#and also aphids

[cultivating-wildflowers]

I have a rosebush in my garden that came eith the house, and during the first three springs and summers I lived here it never bloomed. Like Valancy Stirling’s rosebush, it shows plenty of growth, good strong green branches, but not a single bud. The last two years I cut it down almost to the dirt because all it did was get in the way.

This year it has buds.

[waterghostype]

ocean blue how do you do

[grubloved]

everybody make friends with wasps right now. if u have a garden you want bees for sure but mostly you want wasps!!!!! wasps and hoverflies....

[kabutoden]

FUCK THE KARKAT VANTAS PLUSH THEY CUT ME OFF FOR FUCKING REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

I WAS GOING TO MAKE A KARKAT VANTAS PLUSH AND SELL IT TO THE PEOPLE!! I WAS GOING TO DO THAT!!! I HAD A MARKETABLE PLUSHIE DESIGN AND EVERYTHING!!!! DO YOU SEE THIS FUCKER??? DO YOU SEE HIM??? DO YOU FUCKING SEE HIM?

I SAID IT TO ALL MY FREINDS!! TO MY FAMILY!! 'gonna make a marketable plushie out of this dog hes sellable as fuck' FUCK!!!! THEY FUCKING GOT TO IT BEFORE ME AND THEIR DESIGN ISNT EVEN GOOD!!! WHY IS THE HAIR LIKE THAT ITS FUCKING makeship THEY CAN MAKE SOME PRETTY QUALITY WORK!! ITS GOING TO COST 30 DOLLARS YOU DIDNT FUCKING NEED TO skIMP ON THE HAIR!!!!! PROMISE!!! WHAT IS THIS A FUCKING FNAF PLUSH??? ARE YOU JOKING??? WHO DID YOU COMMISSION TO MAKE THIS PLUSH DEISNGNNNNN WHY IS THE HAIR FLATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

I WAS GOING TO DO THAT!!! IT WAS HALF THE REASON I MADE THIS STINKIN COMIC AND NOW I HAVE 60 MORE PAGES I WANT TO FINISH NOOOOO FUCKKKKKKKKKK NOW I HAVE OFFICIAL COMPETITIONNN WHYYYY

its fine. im fine im. FIIIIIINEEEEEEEE. its on me for not working on aphids... f in the fucking chat (this post is not very serious)

[possessable]

Espial-ified them. Praying Mantis Eigong and Wooly Aphid Yi

[gay-artificer]

I’d love to hear about egg bugs! (I love them somuch

Eggbugs! Love them! I like to think that eggbug 'eggs' are in fact such (or at least similar), and naturally grow and develop on the back. (There is a few insects that attach eggs to their exoskeleton, such as waterbugs, but in this case I imagine they more or less 'grow' straight from the body. The 'stalk' of the egg can be considered similar to umbilical cord) Similar to aphids, eggbugs actually have what is called telescoping generations- a somewhat rare type of parthenogenic reproduction in which the asexually developing daughter of a pregnant individual is, effectively, also pregnant before ever being born. In aphids, which give live birth, this means that the mother gives birth to a first instar daughter who has already developing their own offspring. It allows for VERY rapid population increase at the cost of genetic variation. Aphids are also... a little more complicated than that, including the use of alternating asexual/sexual reproductive cycles and a lot of other stuff, and all species do it slightly different but NONE use fully 'standard' sexual reproduction. Example:

So eggbugs are almost constantly producing new eggbugs, carried on their backs and likely heavily cared for, but all those offspring are also effectively already growing their own offspring from the second theyre born. Which is why you never see an 'eggless' eggbug. (Although, I think something like that wouldn't count as an egg. Would probably be considered a weird fringe case)

[homeofhousechickens]

I think it's interesting how the older I get the more reactive to bugs I get. Stuff like grasshoppers and katydids look like danger to my brain and I don't know why, my mother has an intense fear of spiders/bugs due to childhood trauma so I blame epigenetics. I like bugs!!! I want to hold them more often but but my brain won't let me!!!

[technofinch]

Every person needs unlimited paid time off work for any reason. I have video games to play

[onenicebugperday]

@lucy-x-5billion submitted: saw this lil feller in a park in boston, never seen anyone like it before! it was attached to the underside of the leaf, just kinda chillin there

This fella is an Asian lady beetle pupa! Soon it'll emerge as a lovely adult lady beetle :) They are not native but they are here to stay now so it's okay to admire them.

[jensownzoo]

Just want to show off my cold frames this year as they're working very well so far, though I have pinpointed a major flaw in the construction that I'm going to have to correct eventually.

So this year instead of making one long cold frame on the south-facing porch that left me with very little room to maneuver (resulting in a lot of shimmying and gut-sucking), I instead put in two smaller ones on either side.

Here's the side that faces outwards:

Consisting of a large scavenged single pane window gently but firmly tapped into place (with a rubber mallet and a lot of "please don't breaks") against the railing. They are wedged and will not be removed when the season is over.

And here's the side that faces inward:

The bottom layer are Tidy Cats litter buckets filled 3/4 of the way with water and wrapped in black plastic contractor bags. They provide thermal mass along with the concrete porch floor. Then I have more scavenged windows and some screwed together landscaping beams to hold everything together. Cracks are filled with styrofoam panels, roll foam (the kind that comes with window ac units), and wadded up plastic grocery sacks. There are still enough openings for ventilation, but the warmed air is mostly retained.

Here's what I've got growing in one of the frames:

A small earthbox of mesclun mix, a Tidy Cats bucket of salad spinach, a large earthbox of Swiss chard.

And another Tidy Cats bucket of kale mostly obscured by the small earthbox of green onions.

In the second frame I have more spinach and chard plus some cos-type lettuce.

The big flaw in this design? When I lift the top panels off to access the contents I cannot reach the stuff in the Tidy Cats buckets or large earthboxes! The inner wall is too tall and my arms are too short. What I should have done is put the earthbox on two thermal mass buckets and the planted Tidy Cats buckets on top of a few layers of bricks. I may still do that if we get a run of warmer weather (stamps feet 'cause I don't wanna), but I may be able to swing harvesting using some long scissors and a pair of chopsticks. We'll see. If this design continues to work well then it's definitely something to change next fall.

[antimonys-stuff]

YEAHHHHH U GET IT U GET IT I actually never thought abt ororon feeling guilty everytime someone permanently dies due to the abyss but thats such a tasty thought...thinking about how emotionally loaded this aq was for citlali and ororon like it was actually never addressed if ororon stopped feeling guilt for what happened when he was a child. He will probably just continue to feel like he's responsible for Natlans safety in some shape or form for the rest of his life and that haunts me...

Ororon colluding with someone like the first Harbinger, even though the Fatui have had notorious reputations throughout Teyvat, especially in times of crisis just because he saw hope for Natlan in Capitano's plan (and also bc he didn't want the Captain to talk to Citlali) speaks to me like an atonement for the failed ritual which he considers himself guilty for. Even Citlali reasons so! And lets him do his thing, even though she's pissed off about it. Have your chance at catharsis lad, you will soon also have a chance at my shoe, ykwim?

Have you finished AQ4? Because the next thing i'd like to say involves spoilers from AQ4 (i think?? I do not remember. but asking just to be safe)

[littleshysheep-at-da]

I just wonder how kumoko made those copies of herself

It’s explained in the Light Novel! Magic mostly lol. And copying genetic info over eggs (made from Magic) and transporting her soul into it.

Oh an interesting (or horrible depending on your view) fact about insects/arachnids. Some do technically clone themselves. I love insects/arachnids and learning about them but I am an amateur so I don’t know everything 🙇‍♀️ so I don’t know if there are any spider species in particular that do this (I don’t think so but there are so many species I can’t say for certain). If something asexually reproduces that usually means it births a genetic clone of itself. For instance aphids (the garden pest) are quite literally born pregnant with 5 babies inside them that in turn all have 5 more babies (I believe the number is 5 if I’m remembering correctly). Like a matryoshka… it’s why they multiply so damn fast.

Ah though spiders can give birth to infertile egg sacks btw! But Kumoko particularly mentions she makes eggs through a skill because she would never do something “as r18” as laying eggs. Girl knows what’s up lol.

Obligatory Thanks for the Ask! (And letting me curse you with insect/arachnid facts).

[waterghostype]

crusty kid

[fili-oeuvre]

you know if you shave a cotton fly or just pick all of the fur off of it (how would one even shave a bug anyway?), you'll find a weird looking, fly-like insect underneath it.

don't let the cute little cotton-ball appearance fool you, there is an actual bug underneath that.

[kabutoden]

NEED more Aphids content it's amazing

bitches be fucking DRAWING

[flowercrowncrip]

If you ever see me drive my wheelchair through some overhanging plants know that I’m most likely doing it on purpose. I love the textures of plants but can’t feel them with my hands while wearing splints so I just… put my face through them instead.

10/10 would recommend (watch out for spikes and twigs tho)