#but it's a really fluffy spider

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Vida's Sheep Jumping Spider: researchers believe that these tiny spiders developed their "woolly" appearance as a way to mimic lacewing larvae or scale insects

The scientific name for this species is Oviballus vidae, but it has also been referred to as the "sheepy jumping spider" or "Vida's jumping spider." It was discovered in 2015, and first described (in a formal context) back in 2020.

As this article (PDF) describes:

Recently, two new salticids, R. legitima and Oviballus vidae were described from South Africa, and suggested to be mimics of either scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) or lacewing larvae (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), due to their white colouration and the presence of peculiar tufts of white setae on the body.

The possibility of [scale insects] being the model is supported by Oviballus vidae being regularly collected from plants with woolly scales, although the movements of O. vidae quite closely resemble those of chrysopid larvae.

In fact, a fourth species of possible scale mimic, a new Rhene species, was recently discovered in a collection of salticids from southern Mozambique, indicating that this phenomenon may be more widespread than has previously been known or even suspected.

O. vidae was named after Vida van der Walt, the photographer who captured some of the first images of these spiders back in 2015, just after the species was discovered by Dr. Galina Azarkina. Vida van der Walt also took the photographs that appear in this post.

Sources & More Info:

Arthropoda Selecta (scientific journal): Rediscovery and Redescription of Rhene cooperi, another possible mimic of scale insects (PDF)

Spider Club of South Africa: Two New Species Named After SA Photographer (PDF, with the relevant info on page 5)

Field Guide to the Spiders of South Africa: Section on Vida's Sheep Jumping Spider

[void-screams-screeches]

the guys :D

[fauustic]

the fear of losing this

too many people in my inbox got a little too comfortable asking me for “a fight between reader” as well as “miguel angst please” so i am combining both as i struggle to get through this writer’s block ))

gender-nonconforming reader x miguel “spider-man 2099″ o’hara

angst. little comfort. your universe is falling apart, yet miguel doesn’t want to let you go.

warnings: pure angst. light cursing? i’m not too sure, just lots of tears.

word count: 2211

The night sky of Nueva York shined brightly with the bustle of commute, highly advanced cars whirring softly through the clouds. Your mask hung from your hands at your side, bunched up in the anger that fizzed and popped in your bloodstream– threatening to explode at any given moment as Miguel brushed off your conversation with a stoic chill.

“You don’t understand how important this is to me Miguel–” your voice raised as you paced the highest level of the building, padding against the overly complex structures that mimicked webs. You would have laughed at the irony of having a headquarters so invested in the theme of spiders that even the ground you walk on replicated the symmetry of webs if the both of you were in any other given situation– but that joking persona that came with the gig flew and crashed out the window the moment Miguel brushed off and rejected your plans to return back home. “I need to be there, helping my people. What is the point of me taking up a spot in this ‘fateful–’” You dragged out the words, venom dripping from your tongue as you partially made fun of the organization he spent so much time on. “Spider Society if my own boss doesn’t let me return back to the place I belong in?”

“No, no.” His tone was blunt as he stood as rigid as ever; surveying your every move in a way that you could never guess what he was thinking, with or without the mask. “You don’t understand.” Miguel repeated your own words back to you in a taunt as one of his clawed hands fidgeted with the device that decided whether or not you could walk around or stay in a little bubble for the next week just like all the other prisoners were down below. “You created a problem in your own universe, that’s the problem we’re having here. You cannot fix it.” He practically spat his words, anger emitting from every rhythmic clang whenever he tossed the technology into the air and caught it with calculation. “It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re from that Earth, you put that place you so valiantly ‘protect’ into a state of emergency. Is that not clear enough?”

“Oh, sure– but the hundreds of other spider-people that can’t go one word without making a joke of the situation can fix my mess? Am I just some inexperienced rookie to you, Miguel?” You countered, ripping your gaze from his own. His features were exposed to you as his mask was off as well, the sunken circles beneath his eyes growing prominent when a vibrant car passed by and shone a striking yellow light into the corridor the two of you stood within. His usual expression made of stone chipped away with the stress he was under as a deeper frown made its way onto his lips.

Miguel sighed dramatically before pinching the bridge of his nose, turning away from you to mumble a jumble of incoherency. “God,” He repeats your name like it's a curse, “That’s not what I’m saying at all. It’s just not safe.”

You scoffed, eyes growing wide at the audacity of this man you have to call your boss. “Of course it’s not safe Miguel, that’s our job.” You couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief, pulling at the roots of your hair in any attempt to calm yourself down. “I risked my life every single day in my universe before I even knew of your existence, yet now suddenly I can’t?”

“This is different. For some reason these– these anomalies are running rampant in your world and it’s taking everything to finally have the problem at hand contained.” Miguel held his breath as if he had something more to say, but left it unsaid the moment you stomped closer towards him in a new fit of anger.

You shoved your palm against his chest, baring your teeth as a groan erupted from the back of your throat in a concoction of frustration and despair. “Exactly! That’s exactly the problem, Miguel. My people out there are suffering and fighting for their lives, surrounded by these people that are like me but aren’t me.” Tears began to well up in the corners of your pained gaze, humiliation washing over your consciousness as you sniffled and stifled a sob. Fauxe confidence and quips were something you specialized in, annoying Miguel in a little dynamic the two of you found yourself in as months turned into an entire year of being called in for missions. Emotions were never a thing the both of you have ever discussed with one another because it wasn’t your position to pry and he was never the one to initiate such conversation.

“If you just let me go, I’m more than willing to show you how capable I am.” It came out as a whisper as you turned away from him and began padding down the structural webs. Miguel was on high alert, you could notice as every glance felt as if he was trying to convince himself that no other member of his society occupied this part of Headquarters. He followed you close behind, claws digging into the beams of construction to reach the same floor as you without a word. The brooding silence that usually met your company could be sensed from any person in their right mind, and as you spotted the hesitation in each thud of his footfalls– confusion clouded your anger. So in a flurry of adrenaline, you webbed his next step to the ground with a ball of the substance you artificially produced in the depths of your makeshift and cozy lab, hidden away at your home in the world you desperately needed to save. It would give you time to finally just talk to him.

“¿Eres estúpido o qué? Do that again and I’m putting you in the–”

It wasn’t to hold him down, you know you couldn’t match his strength. It was to make a statement. 

You interrupted him, a newfound determination holding onto the little hope you had. “You follow me for one more second, I’m going through that portal and never looking back.” Brutally honest and uncharacteristically serious, the attempt at ripping his limb free was cut cold at the promise looming in the air. His frown fell for just a moment’s notice, mouth agape in shocked horror before quickly recovering himself. Repeating yourself more clearly as his attention was occupied, your body shined away while shaky fingers struggled to input the coordinates of your universe. But eventually it clicked, the AI voice of Miguel’s beloved Lyla sounded throughout the tension in a glitchy mess– notifying Miguel of the portal to-be seconds before it truly distorted the fabrication of reality in front of you.

Miguel dropped to his knees, struggling to claw off the web that had his foot planted to the structure. His breath quickened concerningly, shoulders heaving as the plan of his crumbled in front of him in an instant; all because he was not observant enough. You played him like an instrument like you always had, a pained groan from the back of his throat sounded and echoed throughout the space of the vast headquarters. “No, no, no..” He repeated, mirroring the despair you had on your features moments ago at the idea of not being able to save your people. You could never once recollect a fraction of a second where he allowed himself to convey the pain plaguing his mind, and as he reached out to you in a frantic heap of limbs– the walls of protection he hazardously built around himself came crumbling down by each shape contorting and twisting into a gateway to your world. “I can’t, I can’t lose anybody else–”

You stood there, heart breaking as the man who has had villains three times your size on their knees, collapse into fragments of himself at the mere idea of you leaving the security of his universe. Bursts of color painted the dark hues blotching upon white, igniting his fresh-tear stained cheeks in splashes of reds and yellows and greens. The portal was completely open, awaiting your entrance to return back to your familiarity– yet your senses buzzed alarmingly at each step away from Miguel. It’s almost as if you could feel the hole in his chest, searing away his soul he finally allowed himself to offer like a god’s offering.

You fell to your knees to hold his face in your suited hands, the waves of sorrow and grief infesting your mind like a sickness almost had you doubling over in pain. You could hear the cries of hundreds around his, no– your own heavy breathing, a confused and fearful little girl’s pleas for help overlapping the muddled screams. You felt the weight of a child in your hands before it was ripped away like a paper airplane in the wind, and soon your trembling hands met the purchase of his nape. Your body moved automatically, holding his face in the comfort of your lap while you shielded his gaze from the portal. Despite his power, the capability to snap you in two, you held him like a fragile doll that would break within any mishap.

“All this time, you never told me.” You sobbed into his hair, dampening his combed back curls with your tears and he only held your waist like you were the anchor in this unforgiving ocean of anguish. You have become one, the memories of his own mixing into the blur of yours's.

“I didn’t know how to.” He murmured into the purchase of your thigh, wetness seeping into your suit. But you didn’t care as your hands wandered all over his figure: a soft massage to the shoulders before quickly scooping his neck into your arms before finally settling on petting his hair back. “I, I haven’t allowed you to go to your world because a part of my thoughts can imagine your arms fading into a technicolor mess, falling into the clutches of another failed universe.” He forced himself to take a deep breath, gulping up air as the portal behind the both of you fizzled and popped.

“I can’t lose you too. I’d be so–” He hesitated, breathing in deeply just to choke on a sob. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.” He poured out the burdens weighing on his conscience, confirming your long-forgotten wonder that he was just as emotional when he was faced with his grief head-on; the same intensity seen in his short-tempered anger.

You simply hushed him, cooing reassurance that he accepted with greed. “Nothing is going to happen to me.” The rational fear being expressed aloud made your shoulders shake and head buzz with anxiety, but you steeled yourself at the reminder of Miguel melting into your tearful embrace like putty. You needed to be strong for him when he wasn’t, just like how he pushed himself to the greatest extent his body can endure all the times before. 

“It’s just, I can’t lose where I come from.” You worked at ridding his foot from your webs as your serene tone accompanied his sniffles, his breathing settling out bit by bit as you continued to finally explain yourself. In regards to Miguel's quietness, you genuinely thought he was listening. “You can’t keep me away and shield me from my own mistakes, O’Hara. It’s just not possible, I need a home to thrive and protect. Without my people, I’m going to disappear as well.” A snap of your webs trapping his limbs finished your little speech, indicating that time was up and you had a job to do.

“I’m.. worried.” He mumbles aloud, like the sentence itself was foreign on his tongue. “These creatures from foreign worlds, they are drawn to your universe as if there’s a pulling force. I haven’t been able to figure it out. It’s so infuriating, it’s like I can’t do–”

You intercept his little tangent as you grab his chin and lift his gaze to meet yours’, an unsaid question hanging into the atmosphere like an old letter to a former self. Do you want this? Is this okay? I’m scared of messing this up.

The question is answered as Miguel’s grasp finds purchase in your flesh, claws digging into your thighs like if he let you go you’d fade along with everything else of his. In a messy, salty clash of teeth against fangs and tongue against lips, Miguel lapped up every inch of your mouth like he had to memorize every crevice of your entire being. It’s as if the two of you have synchronized, being able to suspect slight changes in each other’s mood as he grew more needy with the introduction of desire bubbling against the forefront of your mind.

“We can do this.” You murmured into his cheek, hands dancing over his suit in case this was the last time you’d ever be blessed with his presence again.

Miguel nodded, heaving for breath before he snatched one last kiss– sincere and genuine and full of unfiltered affection. “Yeah,” His nose met the crook of your neck, grazing each curve it stumbled upon.

“Together, mi alma.”

[xspeter]

JUST BARELY

peter parker x fem!reader

synopsis - fall is the best season.

“peter.”

“yeah baby?”

“it’s fall.”

usually, when the two of you first wake up, the first thing out of your mouth is a, “good morning baby,” so this is slightly unusual.

“what d’ya mean?” he asks, voice husky with remnants of sleep.

“it’s fall. like… like leaves changing color, weather getting chillier, pumpkin spice latte… fall.” you say excitedly.

peter furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “okay..?”

you scoff and immediately sit up, your sudden movement causing the fuzzy blanket to fall from peters chest. he’s immediately met by a sudden cold brush of air and his arms instinctively wrap around his body to try and savor any warmth that you had selfishly stolen from him.

“what do you mean ‘okay’? it’s fall! the best time of the year!” you say excitedly. “this is the only time of year where it’s acceptable to wear crew necks and cardigans! and- and haunted houses are opening and pumpkin patches! and we can make those cute little halloween cookies you get at walmart! oh my gosh and i almost forgot about halloween! i love halloween!” you ramble.

peter smiles warmly at you, finding your rant amusing. you two had gotten together back in feburary, so he had no idea you loved autumn this much.

“if i didn’t know any better, i’d say you loved fall more than you love me.” peter teases.

your eyebrows furrow and you pretend to think for a minute before you shrug, “well,” you say, “fall is about here,” you explain, putting your hand right in front of your chest, “and you are around… here!” you put your other hand a tiny bit lower than the first, and peter gasps at frantically throws his head back.

you giggle at peters dramatics, but suddenly your pulled on top of peter as he tickles you in retaliation.

“peter- peter stop!” you laugh, but your pleas fall on deaf ears.

peter ignores you and continues tickling up your sides. your laugh music to his ears.

“peter- peter- wait!” you gasp out, finally finding the strength to pull yourself away from him.

peters eyebrows furrow and a concerned look washes over his face. “what’s wrong?” he questions, his chocolate brown eyes looking into yours. his expression is nothing but pure love, and suddenly, you really do think you’ve found something you love just a little more than fall.

“i just love you.” you mumble.

peters lips crack into a small grin and he leans in and kisses you softly.

“more than fall?” he asks a against your lips.

you sigh dramatically, “just barely.”

[sysig]

Coming in to play! (Patreon)

[moritashie]

I've recently found this truly adorable series by @superherotiger called "Kindred Spirits", and lemme tell you, it got my head in a spin. So, I drew this :)

[anabetel35]

Going Crazy over Vania/Harumi again. Especially Harumi's-redemtpion-arc Vania/Harumi.

Harumi who spent most of her life either acting or being driven by her hatered and anger alone. Who reached a point in her (second) life where she doesn't need to act because there is no one to decieve and where her anger has no clear target. Where she doesn't have anyone to devote herself to, to base her entire being on. A ruler of nothing but herself, with more strength than she can handle.

Vania who spent so much of her life being true to herself and acting with love and care towards everyone who came her way and didn't strike first. Who looked on as her only remaining family tried to kill her heroes, terrorized two whole nations and then tried to take over the world. Who was cast into a life where she has no one to fall back on by her side and a kingdom with twice as many people as it did during her father's rule and twice as many problems, too. A ruler of so many with so few rescources and even less experience.

Harumi who lost her family to an evil beyond the control of the ninja and who chose to pin the blame on humans and not destiny -- on beings that she knew that she could hurt if she only tried hard enough.

Vania who lost what little she had left of her family to an evil beyond the control of the ninja and who chose to pin the blame on evil itself, her father, destiny -- anything and everything, just so that she wouldn't end up hurting anyone who didn't deserve it at all.

Harumi who spent so much of her life actively choosing to hate.

Vania who spent so much of her life actively trying to love.

And then they meet. Both princesses. Both sure that they should despise each other, because they stand (or stood) for opposite things.

But then Vania's reluctant attempts at only partially judging Harumi for what she did, at being polite but not mean, turn into being kind and a bit smitten. Harumi's determination to become a good person (or someone who does some good, at least) drives her into appreaciating Vania, slowly but surely placing her on the same pedestal that she devoted to the Overlord and Garmadon before him.

Vania, raised by a single father, lonely upon an ivory throne of problems, starts to fall for the girl who gives her advice on managing a population. Who reminds her that she needs to rest in order to be as strong as she possibly can. Who teaches her to have a steady hand, somehting that she might need help with sometimes.

Harumi, someone who's never let herself be properly liked by someone so real, a love so true as Vania's, begins to adore the girl that teaches her how to be a teenager even despite their postions -- even despite the fact that one of them is a queen and the other is the ex-right hand of two evil overlords. The girl that doesn't hesitate to communicate how she feels. That offers Harumi a shoulder to lean on.

[enthusiastic-nimrod]

The Star Inspector

[magneticrage]

The bee I made friends with on the bus this morning. 🐝

[knifegremliin]

last night was officially spider's first night out! and from now on she'll only be going in her cage to eat, because she did splendidly <3

[arachnophanatic]

Jumping spiders, Habronattus hirsutus (two males with different color variations)

[artepti]

I commissioned Sol (Twitter) to create Art for CITSW by @fluid-quartz, because it's my absolute favorite FanFiction of Hermitcraft and it turned out absolutely stunning! I especially adore how they draw spiders! Look at them legssss!

((You can read CITWS here! ))

[venustheplan3t]

I love them. I love them I love them I love them I love them I love them I love them I love them I love them I love them I lo-

glimpse into my beautiful imaginary world where arthropods are really big and we domesticated them

edit: people are starting to say some "my worst nightmare" or "eeeww no that one is yucky and scary" comments on this like they do on any bug post and id like to say. it's fine if you don't like bugs it's fine if you're scared of bugs but don't put that on MY post clearly talking about how much i like them and how cute i think they are. you can make your own damn post about how much you hate wasps or spiders or whatever. i'm blocking people who make these kinds of comments.

[syncarida]

Noooo Argoctenus type specimens got lost lol 😭😭😭😭 no wonder it is such a disaster

[in-toxi-cant]

♡🕷{ ref: @botanikos & this post-- }🕷♡

While it was nice to see things... Sorta? looking up for the other-- There was still a little something about things that kinda stung...

[sysig]

Having fun, more and more! (Patreon)