#The Insects 🐞 🕷️ 🐜

[xtruss]

Trapped at eight meters (26 feet) above the ground, this yet-to-be-named phorid fly species is a “parasitoid death-dealing machine” that jabs its eggs into other insects, says entomologist Brian Brown. Brown, the curator of entomology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, photographed the insects in this article using a camera-and-microscope setup that was originally developed to examine flaws in computer chips. Photograph By Brian Brown, Natural History Museum of Los Aangele County

For Insects, The Amazon’s Canopy Contains A Dazzling Multiverse

A new study finds that high in rainforest trees, insects live in ecosystems that vary wildly from the forest floor on up.

— By Natasha Daly | Published March 2, 2022 | Saturday October 7, 2023

“I thought, my God, this is like someone’s discovered another continent!” says Brian Brown, an Entomology Curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He was talking about insects.

When studying insects in the Amazon, most entomologists cast their eyes down, to the intricate pathways of moss and underbrush that make up the rainforest floor. But José Albertino Rafael wanted to look up. Really far up—to more than 105 feet in the canopy.

Two hours northwest of Manaus, Brazil, a 131-foot steel tower rises from a pristine area of the rainforest. Built in 1979, the tower had long been used to track the exchange of carbon dioxide between the trees and the atmosphere, but more recently it has been used for pioneering entomology research. Photograph By Craig Cutler

During two weeks in 2017, Rafael, an Entomologist at Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research, and colleagues trapped insects at various heights, starting at ground level, from a 131-foot tower erected in the middle of the Amazon, just outside Manaus.

The findings were staggering, says Brown, who was part of a team that examined and recorded all 37,000 insects that were collected. Nearly half of them were flies. “There were weird and different things. I didn’t even know what genus these were, let alone species.”

Ground Level: Tumbling flower beetles have a triangular body that helps them escape predators. Photograph By Brian Brown, Natural History Museum of Los Aangele County

The results of their analysis, published in Nature on February 2, point to a distinct and previously unexamined network of ecosystems in rainforest trees. More than 60 percent of the 857 species of flies collected, for example, were found above ground level. Many, if not most, likely are new species, Brown says.

Previous studies have compared insects on the ground with those in the canopy, but this is one of the first efforts to understand insect diversity at smaller vertical intervals.

8 Meters (26 Feet): The mantis wasp uses its ovipositor—a needlelike organ for laying eggs—to pierce the egg cases of mantises. When the wasp’s larvae hatch, they feed on the mantis’s eggs. Photograph By Brian Brown, Natural History Museum of Los Aangele County

The findings underscore how much of the insect world still remains undiscovered, says Floyd Shockley, the collections manager of the entomology department at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the study.

“Millions of things that live in the tropical canopy never come to ground,” he says, adding that these kinds of vertical studies “are incredibly important because [without them], we’re missing out on a tremendous amount of biodiversity.”

Sorting Insects

To collect the insects, Rafael set five large, tent-like netted traps off the tower at 26-foot intervals, starting at ground level and reaching up to 105 feet.

16 Meters (52 Feet): Both the forest canopy and the undergrowth are patrolled by parasitoid wasps seeking their prey—mostly caterpillars. Photograph By Brian Brown, Natural History Museum of Los Aangele County

Brown and Dalton de Souza Amorim, an entomologist at the University of Sao Paolo, and the rest of their team first sorted the insects by order (flies, beetles, bugs, and more). They focused on Diptera—flies—sorting more than 16,000 specimens into 56 families, then into 857 species. It’s unclear how many of those species are new to science. “It would take years and a ton of research to find out,” Brown says, but he guesses that many or most are undescribed.

Some families of flies were most abundant and diverse on the ground. Others were concentrated in the canopy. Still others peaked at the middle levels. Notably, between 90 and 100 percent of specimens of some families of flies were found in the four highest traps.

24 Meters (79 Feet): The watchful jewel beetle's massive eyes allow it to flee from predators—and researchers—quickly, making the beetles difficult to collect for study. Photograph By Brian Brown, Natural History Museum of Los Aangele County

What’s the Bigger Picture?

So much remains unknown about insects. “We’re still finding fish and amphibians, but we’re getting pretty close on birds and mammals to having a complete picture on their diversity,” Shockley says. But scientific models estimate the number of undiscovered insect species at between five and 30 million. “Every time we get one of these studies, it helps us improve the model so we can see how much we haven’t discovered.”

There are many reasons why knowledge of so many insect species remains elusive. “They’re small, they’re fast, they’re highly diverse, and they can occupy almost any niche,” he says.

So “we have to understand how they interact with each other, us, and crops,” Shockley says. “And we can’t talk about what they’re doing until we put a name on what they are.”

32 Meters (105 Feet): Iridescent orchid bees, tropical cousins of bumblebees and honeybees, are among the multitude of insects that entomologists have collected at the observation tower. Photograph By Brian Brown, Natural History Museum of Los Aangele County

Most insect sampling has been done based on latitude and longitude and sometimes altitude—up a mountain, for example, where habitats can change dramatically. But by collecting insects vertically in forest habitats, which is hard to do, Shockley says, “we’re adding an additional dimension to our understanding of diversity in three-dimensional space.”

Flies get a bad rap—it can be hard for people to understand why we should care about them. “But organisms [like insects] are arguably way more important than mammals or birds for the structure of the forest,” Brown says. “They’re important for pollination, energy, recycling, and more. What would happen if there were no insects feeding on decaying bodies? The ecosystem services they provide are so vital—but almost invisible.”

[whim513]

im so grateful for bugs 🐞🐛🐜🦟🪲🪳🕷️🦋🦗🐝🐌🪰🪱

[sacrifesse]

┣▇▇▇═─ BUG ╱ MOTH iD PACK 〰️

🪲 ︵︵ REQUESTED BY ANON ᶻ 𝗓

🪲 ︵︵ TAGGiNG @id-pack-archive ᶻ 𝗓

✙ ︵︵ SYSTEM NAMES : the moths , the swarm (system) , the eclipse (system, collective, etc.) , the lantern lovers , the moonlit dancers , the nocturnal system/collective/etc. , the creepy crawly collective , the entomologists , the honeys¹

¹ inspired by the book of the same name by ryan la sala

✙ ︵︵ NAMES : moth , luna , eclipse , stella , flora , buzz , bee , bug , spyder² , adalia , andrena, attacus , greta , kaira , (me)lyssa , (va)nessa , lunesse , moonesse , moonette , insectte

² names that certain alters of the darling stars use

✙ ︵︵ PRONOUNS : bug bugs , moth moths , moon moons , eclipse eclipses , insect insects , beetle beetles , spider spiders , ant ants , bee bees , cricket crickets , cicada cicadas , fly flys , gnat gnats , roach roachs , 🐞 🐞s , 🐛 🐛s , 🐜 🐜s , 🦟 🦟s , 🪲 🪲s , 🪳 🪳s , 🕷️ 🕷️s , 🕸️ 🕸️s , 🐝 🐝s , 🪰 🪰s , 🦋 🦋s

✙ ︵︵ USERNAMES : lanternluvr , lightluvr , moonlitmoth , bugbrained , gnatgendered , moonlitmaggots , crittercake , cinnacritter

✙ ︵︵ TiTLES : the moonlit dancer , prn who bathes in the moonlight , the child of the moon , the insect investigator , the entomologist , prn who dances to the crickets’ song , prn who catches fireflies (in a jar)

✙ ︵︵ LABELS : bug system , bugloveris , bugsessive , moth lesbian

✙ ︵︵ GENDER SYSTEMS : gendermoth

✙ ︵︵ GENDERS : buggender , bugfag(got) , genderbug , buglike , mothgender , mothogender , bugcharmic , bluebeetleic , angelbugic , bugfallgender , skorotheosic , muckcoric , beetlefreak , melolonthagender , flygender , beetlegender , bugsoundic , cecropiamothic , buglaside , mantisbeetlefliec , gianleomoth , roachgender , peachmothic , bugboyic , rosymaplic , waspgender , bugfearic , buggirlic , antgender , bughorroic , fireflyluver , centipedian , bobbitwormic , dragonflygender , caterpillargender , zoviagender , millipedian , mosquitogender , lunamothic , atlasmothic , mothbodiment , bugthing , gothbuggender / penilagender , creepycrawlygender , 🐛gender

[PT: bug/moth id pack. requested by anon. tagging id-pack-archive. system names. names. pronouns. usernames. titles. labels. gender systems. genders. /END PT]

[rollinouttahere-writes]

I've got an interesting idea for a bug race for a one piece au! Since there is Fishmen and Minks with many distinct animal and fish features in their appearance so how about a race with insect, arachnid and other invertebrate features! 🐌🦋🐛🐜🐝🪲🐞🦗🪳🕷️🕸️🦂🦟🪰🪱 And what kind of bug would each straw hat member be in this AU?

Okay so fun fact about me, I was an entomology major in college before I dropped out. So thank you for this request because it was very self indulgent!

Insect AU

Luffy would be a jack jumper ant (Myrmecia Pilosula). This ant is very strong even by ant standards. Like their name suggests, they can leap up to 76 millimeters, which is extremely impressive when you take into account that they range from 11 - 14 millimeters in size. On top of that, they possess a potent venom that kills other insects with ease. They are notably aggressive, even towards things much larger than themselves, and can reliably kill prey much larger than themselves. Truly a fierce fighter that can go toe to toe with many enemies.

Zoro would be a centipede, specifically the Scolopendra Polymorpha. This centipede varies a lot in color, and can even be green. These guys pack some pretty serious venom with necrotic properties, not something you want to experience. Centipedes are extremely agile predators that can take down all kinds of prey with ease thanks to their strength and ability to contort their body.

Nami would be a velvet ant (Dasymutilla Occidentalis). Despite the name, these guys are not ants, but are ground dwelling wasps that happen to resemble ants. They have a deceptively cute reddish-orange fuzzy appearance, that makes their venomous sting all the more surprising. While only males of the species can fly, females have a stinger that delivers a devastating venom to whatever has it on the defense. While the effects of it are excruciating, it is not fatal. 

Usopp would be a spiny leaf insect (Extatosoma Tiaratum). Despite the name, males don’t have many spikes beyond the ones on their face and some defensive ones on the legs, but they can fly so at least they have that going for them. One of their means of defense is to do a threat pose that makes them resemble a scorpion (and the nymphs mimic the appearance of a toxic species of ants), which sounds like a very Usopp thing to do in my humble opinion. 

Sanji would be a budwing mantis (Parasphendale Affinis). This is widely considered to be the most aggressive mantid species. I will preface this by saying that this mostly applies to females, but for the sake of the AU, I’m going to ignore that and allow Sanji to have these qualities. The budwing mantis is a voracious predator that regularly kills prey three times the size of themselves, and will do their damnedest to intimidate even bigger animals. These guys are ambush predators with insanely fast reflexes. Males are especially eager to find a mate (however fatal that may be). 

Chopper is a bumblebee, specifically the Bombus Balteatus. Why did I choose that one, you ask? Because it was the fluffiest looking one I could find. As for the rest of the reasoning, Chopper just has cute bumblebee vibes to me. He likes using his honey in his medicine when applicable. This is another case of us ignoring insect gender-roles.

Robin is a noble false widow spider (Steatoda Nobilis). This spider is commonly mistaken for black widows even though I don’t get how because they look nothing alike I mean really it’s like saying wolf spiders look like a brown recluse, so they have an unfairly bad reputation. While their venom is medically significant, it’s on par with a bee sting and nothing to worry about.

Franky is an atlas beetle (Chalcosoma Atlas). These are massive beetles with a very tough shell and most notably, have three long horns both for defense and mating purposes. Despite their intimidating size, they are actually quite friendly and make for great pets.

Brook would be a prairie mole cricket (Gryllotalpa Major). Despite the name, these aren’t true crickets, just a close relative. Lacking the specialized legs that crickets use to chirp, they instead rub their wings together to make noise. They dig burrows specifically designed to have excellent acoustics so as to help more females hear their “music”, which is surprisingly complex and can have up to five harmonics.

Jinbei would be a lobster. Not really an insect, but a relative of them no less.

[golly-that-beat-is-dandy]

Hey y'all fun fact in in the hospital rn

Not dying or anything but my left leg/hip are absolutely FUCKED and I can barely walk, doctors say it's bad sciatica and some herniated disks in my spine, waiting on getting an MRI but it might be a while cause this hospital doesn't have an MRI scanner so they need to see if they can get me in at the hospital a few towns over. They also said something about maybe having to see a spine surgeon but that's up to me and my family doctor to decide

Anyway, send me pictures of your pets and tell me about them!! Especially if they're uncommon pets, I love insects 🪲🐞🐜🐌🪳🦋🐛🪱🕷️🦂

If you don't have any pictures of pets, memes and well wishes would be incredibly appreciated as well ❤️

[thatinvertguyfinds]

Introduction Post

🪲🐛🐜🐞🪳🕷️🦂🦗🐝🦋🪱🐌

Welcome to @thatinvertguyfinds, the blog where I post various invertebrates such as arachnids, insects, and gastropods. I also post fossils I find, so yeah.

Main blog: @thatinvertguy

[daisychainsandbowties]

What was your favorite animal when you were a kid? Also are you scared of any insect?

this is so hard i loved them all 😭😭😭 um but hyenas because they giggle and they’re scruffy and i think being licked by one would be nice and smell of blood and rot. um. and also eels!!! the way they move is like���- if paper airplanes were wet and long and slimy 😍 oh!! and this isn’t an animal but it’s an animal to me i had an inaginary one for 10 years!!!! 🥰🥰

he’s a little glowing squirrel (called a Muse) and he helps the sculptor in jak and daxter to make. gay sculptures and to have blue hair and pronouns. mine was called beagbuí because it’s a bad way of saying “little yellow” in irish 🥺💖💖

if these were real they would be my favourite i think. except for bats!!! 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇 and rats!!!! 🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀

oh! and for a scary insect lmao fun fact i used to be terrifed of spiders 🫠🫠🫠 when i was a kid (now i want to maybe lick them and fill this entire house with them) but then i held a tarantula called Charlotte and her bones really do feel like glass and she was gentle with me and spiders are cute but currently??? um. moths freak me out because they disintegrate (😨😨) but they don’t scare me. i recently found out there are things called giant house centipedes and felt a flutter of visceral terror so maybe those!!! but i like carrots and peppers AND bugs 🥰🥰🥰 🐞🐛🦟🪲🐜🪳🕷️🦂🐌🦋🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱

[foxsketch6543]

INSECTS:

🐞🦋🐜🪲🕷️🪳🐛

Just wanted to share some of my cool pics of bugs that I had found. :3

[xtruss]

Are Owls Actually All That Wise?

Often depicted wearing glasses and graduation caps, owls are regarded as the brainiacs of the animal kingdom. While they’re not exactly dumb, they fall behind several bird species when it comes to intelligence.

— By Anna Green | Feb 26, 2024

Smart? Maybe. Cute? Definitely. Ian Douglas/500px/Getty Images

For thousands of years, from Ancient Greek legend to modern literature and TV, humans have portrayed owls as sage and wise. The intelligent owl appears in everything from The Iliad to Winnie the Pooh. But, it turns out, though they’re excellent hunters, owls probably aren’t any smarter than a lot of other birds.

In fact, they may be significantly worse at problem solving than other big-brained birds like crows and parrots. One study from 2013 found that great gray owls repeatedly failed a simple cognitive test—pulling a string to get a treat—that had been successfully solved by several other bird species. It doesn’t help that owls face some steep competition in the avian class. Ravens are often ranked as one of the most intelligent non-human species along with dolphins and chimpanzees.

Owls may not be as smart as their corvid cousins, but that doesn’t make them dumb. Studies have found that some owls actually practice a primitive form of tool use. According to a study published in the scientific journal Nature, burrowing owls have been observed using animal dung to lure dung beetles to their burrows, where they subsequently feast on the insects.

However, while animal tool use is always impressive, it doesn’t really mean that owls are “wise” by any human standards. Owls are extraordinary animals in their own right. They’re incredible hunters who have evolved specialized hearing, camouflaging plumage, and unique tubular eyes that help them catch their prey.

Why Are Owls Considered Wise?

But, if owls aren’t mysterious guardians of life’s secrets, hiding deep reservoirs of wisdom behind their giant yellow eyes, then why do we so frequently represent them that way? Where does that idea come from?

While many cultures feature owls in their mythology, not all societies see owls as wise. In India, for instance, owls are associated with ill-gained wealth and foolishness rather than wisdom. The pervasive myth of the wise owl, meanwhile, likely originated with legends of the Ancient Greek goddess Athena. The goddess of wisdom, Athena was often portrayed in art holding an owl, or described in literary works as “owl-eyed” or even “owl-faced.”

Owls’ large eyes may have led to them being typecast as wise sages in literature. The bird’s striking peepers may not hold the answers to the mysteries of the universe, but they do serve a special purpose. The size enables a sort of night vision, allowing them to spot faraway prey in the dark. But the saucer-like eyes are not without their flaws. Up close, the world becomes blurry, so owls use the small, bristly feathers on their beaks and talons to feel their immediate surroundings.

Because their eyes are tubular instead of spherical—meaning they extend far back into their heads—owls can’t roll them around their sockets. Instead they have to move their entire heads to look around—which they can do 135 degrees in either direction. If you ever wondered how owls are able to pull an Exorcist without dying, you can read more about the impressive adaptation here.

[adinelleggreeo]

Daily Doodles- Day 33- 18/05/24

Busted out an old OC! Her name is Rowena and she was a witch, but I no longer create and write stories where the protagonists deal with the occult, so she's now a regular-smegular human being and really loves insects! 🦋🕷️🐜🦗🪲🦟🪳🪰🐝🐞🐛🪱

The tag for this is #agdoodles

[lexapenndari]

When I wear yellow,

especially in the garden,

I attract curious bees and insects

🐜 🐞 🕷️ 🐝

No more yellows!! 💛🟡🌼,

I told myself

…, except perhaps 🤔,

yellow rain boots 👢👢, a

yellow raincoat, and/or a

yellow umbrella…,

but then proceeded to purchase this yellow item 🫣 at a summer thrift sale, supporting inclusive, accessible housing #Shelter

This sweater, with its gold buttons⚡️⚡️

doesn’t seem to be one of my best versions of yellow.

I don’t think it harmonizes with the Dark Autumn colour fan 🍂

It doesn’t match my custom #VibrantAutumn 🎨 palette

It fills a wardrobe gap, for now,

but is being donated ❌

#Clothing #Jaune #Amarilla #Amarillo #SelfLove #Couleurs #Colors #Colores #Secondhand #Thrifted #NewToMe

[wolfnowl]

Why You Should Grow Native Plants in Your Garden | Science| Smithsonian Magazine

🐃🦆🦉🐦‍⬛🐸🐢🦎🐌🦋🐛🐜🐝🪲🐞🦗🪳🕷️🕸️🪰🪱🦠

To start with...

[imperial-pest-prevention]

🕷️🕷️Ever lay awake at night and feel like there's a hundred tiny eyes watching you? You flip on the light, only to find...OH THE HORROR...a spider winking at you from the corner of your room? 🙀🕸️ Or imagine this - you're whipping up your world famous guacamole for Taco Tuesday, and out of nowhere, a cockroach scuttles across your pristine kitchen counter. AHHHH!!! 🐜🌮 Maybe you've discovered an unwelcome colony of termites chomping down on your beloved antique bookshelf, treating it like their personal all-you-can-eat buffet. 📚🐛 Or, God forbid, you've spotted those notorious tiny red spots on your sheets...Dare I say it? Bed bugs!! NOOOO!!! 😱🛏️ Fear not, my bug-phobic friends! If you've had it up to here with these uninvited creepy-crawlies turning your humble abode into a Hitchcock horror film, I present you...drum roll, please... 🥁🥁 Imperial Pest Prevention! We have you covered like a superhero's cape! 👊💥 With our service, the Pest-Busters are just one call away from turning your personal insect nightmare into a fairy-tale ending. From spiders to roaches, termites to bed bugs, "GIVE A CALL; WE DO IT ALL!" 📞 So, next time you encounter a six (or eight)-legged intruder invading your peace, don't scream. Reach for the phone and dial (386) 956-9506. You can thank me later! 👍😉 Remember, when the going gets buggy, the buggy get going...to Imperial Pest Prevention! 🐞🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️ #BugOff #PestPrevention #NightmareNoMore

[krazys-ass-emporium]

I'll murder you in your sleep if you want me to :>

Here, more insects and arachnids for you:

🐛🐜🪲🐞🦗🪳🦟🪰🕷️

🫂🫂🫂

I’m tired after doing the wall of hugs for Both Krazy and Faun.

also, it’s too dangerous to go alone, take this:

🐞

BLESS. ✨️🐞

I'm glad because I already reblogged said wall of hugs multiple times, so my followers might want to collectively murder me in my sleep now.