’s really only hot cocoa and adding peppermint to it.

“Do you feel the way about peppermint as you do about mint tea?”

“Mm…” Wrinkle my noise. “Non. Just the chocolate.”

I don’t realize I’m expecting, waiting, wanting him to order for me until he’s doing it.

“Hi there, we’re looking for…” And he looks up at the menu just to give the girl behind the counter some time because she’s just dropped a stack of empty paper cups.

“Sorry, sorry,” she says, rising and tapping at the register. “Sorry, I—yeah. Cool. What can I get you?”

“No, all good, we were still deciding.” Big smile. Blinds me and it’s not even aimed at me. “Could we just do two hot chocolates, please? Love the idea of peppermint, but no peppermint.”

I tilt my temple onto his shoulder, then realize what I’m doing and stand up straight. His arm gets heavier around me.

“Any whipped cream on that? Marshmallows?”

“Yes to both for one, but not the other.”

I go for my wallet but Finn nudges me no and pays with a wrinkled twenty dollar bill. Shows me there’s a heart written by someone in pen on it, blue ink, then hands it over. We step aside to let the next person go up and I lose a few seconds pretending we’re alone. And different. And that I’m better.

He leans back against a wall as we wait, sneaker toes touching mine. “Library doesn’t ask us if we want whipped cream.”

I shake my head. Step one toe just barely over his with a left foot. He does the same with our other pair.

[todaysbird]

the lemon-rumped warbler is a small member of the old-world warbler family with a petite, plump build and soft brown & yellow coloration. found from the western himalayas to central china, they typically are found in elevated forests. they are named for the cheery yellow primarily found on the lower half of the bird. they are insectivorous birds that feed by gleaning insects from foliage in coniferous or mixed forest habitat.