facing the infinite sky, an ant.

Bugs, wasps, spiders, and all manner of arthropods and many-legged friends. I will also post my art occasionally ;)

[toothedgoose]

Howdy!

I’m ToothedGoose, an entomologist and lover of all things with too-many-legs! (Pssst también hablo español, pregúntame sobre bichos ;)

Tags

#bugs — for all the creepy crawlies. I use ‘bugs’ to refer to all arthropods as well as snails and worms. Everything is tagged by common names (ex #spider) for those who wish to find/avoid certain content.

#bugs i found — an ongoing archive of live wild bugs I encounter. They will also be tagged by taxonomy to find related specimens I’ve found in the past. Some of the old IDs are very inaccurate, apologies, this was before I had my current repertoire of bug knowledge.

#the crabitat — updates on the crab-habitat, my project for my two hermit crabs. Check out ‘#hermit crabs’ for pictures of my babies.

#my art — for my drawings/sculptures of creatures and characters!

#goose talks — sometimes I have stuff to say. Most of it is very silly and/or puns; be warned, they are punny.

#original content — for all of the above minus the art tag

[bugtoucher420]

Carrion my wayward bug……….there’ll be no carcass left when you are done….

[sometiktoksarevalid]

[dychelicerae]

good thing she didn't overreact

[waspdaily]

Thank you for your wervice (wasp service)

I'm doing my part o7

[goodlouse]

[lauraciello]

I made a pride flag out of free bug stock photos.

Feel free to use it! 🌈🌈🌈🌈

[starry-907]

@thevalleyoftriumph

[yesterdaysprint]

Hartford Courant, Connecticut, March 9, 1906

[ratbugs]

[be3tleb0nez]

BUG TRANS FLAG BUG TRANS FLAG BUG TRANS FLAG

[pusong-mangga]

[kafkasapartment]

Flag-footed Bug (genus Anisocelis), a member of the leaf-footed bug family (Coreidae). The “flags” are tibial expansions. They serve several purposes: attract mates, a warning they might be toxic and as a diversion, hoping predators will attack the flags and not the insect.

[ratbugs]

there are few more beautiful things in the world than people who love roaches. who coo at wasps and see the beauty in an ant nest.

we’re raised to hate and fear them, in societies that profit immeasurably from the pursuit of their eradication

still, humans aren’t born with hate. it’s a great advantage when they can learn to overcome learned perceptions

it just reminds me that even with all the bad, the spaces where the light shines through persist. the lichen grows on the light pole. . . the moss fights through the grass. . . the spider weaves her web in the doorframe. . .

to all my fellow bug enjoyers, i love you and all your love for the neglected things

every time a little life finds itself safe with you, is something more important than i can put into words. the world will beat us all down again, and again - but your heart is soft and your gaze is not scathing. for that, you are an incredible gem

thank you

[platycryptus]

A giant ichneumon wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus) uses her extremely long ovipositor to drill into a dead maple tree. Megarhyssa includes species with the longest ovipositors of any insect (up to 11 cm in M. macrurus and up to 14 cm in its cousin M. atrata), which also technically gives them the longest total length of any hymenopteran insect. The ovipositor is used to pierce deep into dead or dying trees to lay eggs on the larvae of a large wood-boring sawfly (Tremex columba).

Her ovipositor acts not only as a drill but as a sensory organ, and is highly sensitive to vibrations in the wood made by the sawfly larvae. Note how the translucent membranes of her abdomen stretch as she applies pressure by curling the base of the ovipositor, then retract when she withdraws to search for a different spot.

(Massachusetts, July 2025)

[grecoromanyaoi]

citationless behavior

[grecoromanyaoi]

sourceless behavior

[great-and-small]

Actually I do not feel snug as a bug in a rug I feel uptight as a mite in a fight

[toothedgoose]

I found this on my car and it truly made my day! Thank you kind soul for the millipede drawing hahah. #staywhimsical

(For context, my car is covered in entomology-themed bumper stickers + insect stickers all over it).