#Order: Diptera

[haveyouseenthisanimal-irl]

Range: much of North America

[swaglet]

there is not a single one of earth's creatures that i hate... except for the common housefly. God really made a mistake with that one

[blazeball]

i call this one "what if your boyfriend fell in love with the parasite that infected him" or "contender for the worlds most fatal throuple" if i'm feeling frisky

[hasmephydoneanythingwrong]

Fate Fanservant: Beelzebub, the Breeder of Chaos (Beast IX:D [Diptera])

(Picrew link, these designs are nowhere near final)

Ascension Stages:

First Stage: A tall, pale, rail-thin man with short, wild black hair and a pinstriped suit. Small flies buzz around him. Think your typical Tumblr sexyman, but he’s been stretched like taffy and hasn’t showered in months.

Second Stage: Beelzebub now wears a much more extravagant suit that combines various patterns and headache-inducing color combinations. His hair has grown out, his eyes are now compound and he’s gained a dad bod. The flies are about fist-sized now.

(I'm not sure about the dad bod, TBH. Apparently he sometimes represents gluttony and also I wanted to come up with a Heroic Spirit who has a dad bod, but I don't know if this comes across as fatphobic since he's, you know, Beelzebub)

Third Stage: Beelzebub now has the head of an actual fly, with the flies surrounding him having donned his second-stage head. He has swapped his clothes out for tattered robes and a hooded cape, although he makes a point to keep the hood down.

Theme:

Stages 1 and 2: Such Horrible Things — Creature Feature

Stage 3: Coup d’État — Ghost and Pals

Traits:

Class: Beast

Alternate Classes: Alter Ego

True Name: Beelzebub

Source: Old Testament

Region: Israel

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Attribute: Beast

Also known as: Baʿal Zebub, Beelzebul, Belzebuth, the Lord of the Flies

Voice Claim: Will Wood

Traits: Bestial (thank you, @300iqprower!), Demon, Demonic (seriously, why are there two of them), Demonic Beast, Enuma Elish Nullification, Non-Hominidae Servant, Servant, Wild Beast (3rd Stage only)

Parameters:

Strength: E+

Endurance: D

Agility: A

Mana: EX

Luck: B

NP: B

Passive Skills:

Independent Manifestation A--

Authority of the Beast C

Active Skills:

Nega-Stasis B

A skill that opposes and corrodes the status quo. So long as a human can be perceived by Beast IX:D, they can and likely will have any semblance of stability ripped out from under them as the very fundamentals of their world are turned upside down.

Apply Special Defense (-50%) and Special Attack (+100%) against Human enemies.

Decrease one enemy’s Buff Success Rate by 500%.

Animal Communication B

As Lord of the Flies and second-in-command of Hell, Beast IX:D can communicate will all insects and arachnids.

Buzz of Insanity A-

With the mere flap of a wing, Beast IX:D can drive a mere mortal to madness.

Invert one enemy’s alignment. [Good becomes Evil, Lawful becomes Chaotic, etc.]

Apply Berserker class defenses to one enemy.

Noble Phantasm: Lord of the Flies — This Misunderstanding is Mine to Own

Rank: B

NP Type: Anti-City

Maximum Targets: 7

A Noble Phantasm that expands the title “Lord of the Flies” to include the 1954 British novel. The target(s) are isolated within a Reality Marble that forces them to experience up to seven months on a deserted island within the span of a minute. This Noble Phantasm’s capacity to dull the senses increases in effectiveness based on strength of the opponent’s own struggles.

Inflict Terror to all enemies (including backline).

Decrease charge for all affected enemies.

Increase own NP Gauge based on number of enemies affected.

“My Room” Line Ideas

Gilles de Rais (both), Gilgamesh (Archer, Caster), Elizabeth Báthory (Lancer), Martha (Rider and Ruler), Mephistopheles, Asterios, Jeanne d’Arc (Ruler and Summer), Elizabeth Báthory (Halloween), David, Cú Chulainn (Alter), Angra Mainyu, “Pharaoh” trait Heroic Spirits, Enkidu, Circe, Abigail Williams (both), Junao, Ashwatthama, Asclepius, Paris, Salome, Caren C. Hortensia, Oberon, Elizabeth Báthory (Cinderella), Martha (Santa), Grigori Rasputin, Aesc the Savior (Stages 1 and 2)

[moth-mayh3m]

POSSIBLE BEST TUMBLR BUG COMPETITION 2023 CONTENDERS/CANDIDATES

[asimplecabbage]

I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but mayflies are, in fact, not flies.

I have just learned that Mountain Goats are NOT, in fact, actual Goats.

[margle]

Im still so mad about the fact im kinda allergic to mosquitoes. Like im literally their no.1 defender

[kestrels-and-katydids]

The loverssss

[i-3at-s0ap]

BUG AHEAD!

Meet my little bathroom friend Claudia! She is a bathroom moth fly (aka Clogmia albipunctata) and she is so cute!!!!! She is a member of the Diptera order meaning she is a true fly, even though she is fuzzy like a moth. All these photos were taken by me :D

[haveyouseenthisanimal-irl]

Range: Every continent except from Antarctica

[bespectacled-grackle]

Okay, entomology brain is annoyed by a Tumblr ad

Specifically, this one. First, Albert Einstein never said that.

Secondly, and more importantly, that is NOT a honey bee, or even a bee at all. That is a bee fly, a very important, very cute pollinator. However! They have parasitoid larvae! This means that they lay their eggs in the larvae of other bugs. Those eggs hatch, and those larvae eat the bug they're in from the inside out. Sounds horrible, but it's the way of things and I cannot understate how important these guys are.

The reason I'm annoyed about the picture of choice isn't even that they didn't picture a bee (not even in the right order- bees are hymenopterans. Flies are diptera.) What's really grinding my absolute gears about the choice here? Bee flies parasitize bee larva.

If you're going to use the wrong picture, at least don't use the picture of something that actively kills what you're trying to protect instead of the animal you're protecting.

Also, honeybees, Apis mellifera, don't need protection. They're fine. They're invasive in North America, even. Humans take care of them just fine. I'm a beekeeper, and I love them, but that's not where our efforts should be. We should be trying to protect native bees, there are a whole bunch that I bet you've never heard of that need help.

Anyway, rant over. Sorry, I just could not let that one go.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Gnat Attack

Debut: Mario Paint

I love flies! Diptera is my favorite insect order! But the world as a whole does not love flies. Just look at Flyswatter. An entire genre of item that exists to try and kill flies! It would be nice if everyone could love flies while still being reasonably careful about the biting and disease-spreading one, but at least the prevalence of fly swatting means I get to talk about some Weird Mario Flies!

Fly is the most basic fly. I wouldn't want anything else for this role! A classic gray housefly who will land on your food and rub its hands together. One of the most charismatic fly behaviors! It looks like they're scheming, but they're really cleaning their hands when they do that! It would be nice if they did it before landing on your food, but they're not being rude on purpose... or are they?! (they are not. They are not smart enough to do that)

Fly does not have interesting behaviors and in fact cannot even attack the player, but the most interesting thing about it, to me, is their relationship with Munchers! If a Muncher is shaken enough in Super Mario Maker, flies will come out, and swatting them is the way to start the Gnat Attack minigame. But why here? Why Muncher? I guess it's because of the Venus Fly Trap inspiration, and compared to standard Piranha Plants, Munchers look more like they would catch bugs, rather than tear meat from bone. Perhaps this is rudely shaking out the Muncher's meal! That's not nice! And then the player most likely just wants to swat the fly. What a waste! At least eat it.

Big Fly is the first dangerous one, and can attack the hand that holds the flyswatter! What's it going to do? Spread pathogens? Suck blood? Fly into your eye and make you blink a lot? None of those things! It will fire Projectiles. Its shiny green exoskeleton brings to mind the green bottle fly, which does not have any Projectile Attacks as far as I know.

I don't know why, but Big Fly is the only one from the original game to not return in Super Mario Maker. Maybe its attack pattern didn't work well with the new control method? It DID feature in the pause menu, return in the WarioWare version of Gnat Attack, and even get to be on the title screen there! Maybe all that went to its head, and it started demanding too much. A rabbit carcass all to itself at the snack break area. That's just too much rabbit carcass! You're not too good to eat at the same rabbit carcass as the rest of us!

Fly Parent is my favorite one! For many reasons! This is not Fly Mother. This is a non-binary parent birthing insects out the wazoo! Representation Win! I'm glad it's yellow, because that reminds me of hoverflies, my very favorite flies! The sweet little slurpers who just want to drink nectar, and mimic bees and wasps for protection! As babies, though, they are voracious predators, and Fly Parent differs in this regard.

Instead of larvae, Fly Parent gives birth directly to Fly Children! These have the most basic fly design possible, but their circumstances are interesting enough to compensate! I assume you know that flies, as with many insects, hatch from an egg as a larva, then later become a pupa, and finally emerge as a winged adult. Fly Children, however, appear to be these very winged adults, and also look nothing like Fly Parent! There are a few possible explanations.

One: Fly Parent is artificial. Its abdomen is bizarrely shaped, and honestly rather artificial-looking. It is not a true fly, but a transport for a fleet of real, tiny flies.

Two: Fly Parent is PARTLY artificial. It has an artificial womb to raise young in, allowing them to undergo complete metamorphosis inside, feeding the larvae with mechanical bug milk. As for the children being so small... they're premature? I don't know!

Three: Fly Parent is an adoptive parent to the Fly Children, and has a great relationship with its countless adult children of a different species.

I think any of these is a pretty great option! I'd be happy with any of them being confirmed if Nintendo ever does a Reddit AMA to answer Mario lore questions!

Fly Bomb is what it looks and sounds like. A fly, that is a bomb! A Bob-omb, specifically, since this is Mario. I always get a kick of how this style and color of eye often denotes a bomb in this franchise. There are ants and termites that are able to explode and sacrifice themselves for their colonies, so maybe if there were eusocial flies, Fly Bomb could become real! Hopefully it would be spherical with a string fuse, too! Bob-omb is a flawless design, and it has even fewer flaws when it is also a fly. I think, lore-wise, this could have been the creature to inspire the creation of Bob-ombs in the first place!

Finally is King Watinga! The big bad robotic fly who is like, leader of the flies or something? I don't know. I don't think this entire insect order has a single leader, between you and me. But someone made a robotic fly and it's mean. King Watinga is capable of spawning Fly Children, which I think backs up the Artificial Fly Parent theory! I don't care much for his design, but it is so silly for there to be a Boss of the flies, a Mastermind behind a mildly annoying buzzing. It's an organized thing! Also, I don't know why he is named King Watinga. Watinga is a last name most common in Papua New Guinea, and I have no idea why a robobug is named it! Does anyone know? Will anyone tell me? Please? Thank you

[herpsandbirds]

Do you have information about "lovebugs?" (2 bugs attached end to end) I have only ever seen them in Southern Louisiana and Southern Mississippi. I'm from South East Louisiana and there use to be "Lovebug" season every year. There would be so many that it was difficult to see. The bugs were so delicate that just barely touching them, smeared them onto clothing and cars, etc. For some years now love bug season doesn't exist. I hardly see them anymore. Do you know why?

Thanks in advance!

Lovebugs (Plecia nearctica), family Bibionidae, order Diptera, found in the SE US, Mexico, and Central America

Lovebugs are in the Marchfly family, a family of true flies.

Lovebugs seem to have up and down years, their populations go through periods of boom and bust. I have seen huge swarms in Spring and in Fall.

In the US, they are most common along the Gulf Coast states. We get them here in Houston commonly.

Lovebugs are in the Marchfly family, a family of true flies.

Lovebugs seem to have up and down years, their populations go through periods of boom and bust.

In the US, they are most common along the Gulf Coast states. We get them here in Houston commonly.

The adults feed mainly on nectar, the larvae feed on decaying plant material.

photograph by Wikifrosch

[floridensis]

i can only put ten answers so i am sorry to everyone i could not represent!

[grubloved]

Congrats on seeing a tiger fly I hope you know that: COENOSIA ATTENUATA CAN BEHAVE LIKE A FALCONERS BIRD!!!!

[this is a submission.]

WHAT THE FUCK??

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: aquatic insect larvae

This Wet Beast Wednesday is going to be different than usual. Instead of an in-depth overview of a specific species or group of species, I'm going to give a general overview of aquatic insect larvae as a whole and then showcase some groups of insects. I'm going to focus on insects that have an aquatic larval stage and terrestrial adult stage, saving adult aquatic insects for another post.

(Image ID: a group of mosquito larvae. They are yellowish bugs with long, slender bodies, no visible limbs, small heads, and feathery appendages from their rear ends. From the back of the abdomen, a snorkel-like appeadage attaches to the surface of the water, using surface tension to allow the larvae to hang from the surface. End ID)

Insects are basically the most successful group of animals in the history of life on Earth and have adapted to live in just about every terrestrial habitat. It should not be much of a surprise than that they have also moved into the water. More specifically, fresh water as almost all aquatic insects inhabit fresh or maybe brackish water. Only the water strider genus Halobates are truly marine. Some species of insect are aquatic for their entire lives, some are primarily terrestrial but able to swim, and some are aquatic only for their larval stage of life. These aquatic larvae species are generally agreed to have evolved from fully terrestrial ancestors. The adaptation of partially returning to the water has evolved independently many times in many different clades of insect and so different species use different strategies and adaptations. It is possible that aquatic larvae evolved in response to high competition for resources on land. If multiple species are competing over the same resources during their larval stages but one of those species manages to adapt to a whole new environment, that species will now have abundant access to resources the other species are unable to get to. Because of the very different lifestyles required for aquatic and terrestrial animals, aquatic larvae often look very different than their adult forms.

(Image: an aquatic beetle larva. It looks nothing like an adult beetle, instead being a long, slender insect with no wings, multiple body segments, and two hairy appendages at the base of the abdomen. End ID)

Aquatic larvae serve important roles in their ecosystems. Many are herbivores or detritivores that consume algae and bits of biological material, helping recycle nutrients and clean the water. Some are predators that hunt smaller invertebrates or plankton. Importantly, aquatic insect larvae provide a major food source for larger fish, invertebrates, birds, and so on. Some species can be considered keystone species, vital to their ecosystems. Many species are highly sensitive to changes in their environment, allowing them to act as indicator species for the health of their ecosystems. The trio of mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies are very commonly used as indicators of pollution as all three are highly sensitive to pollutants. A stream with few mayflies, stoneflies, or caddisflies but plenty of less sensitive species is likely to be polluted.

(Image ID: a collage of aquatic larvae of multiple species in the order Diptera (true flies. They vary from slug-like to having multiple distinct body segments with legs, to looking like maggots with long tails. End ID. Source)

Mayflies (order Ephemeroptera) are among the oldest lineages of winged insects, bearing traits that they first flying insect also had. Juvenile mayflies are technically not larvae, but nymphs. The difference between a larva and a nymph is that nymphs look much more like the adult stage than larvae do. Mayfly nymphs lack the wings of adults, but have external gills growing from the sides of their abdomens. Mayfly nymphs can be identified by three appendages called cerci that emerge from the back of the abdomen. They are bottom-dwellers that typically live under rocks and other objects or amid plants. Most are herbivores, feeding mainly on algae. Months to years after hatching (species dependent), mayflies will float to the surface and go through a molt to a stage called the subimago. Uniquely among insects, mayflies go through two final winged molts. The first is to a not sexually mature stage called the subimago, then they quickly molt again into a fully mature imago stage. These molts happen in sync, resulting in hundreds to thousands of mayflies appearing all at once and swarming together to mate. Famously, adult mayflies exist only to mate and die. Their digestive systems are non-functional and few species last past a few days.

(Image: a mayfly nymph on a rock. It is a yellow bug with no wings, a long abdomen, and thick, grasping legs. Three long, hairy cerci emerge from the back. Along the side of the abdomen are multiple pairs of white, feathery gills. End ID)

Stoneflies (order Plecoptera) also have nymphs and can be quite difficult to tell apart from mayfly nymphs if you don't know what to look for. One of the biggest differences is that their gills are located by the base of the legs rather than along the abdomen. Like mayflies, stoneflies are some of the most primitive winged insects, but mayflies are Paleopterans (the earliest wings insects) while stoneflies and most other winged insects are Neopterans. The main difference is that Neopterans can flex their wings over their abdomens while Paleopterans cannot, and must hold their wings either out to the side or up in the air. Like with Mayflies, many adult stoneflies have nonfunctional digestive systems and exist only to mate and die.

(Image: a stonefly larva. It looks similar to a mayfly larva, but has a shorter abdomen, gills along the base of the legs, and only two cerci. End ID)

Caddisflies (order tricoptera) are the builders of the aquatic insect world. These larvae (most species anyway) can produce silk from glands near their mouths. These are used to make a variety of structures made from silk and various other materials including sand, silt, plant parts, shells, rock, and so on. Different species will seek out specific materials for their structures. There are a few types of structures, the most common of which is a tubular case that is open at both ends. The larva can carry the case with it as it crawls around and can retreat into the case for protection. The larva can draw water into one end of the case and out the other, allowing oxygenated water to flow over the gills. By moving around in the case, the larva can draw in more water. This allows the larvae to survive in water that is too oxygen-poor for other larvae. Other species build different structures including turtle-shell like domes or stationary retreats. My favorite structures are nets built with an open end into current. The current naturally brings detritus and micro-invertebrates into the net, where the larva can eat them. Caddisflies also pupate into pupa that have mandibles to cut their way out of their cases and swimming legs. Once developed, the pupae swim to the surface and molt into their adult forms. This molting is synchronized to ensure the adults emerge in swarms and can easily find mates.

(Image ID: a caddisfly larva in its case. The case is a tube composed of pebbles of different colors stuck together with silk. The head and legs of the larva are merging from the front of the case. End ID)

(Image: a caddisfly net. It is a structure made of silk shaped like a tube that is wide at one end and tapers toward the other. It is curved so both ends face the same way. End ID)

The order Megaloptera consists of alderflies, dobsonflies, and fishflies. All three have aquatic larvae, but their eggs are laid on land. Most species lad their eggs on plants overhanging the water so the larvae fall in once hatched, though a few lay eggs near the water's edge, forcing the larvae to crawl in. Meglaoptera have the least amount of differences between larva and adult of all holometabolous (pupa-forming) insects. The largest differences between the larvae and adults is the larvae lack wings and some species have leg-like prolegs. All species are carnivorous as larvae and feed on other invertebrates.

The adults don't look any less creepy

(Image: two hellgrammites, the larval form of a dobsonfly. It looks somewhat like a centipede with three pairs of limbs and a long abdomen with multiple pairs of leg-like prolegs. The head has no visible antennae, but does have a pair of powerful pincers. End ID)

Order Odonata consists of dragonflies and damselflies. These are powerful predators both as nymphs and adults. As nymphs, the juveniles are shorter and stockier than the adults, with no wings. The nymphs (or naiads) breathe through gills. In damselflies, these gills can be external, but dragonfly nymphs have their gills located in the anus. Damselflies can swim by undulating their gills, but dragonfly nymphs are restricted to crawling. The nymphs are voracious predators that will feed on anything they can catch. Most of their diet consists of invertebrates, but they will also attack small fish, tadpoles, and even salamanders.

(Image ID: a dragonfly larva on a rock. Its head is similar to that of the adults, but the abdomen is much shorter and broader and the legs are longer. It has no wings and is brown all over. End ID)

The groups of insects I covered today (plus the stoneflies) all have exclusively or near-exclusively have aquatic larvae while the adults are terrestrial. In other groups, aquatic larvae may be present in some species while others have terrestrial larvae. For example, a great many members of the order Diptera (true flies) have aquatic larvae including all mosquitos, while other members of the order have fully terrestrial larvae. In addition there are species of beetle (order Coleoptera), moth (order Lepidoptera), lacewing (order Neuroptera), and scorpionflies (order Mecoptera) that have aquatic larvae and some species of the true bugs (order Hemiptera) have aquatic larvae and aquatic adults, including water skaters, water scorpions, and giant water bugs. Aquatic insects are so prevalent that it is rare to find any lasting body of water that doesn't host some aquatic larvae or adults. Even incredibly stagnant and filthy water can host aquatic insect larvae, as shown by the notorious rat-tailed maggots, who love stagnant water and breathe through snorkels. Many species require very specific conditions and there are species of insect who exclusively grow their larvae in specific streams or lakes. Because of this, conservation of these bodies of water is vital to their survival and pollution, damming, and other factors can destroy whole species.

(Image: an aquatic moth larva. It looks very similar to a green land caterpillar, with none of the fancy elements many land species have. It is translucent and wrapped around some aquatic plant stems. End ID)