#brachycera

[rattyexplores]

Very large robber fly attacking a cicada. I took this photo years ago, and for some reason I just forgot about it. I don't know how considering how interesting it is.

17/11/20 - QLD:WET coastal rainforest nursery Predator - Diptera: Dolopus sp. Prey - Hemiptera: Cicadoidea sp.

[unnaturalcuriositiesblog]

[worldofleaves]

[maggotsandcream]

Asking because I have met multiple people who don’t think mosquitoes count as flies. Weirdly these folks tend to NOT have a background in entomology but DO fairly consistently consider something a fly or not based on whether they’re in the suborder brachycera despite not knowing what brachycera is. (For example if I ask follow up questions like are midges/flower flies/crane flies/deer flies etc. are flies)

[bonefall]

do you think the clans could domesticate/keep animals? Not as pets, but, like, raising tadpoles or fish in secluded little ponds.

They absolutely can, in my side projects I even tried to work out which animals would be possibilities for some of my fanclans.

A really good place to start thinking about this topic is this famous video by CGP Grey, which provides brief yet thorough insight to why humans have domesticated the animals they currently have; but then you need to apply the logic on a cat-scale.

Something VERY easy to overlook is that humans domesticated most of these animals after inventing agriculture, when we had spare food waste laying around. If your clan has a long-standing history with gardening herbs, you can justify the transition to agriculture with your little carnivores.

Here's some easy animals that canon-compliant warriors could keep without much difficulty.

CW: It's mostly bugs!

Meal worms (Tenebrio molitor)

Easy to find all over the place, having been introduced to nearly every continent. Keeping them is as easy as having a big hole and a spare guy to make sure a bird doesn't eat everything. They're easily fed with all kinds of foraged foods, like apples, grains, berries, and they grow up fast.

Biggest problem with them is that the adults could escape, because mealworm beetles can fly. This is as easy as making sure they're well-fed and don't have a reason to leave.

2. Goldfish (Carassius auratus) and koi (Cyprinus rubrofuscus)

These things are surprisingly hard to breed in tanks, but raising these things outside is as simple as having a pond with an established ecosystem. You would not BELIEVE how invasive these two species are, ESPECIALLY koi. On that note-- goldfish are actually better for eating than koi, they were initially bred as food fish, where koi where first bred with aesthetic in mind.

Warriors can also eat roe, and it can be cured over time to make a delicacy. Aquaculture in general is also something that would be very likely for a RiverClan-like clan to adopt; it's an 'easy' way to keep fish alive until it's time to actually eat them.

Easy = You have cats willing to dig out a big project

3. Maggots (Various brachycera species)

Cats can't eat every part of a meal, and there will always be food waste. Collecting maggots from the crowfood pile is a viable option, so long as the prey being used as compost wasn't sick or poisoned.

It's also highly likely, as maggots also have a... gruesome use in medicine that I won't get into here. They also make excellent bait for fishing, and could be used to feed mice, or lure birds.

Why not mice?

Because they will run away, or chew through most natural materials. You need a lot more than a simple hole to keep mice contained; does your clan have access to big, plastic or metal human buckets? Maybe some simple stone-masonry?

If not, you're going to dig a hole and they're going to dig right out. You're also going to need lots of buckets and stone enclosures to breed enough mice to keep your clan well fed, and hopefully they're protected from rain else your livestock will drown.

Frogs?

Obligate carnivores! More trouble than it's worth to feed them, when you can just feed yourself with those bugs instead. Unless you wanted to sacrifice one of your mouse enclosures for some frogs?

It would be understandable as a nicety, if frogs were a delicacy of sorts. But mice are sooo much easier to feed, and can turn food a warrior can't eat (fruit, grains) into food they can (meat).

[entomoblog]

[Etymozoo] Un sous-ordre de diptères aux antennes particulièrement rabougries

See on Scoop.it - EntomoScience

Brachycera - Wikipédia

Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. Les brachycères, Brachycera, forment un sous-ordre d' insectes diptères qui comprend les mouches muscoïdes aux antennes courtes (du grec brachy signifiant "court" et ceros "corne"). Les antennes sont formées de trois articles ; le dernier article porte une longue soie, nommée arista, ou bien un style plurisegmenté.

Les brachycères, Brachycera, forment un sous-ordre d'insectes diptères qui comprend les mouches muscoïdes aux antennes courtes (du grec brachy signifiant "court" et ceros "corne"). Les antennes sont formées de trois articles ; le dernier article porte une longue soie, nommée arista, ou bien un style plurisegmenté.

  Wikipédia,, version du 9 avril 2023 à 23:29.

  ------

via Taupo sur X, 17.06.2021

  "#Etymozoo : Brachycère, du grec brakhús (court) et kéras (cornes, antennes) : groupe de diptères (mouches, moustiques) dont les antennes sont particulièrement rabougries."

https://x.com/pierrekerner/status/1405465250099613703

[frnwhcom]

In the lush landscapes of Pennsylvania, an unassuming plant harbors a remarkable secret. The Losh Run Box Huckleberry, known scientifically as Gaylussacia brachycera, is not just any ordinary flora. This extraordinary organism is one of the oldest living entities on our planet, estimated to be around 13,000 years old. Its longevity tells a story of…

[animalids]

Bee louse (Braula coeca)

Photo by Miles Zhang

[naturugarten]

Frau #Brachycera und Gemahl haben das schöne #Wetter ☀️ für einen Ausflug genutzt und nehmen ein Sonnenbad im weichen #Moos 💚

[faunalregion]

[rattyexplores]

Absolutely gigantic Rutilia fly spotted in the rainforest.

04/12/23 - Rutilia sp.

QLD:WET - Rainforest nursery

[unnaturalcuriositiesblog]

[worldofleaves]

[fl4k-m0nkey]

Snail-Killer Fly by Roman Chukanov Via Flickr: Marsh flies of the Sciomyzidae family are sometimes referred to as "snail-killing flies" because their larvae prey on snails and slugs.

[superbnature]

robber fly (Machimus rusticus) by ernstpluess https://ift.tt/2Oqp3df

[matom01]

Stelldichein... #wollschweber, #bombyliidae, #raubfliegenartige, #asiloidae, #asilomorpha, #fliegen, #brachycera, #zweiflügler, #diptera, #insekten, #insecta, #wolfsberg, #kärnten, #natur, #tierphotographie, #matom, #makro, #makrofotografie, #macro, #austria, #österreich, (hier: Wolfsberg,K-AT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CcYR6gyqHoI/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=