#[crickets]

[spricket-central]

speaking of ceiling enjoyers...

Honey LOVES the ceiling. i find her up there all the time.

[kply-industries]

[geopsych]

Sunlight through trees in late September.

[snakeguy999]

Cri cri

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Cheap Cricut. Real cheap- not even a cricket.

[halleehalfgallon]

I was passing through a neighboring town and seeing the lush, green rolling hills and the blushing blueberry fields and the pale green lichens and fern after fern and while my first thought was my god, what a place to live!, my second thought was how many other animals on this earth look around at their habitat and think the very same, and how sweet that is. my old dog used to sit halfway down our hill and close her eyes. she was listening to the wind pass through, the stream go by, the seasons come in and go out without a sound. I’ll bet the birds and the crickets and the caterpillars do the very same.

[taxonomytournament]

Taxonomy Tournament: Insects

Phasmatodea. This order is made up of insects that mimic plants. Members include stick insects and leaf-bugs

Orthoptera. This order has elongated hindlegs adapted for jumping. Members include grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids.

[scrollonso]

tf did u want me to say to that

[collemblogging]

a rarely-encountered ant cricket (Myrmecophilus) among Crematogaster ants. these myrmecophiles are adapted to living in ant colonies and solicit food from ants for nourishment.

[sulfurousdragon]

[futurebird]

Tube loitering

One of the downsides to connecting your nests using long tubes is "ant loitering" some ants like to just hang out in the tubes because they retain a little moisture and it's near everything. This will cause the tubes to get dirty and less attractive... hence my new invention of a "mid tube fan."

Getting ants to do anything is next level. They respond to every change and not in the ways you'd predict. They are sensitive to temp, light levels and air currents in ways that aren't obvious. I just need to find a small enough fan and 3D print a little holder for it. 

I recently cleared out a tube that the cone ants blocked with sand, using ... the legs of dead crickets like rebar to reenforce the structure. They had made this whole barricade to regulate the air flow to the nest (hence I'd never recommend a fan on a nest tube)

I guess building a wall out of cricket legs (as struts) with a sand slurry like concrete... isn't any more strange than those early humans with their bone huts...

though I still find both creepy.

[spricket-central]

when i first met Donut, i wasnt sure he'd survive the night.

i caught him while he was hiding in the folds of my bedsheets, with my cat Wembley still in pursuit. the poor thing had taken a beating: he was missing his right jumping leg, and his 2nd right walking leg appeared to be completely paralyzed, dragging behind him as he nervously skittered around in his temporary enclosure.

luckily, his injuries were purely external, and he pulled through brilliantly!

i moved him into a large enclosure with Baguette, a solitary adult female i had rescued only a week prior. she was a tad stand-offish with him at first, but the two quickly became friendly, spending most of their time hanging out together!

his paralyzed leg was eventually discarded, possibly by him gnawing it off himself. he moved about rather clumsily, only having one leg on his right side to work with his undamaged left limbs, but he seemed to have no problem getting around regardless. he loved to climb around the enclosure, and could still haul ass when he felt surprised or threatened, ahaha.

Donut was such a character. i have no idea how he managed to fit so much energy (or cucumber) into that funny little bean-shaped body. im so glad that i was able to give him a calm, easy life after his brush with death. i just wanted him to be comfortable, but he didnt just survive: he thrived.

Donut, i love you dearly, and I'll miss you and your antics so much. i promise I'll take good care of your girlfriend. im even thinking of incubating some of her eggs, so who knows, you may even end up a father!

I'll think of you tomorrow when im cutting up everybodys cucumber 💚

Donut

10/17/23 (caught) - 1/8/24

[antiqueanimals]

The Natural History of Insects; In Two Volumes. Vol. II. 1835.

Internet Archive

[geopsych]

Some peaceful seconds from this day two years ago.

[princeofallbones]

INSECT OF THE DAY: the Wart-biter (Decticus verrucivorus)

Wart-biters are a type of bush-cricket. They grow up to 3-4 centimeters long, can fly if they get scared, and make a noise eerily similar to that of an accelerating bicycle. They get their name from the practice common throughout eighteen century Europe: getting rid of Warts by getting these guys to nibble on them

The upper two pictures: Adult male of the red morph.

The bottom two: Adult female of the green morph.

Might want to start a discussion about manipulated nature photographs: sorry for not being able to photograph them in their natural habitats