#common garden lizard

[wikipediapictures]

Curious cat staring at a lizard (1/2)

“Curious Felis silvestris catus (domestic cat) staring at a passive Calotes versicolor (Oriental garden lizard), in Laos.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[antiqueanimals]

Common flying dragon (Draco volans) ; Oriental garden lizard (Calotes versicolor)

Reptiles and Amphibians of the World. Written by Hans Hvass. Illustrated by Wilhelm Eigener. Originally published in 1958.

Internet Archive

[literalite]

the epic guys that live in my backyard

[sabertoothwalrus]

one of my favorite things about using inaturalist is how it’s gotten me familiar with even the common, less “impressive” species. especially since spring is rolling around and I’m spending more time outside.

Like, before where I’d just say, “oh look, a butterfly!” now I can say “oh look, a mourning cloak!”

Instead of “a squirrel” it’s “a fox squirrel.” Instead of “a snail” it’s a “garden snail.” Instead of “a rabbit” it’s “a desert cottontail.” Instead of “a ladybug” it’s “an asian lady beetle, which is invasive.” Instead of “a lizard” it’s “a bluebelly, but they’re really called western fence lizards.”

It’s harder to take the little guys for granted when you know their names, y’know?

[frostbitebakery]

LOUD.

part one two three four five six seven eight nine

“You’ve got something there,” Quin says, gesturing vaguely at his own shoulder.

“I’m aware,” Obi-Wan signs. “It’s some sort of monkey lizard fungus.”

The monkey lizard fungus giggles into his shoulder.

Quin nods grimly. “I heard the only cure is to placate it with sweets and hope for the best.”

Anakin precariously leans over, heels accidentally digging into still bruised ribs.

Obi-Wan bites his lips behind the collar but of course Quin immediately detects his movements turning stiff.

Quin holds out an arm, flexing his bicep with wiggling eyebrows. It has the desired effect and Anakin jumps from Obi-Wan, swinging around the elbow before hooking his knees over Quin’s arm.

“He’s heavier than he looks,” Quin strains out.

They walk to one of the mess halls that’s open around the clock and mainly offers food and beverages to those clinging with teeth to their sanity during exam season.

One of the cramming Padawans looks up from their dozen holo books displaying graphs, and squints at them. “Master Vos, there’s something growing out of your arm?”

“Monkey lizard fungus,” Obi-Wan signs, hiding a smile behind his collar at the Padawan nodding to themselves as if that makes perfect sense.

“What’s with them?” Anakin asks, looking at the sleep deprived tableau and hoisting himself up and swinging one leg over Quin’s shoulder.

“This is your future,” Quin says gravely and Obi-Wan is catapulted to melting stone fire Darkness “You were supposed to be my Master!” yellow familiar eyes from a smoking alive corpse and the grief is ripping him apart “—see once you take your first assignments. The only places you’ll be is either here or the Archives.”

It’s been years since he last had a vision. It’s staggering, his heart thumping in his chest like a clock ticking down the inevitable countdown. But it’s not.

He looks over to Anakin who’s already watching back with wide eyes, the fear in his hands gripping onto Quinlan. “I won’t let it come to that,” he promises, fingers thudding together heavily but he’s still shaking off the vision and Anakin’s fear is a taste in the air by now. He can’t not make promises he only hopes he can keep.

Quinlan is silent during their exchange, gloved hands keeping hold of Anakin. The calculating look in his eyes a guarantee Obi-Wan is going to get cornered later.

.

“Do you like Depa being your Master?”

Let it be said, paranoia is a common infliction amongst Shadows.

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin sighs, voice breaking with puberty and annoyance. “Depa is wizard. She’s amazing even though she’s signed me up to all these classes.”

Obi-Wan looks over all the models, plans, and concepts with added calculations. There’s a data pad displaying language modules and another proclaiming the joys of agriculture. “It’s almost all in the engineering field,” he signs.

“Which makes her so wizard. You’d never have me taking up gardening though,” Anakin adds sullenly.

Don’t yearn for things I cannot give you, Obi-Wan has thought a lot in the past few years as the Galaxy seems to slowly steep in Darkness.

“Knowing what can poison you is important,” he signs, feeling restless and helpless. The mission he’s finished two cycles ago may still reside in his bones.

“I’ll just bite back,” Anakin says, tongue sticking out as he connects wires to ports. He presses a button and the thing he’s been tinkering with since before Obi-Wan left starts to purr smoothly. “Now she can even juice cocadooms,” he says, satisfaction purring just as smoothly in his voice.

“Well done.”

“I know,” Anakin responds airily and swivels around to face Obi-Wan fully. “You’re lurking in the shadows again so let’s get this tradition over with: Depa is an awesome Master and maybe I sometimes wish you’d have chosen me but,” he adds loudly when Obi-Wan lifts his hands to protest, “I also sometimes daydream Master Tiin had chosen me because he’s got his own modded Delta-7.”

The paranoia settles down as Anakin waxes over how wicked the new wing box skins and sensor fusions are, no, truly, you should see them, Obi-Wan!

[astra-ravana]

Types Of Fae

The realm of the Fae is vast and diverse, with countless variations across different cultures and mythologies. Here's a comprehensive list of some of the most common types of faeries, along with additional details about their characteristics and folklore. This is by no means a complete list, but it should give you a pretty good idea of the types of faeries that exist. If you want information about interacting with the Fae check out this post.

• Brownies: These helpful household spirits are often depicted as small, wiry creatures with long ears. They are known for their industrious nature, performing chores like cleaning, cooking, and tending to livestock. However, they can also be quite mischievous, playing pranks on those who neglect their needs.

• Pixies: Small and playful, pixies are known for their love of mischief and pranks. They are often associated with the air and are said to inhabit trees, flowers, and other natural wonders.

• Puca: A Celtic spirit and shape-shifter that can take various forms, including horses, rabbits, goats, and humans. It’s also known as Puck in English Folklore, is sometimes believed to use the light of Will o’ the Wisp to lure people into swamps or ditches and then flee with delight.

• Leprechauns: These Irish faeries are best known for their love of treasure and their skill in making shoes. They are often depicted as solitary figures, guarding their pots of gold at the end of rainbows.

• Sprites: Tiny nature spirits, sprites are often associated with specific locations, such as forests, rivers, or mountains. They are known for their playful nature and their ability to bring good luck or misfortune.

• Nymphs: Beautiful female spirits, nymphs are associated with specific natural elements, such as water, forests, or mountains. They are often depicted as graceful and alluring, with a deep connection to the natural world.

• Sylphs: Air spirits, sylphs are often depicted as ethereal beings, capable of flying and moving with the wind. They are associated with the sky and are often seen as messengers between the earthly and spiritual realms.

• Salamanders: Salamanders are a type of elemental spirit commonly associated with fire. Some people insist they are little balls of light, but during the Middle Ages, many claimed they were lizard-like in appearance. Alternatively, Salamanders are sometimes described as slender, red, and dry-skinned creatures with a malevolent demeanor.

• Undines: Water spirits, undines are associated with lakes, rivers, and oceans. They are often depicted as beautiful, aquatic beings, with a strong connection to the emotional and spiritual depths of water.

• Gnomes: Earth spirits, gnomes are often depicted as short, bearded creatures, with a deep connection to the earth. They are associated with mining, gardening, and other earth-related activities.

• Elves: Often depicted as tall, elegant beings with pointed ears, elves are associated with nature, magic, and wisdom. They are often divided into two categories: the light elves, who are associated with beauty, grace, and harmony; and the dark elves, who are associated with darkness, magic, and secrecy.

• Goblins: Mischievous creatures, goblins are often associated with underground realms. They are known for their love of treasure, their skill in crafting, and their tendency to play tricks on humans.

• Boggarts: Household spirits, boggarts can be either helpful or harmful, depending on how they are treated. They are often associated with specific objects or locations, and they can cause mischief if they are neglected or mistreated.

• Banshees: Irish female spirits, banshees are associated with death and are often heard wailing or keening to announce the impending death of a family member.

• Cat Sidhe: Celtic legend says cat siths appear as large black cats with a white spot on their chest. These mischievous faeries were said to be able to steal the souls of the deceased.

• Leanan Sidhe: Leanan Sidhe often seduce and help people with creative abilities like poets, artists, or musicians. They are gorgeous and fascinating to their lovers but entirely invisible to their lover’s friends and family.

• Spriggans: Cornish faeries, spriggans are known for their mischievous and sometimes malevolent nature.

• Kelpies: In Scottish folklore, kelpies are dangerous water creatures that can appear on land as horses. They lure human victims to ride on their backs, then carry them to their deaths.

• Red Caps: Blood soaked and bloodthirsty, red caps are among some of the most formidable faeries. They are known for their strength, agility, and violent nature.

• Mermaids: These water spirits have been linked to sorrow and destruction in modern and ancient folklore, while they can also be compassionate. When rescued or saved, they have provided the wisdom of natural remedies for deadly illnesses, lavish gifts, and storm advisories.

• Changelings: Trickster faeries, changelings are known for kidnapping human children and leaving a faerie in its place.

• Piskies: Piskies are often playful and mischievous, but they can also be helpful to those who treat them with respect.

• Knockers: Knockers are associated with mines and mining. They are often heard knocking on the walls of mines to warn miners of danger.

• Dullahan: The headless horseman of Irish folklore, these faeries can remove their own heads at a whim. Said to bring terror and catastrophe wherever they go.

• Lady of the Lake: A mysterious water faerie that guards lakes and ponds, keeping them pure and clean.

• Dryads: Dryads live in and protect trees. You can often find them chatting with their trees. Considered peaceful, unless you mean harm towards the forest.

• Gean-Canach: Their name literally translates to ‘Love Talker’ and refers to faeries known for their ability to be alluring or enchanting with their voices. They often smoke clay pipes.

• Kobolds: Kobolds (sometimes called Cobolts or Koboldts) originate from Germanic folklore and act similarly to the English Brownie. They are house faeries and can act very mischievous if forgotten.

• Selkie: Originating from Orkney and United Kingdom folklore, a Selkie is a gentle water spirit believed to live in the sea as a seal, but once on land, they fully assume human form.

• Trows: Trows are a type of Troll from the Orkney and Shetland Islands who are sometimes called Drows. Generally, all Trows kidnap humans, but they value young mothers and newborns most of all.

• Will O’ The Wisp: Sometimes known as Jack-o’-lantern, they are a type of Fae pixie believed to inhabit the marshes and bogs of England. Will O’Wisps are nature spirits that inhabit the elements of the earth. The name Will o’ the Wisp is derived from the Saxon word wile which means trickery or deceitfulness combined with the Swedish word Wisp, meaning a bundle of tinder.

[iliketangerines]

I know you're probably busy and mainly write smut, but if it's not too much to ask could I request some fluff between Reptile/Syzoth x gn!reader just being a little silly? Like they have very different love languages (reptile being a love biter and reader being a rock giver like penguins) and both are so confused about it (they aren't in a relationship yet and just show each other affection awkwardly). So Syzoth will randomly wake up to rocks at his door and reader will randomly be greeted with either their hand or arm getting bitten (lightly) until they finally explain what they're doing to each other.

I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, and no pressure to do it, I just thought it'd be a cute idea.

courting rituals

a/n: i love syzoth and he needs to be more lizard like

pairing: syzoth x gn!reader

warnings: none :)

you rock back and forth on your heels, staring at the rock in your hands and admiring how it shimmers in the sunlight of the White Lotus

there’s a whoosh of air behind you, and you turn around to face the swirling fire and light coming behind you and find Syzoth and Kitana with Lord Liu Kang walking out of the portal

you bow to them respectfully, and Lord Liu Kang greets you as well

tucking the rock into your pocket, you welcome them to the White Lotus and start their tour, apologizing that Kung Lao and Raiden wouldn’t be here for their tour because the two of them were busy training the new initiates

you lead the three of them through the grounds and eventually you do reach Kung Lao and Raiden in the training grounds putting the initiates through some tough sets

Syzoth walks by you the entire time, head nodding excitedly with every fact you tell him, and your heart beats in your chest and your face warms as he talks to you

the tour ends a bit early, and you let them scatter about the White Lotus to explore on their own

Syzoth stays with you, deciding to keep walking with you, and you laugh nervously, digging the rock out of your pocket and handing it to him as a gift

he blinks at the rock, bowing his head and thanking you for such a pretty gift, and your face warms at the compliment as you wave him off and say that it wasn’t any problem

a few of the initiates walk by, complaining loudly about the sets that Raiden was taking them through, and you cringe as they start to curse loudly

you give Syzoth a sheepish smile and ask if he wants to go somewhere quiet, and he nods, saying he’ll go anywhere you take him

it makes you clam up and simply hum and nod at his compliment, trying not to stutter and fumble over your words like an idiot

walking through the compounds, you lead him to the gardens once more and take a path that leads to the small pond that exists within the small area

Syzoth sighs and lays down on the grass, stretching his body out onto the grass, and you avert your gaze to not stare at how his arms flex and stretch underneath the sun

he looks back at you, wriggling about to get a bit more comfortable, and he pats the grass next to him, telling you to lay down next to him

you clear your throat and walk up next to him, sitting down and laying next to him, and you fold your hands neatly onto your stomach as you stare up at the cloud formations in the sky

Syzoth sighs, soaking in the sun, and he says that he’s never really had the luxury to ever be able to do this a lot

you turn your head to look at him, and nearly squeak when your eyes meet his

he says that it just isn’t common in Zaterran culture to sunbathe unless there is someone else around to also share in the experience

it’s a very intimate process of sharing body heat, usually between close friends, and Shang Tsung wasn’t exactly the kind of guy he wanted to sunbathe with

you nod, trying to wrap your mind around the information, and you press your lips together, the word friend echoing in your head

your fingers fiddle with each other as he talks more about the sunbathing process and then about Zaterran culture in general, and you listen attentively to his words, absorbing the information and learning everything you possibly could

the sun passes above overhead, and soon the sky turns orange and yellow as the moon starts to make its appearance above

Syzoth stands up, shaking himself similarly to how a dog would shake off water, and he holds his hand up to yours, asking when he’d be able to see you again

you take his hand and pull yourself up, not quite sure of when he and Lord Liu Kang would meet once again, and you say as much

he lets out a small oh, looking slightly downcast before fixing a quick smile on his face

holding out his arm, he asks to escort you back to the portal, and you nod and take his arm, the both of you walking together

once you both reach the portal, he lets go of your arm and walks next to Kitana and Lord Liu Kang, waving goodbye to you as you do the same

a few weeks later, you jump up and down on the tips of your toes as you wait for Kung Lao to arrive to the portal

Lord Liu Kang stands by the portal platform, and Raiden makes small talk with him

you have another rock in your pocket, one much prettier than the one you gave him last time, and you really really hope he likes it

Kung Lao finally arrives, out of breath, and Lord Liu Kang shakes his head, but the small smile on his face betrays how he really feels

opening the portal, all four of you walk through, and you find Syzoth waiting there at the base, waving up at you happily

you keep your composure, resisting the urge to just bound over there and greet him, and you walk with Lord Liu Kang and the others down the steps

first, you bow to him, and he bows back to you

when the both of you stand back up, you dig your hand into your pocket and hand him the new rock, and he smiles and thank you for the rock, admiring it in the sun before pocketing it

once again, he holds his arm out, and you take it as he takes you on the tour of Sun Do and then leads Lord Liu Kang to the meeting room with Empress Mileena

Kung Lao and Raiden leave to explore the town together, but you decide to stay with Syzoth

he beams at you and leads you to the palace’s gardens, more beautiful and majestic than you would’ve ever thought, and he leads you over to a small meadow

settling down onto the grass, stretching out his stomach and his arms, he lays sprawled on the soft grass and beckons you to lay with him

you do so, and the two of you just make small talk about everything and nothing

it’s casual and nonchalant, but you find yourself scooting closer and closer to him until you’re pressed against him completely

you’re on your side, and he’s on his, the both of you staring into one another’s eyes

you wish you could lean in and kiss him, but his eyes glance above your head and he shoots up out of the grass, saying that you’ll be late to arriving home with the others

pouting at him, you get up and hook your arm into his, and he leads you back hurriedly to the portal to find the other three waiting for you

he waves to you, and you wave back to him

over the next few months, the two of your visit each other whenever you can, and you give him a pretty rock you’ve found while on missions and he takes you sunbathing in all different types of beautiful and calming environments

it’s a strange ritual, but you didn’t mind, you loved it in fact

you just wish it would lead to something more, always always you get close to each other, so close that you could kiss but nothing ever comes out of it

you’re visiting Outworld again, and instead of leading you anywhere, Syzoth leads you deeper and deeper into the palace until he finds a pair of grandiose doors and pushes them open

inside, you can see that it’s Syzoth’s room, decorated to hell and back with all kinds of plants and greenery

he flops onto his bed, where the sun beams directly onto it, and he calls you over to sunbathe with him again

walking over, you gasp as you find every rock you’ve given him lined up perfectly on the windowsill, catching the light and shining down on Syzoth

your voice is almost a whisper as you ask that he’s kept every single one, and he says that he has, of course he would, he doesn’t understand why you give him rocks but he loves them all

you look down at him, stretched out on the bed and absorbing the sun, and you say that he doesn’t know why you give him rocks

Syzoth shakes his head, and you laugh and pinch your nose, saying that you’ve been giving him rocks because you liked him

you thought he didn’t like you back, so you’ve just been respecting his boundaries

Syzoth sits up on the bed, mouth agape as he tells you what you think the sunbathing has been before

you point at him and say that it was for close friends, and he says that it was for close friends but also lovers, as a bonding experience

you put your head in your hands and start to laugh, realizing how much of an idiot the two of you have been, and he laughs as well

it’s just the sound of both yours and Syzoth’s laughs and giggles in the air until Syzoth finally stops, letting out a wheeze and then clearing his throat

he holds his hand out to you, asking you again to sunbathe with him, and you smile at him and take it

he draws you into his arms, your face only a breath from his, and he asks if he can kiss you

you breathe out that he can, and he leans his head forward, lips melding to yours

the rest of the day is spent sunbathing

[heronoegg]

I mean this in the best way possible: If i looked up the word "spaghetti" in the dictionary i would find your art style.

On another note, i request bnha wing au lore, such as how similar their diets are to their specific bird species and birds in general as well as how cities look like, and a picture of Northern Goshawk Sero (because apparently they're the most acrobatic birds according to google.)

i don't even like spaghetti all that much if im being honest hjbghjfb it hurts my stomach and tomato makes me break out yet here i am eating pizza

anyway Sero is actully a sparrow because the pun was too good for me to pass it.

original colors and one i blasted with filters because i like doing that jvkgf hcj

i didn't want him being a hawk cause in their society Hawks are viewed as the "better" birds (by better i mean like Hawks though raptors are viewed as stronger, more successful, beautiful/handsome ect they are so this and so that) Sero's quirk compared to Bakugo influences my choice of making Bakugo a Hawk and Sero a common bird - a sparrow. there was another reason but i forgot what it was

Now as for your other questions.

-How similar are their diets to their specific bird species and birds in general

I mean, i wouldn't say somebody is eating another person, but it's not severely uncommon in their world that a person would eat another person if they were starving enough and there was nothing else around. Raptors would sooner eat a rat before another person they'd have to be severely pushed into eating another person and it's only raptors/predators cases that have eaten other bird persons but that hasn't happened in a long time (at least that they know about) It's frowned upon to eat people jfknvbghfj

They do eat seeds, they grow vegetables, they eat roots, they grow fruits, bugs that aren't sentient, they eat other little critters that aren't sentient, they eat rats that aren't sentient - they have some form of non-sentient cattle cause if rabbit people like Mirko exist that means rat people exist, i don't think sentient cow or pug people exist but bugs and lizards aren't off the table there are sentient bugs and lizards cause bug people are incorporated in wing society.

-how do cities look like?

I actually have this written out. Ok so in this AU for somereason i never explained but the planets flora grew to like massive height so giant trees that reach the clouds exist, flowers that are big as houses exist, plants making people look like bugs even if they are a bird exist but normal size land, plants and trees exist as well.

living arrangements

Bird people

they typically nest in tree houses or live in hollowed-out trees that serve as single-family homes or communal living spaces almost that of hotels.

Higher branches are reserved for the rich or successful - safety and status all that noise.

Mid-level branches have platforms and hanging structures it's middle-class neighborhoods. The poor/under paid live in shrubs where bugs live or smaller trees closer to the ground floor but still elevated enough that they aren't touching the complete ground.

Houses include perches and structures robust enough to support winged living. Regular furniture but adapted for wings and tails. Beds that provide space for wings i imagine their round?

People do still do nest-building - i think my friend said Deku's mom owns a nest. -it's an older generation thing, i assume they integrate natural materials into their living spaces either inside normal homes or in custom-built house.

i think the bird houses are my favorite thing in this AU cause i sit here and think about how their houses look alot

I think of balconies, roof gardens, open spaces it's really cool in my head think of skyloft from skyward sword but without the clouds kinda? i had skyloft in mind when i was making this AU

Bat people

They prefer caves or cave-like structures that can be built into cliffs or large trees. Wealthy bats love spacious caverns higher up, lots of privacy and security from predators

Middle-class bats may have communal roosts on ledges or hollowed parts of large trees, while the less fortunate find shelter in smaller crevices and overhangs closer to the ground but still vertical enough for their needs.

Bug people

those with butterfly or moth wings build around massive flowers and tall vegetation.

The rich live high in canopys but i think bugs are the lowest ranking species here.

some might dwell on large leaves or within the stems of tall plants, lots of vibrant communities akin suburban life. it's silly jhtbgfhj

Some individuals may resort to makeshift accommodations among thickets or low-lying plants, some elevation to facilitate their flight-based movement.

There are no streets; travel is facilitated by flight between different areas. There are lots of glades and clearings that serve as social and trading hubs for interaction between different species and economic classes.

i have other things about this AU but i wanna save it for it's own post i just wanted to answer your question.

[anipgarden]

What Kind of Plants to Add

This is my sixth post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert–just an enthusiast–but I hope something you find here helps! 

I’d love to be able to give a quick and easy list of things to add, but frankly I can’t do that. I can strongly encourage you, however, to look at these categories of plants and do further research to discover what’s native to your area, so you can plant things that’ll have the most impact in your particular area.

With that being said, I will mention a few plants as examples. This is in no way, shape, or form me telling you that you have to or even should buy these specific plants. Not every plant works well in every place in every garden, not to even mention across countries. Above all, if you’re wondering what plants you should be adding, I can wholeheartedly say plants that are native to your area--or at least nonnative non-invasive.

Flowers

Flowers are some of the most common ways people work to increase biodiversity in their gardens, and who can blame them? Seeing pops of color out your window, and directly seeing the impact via butterflies and bees visiting the garden? It’s a win-win for us and the wildlife!

Flowers--especially native wildflowers--are a quick, easy, and cheap way to increase wildlife traffic in your garden. Perennial gardens are more likely to get you the most bang for your buck, as they’ll come back year after year if you treat them well. But don’t dismiss annuals--if you get ones that easily reseed, they’ll eagerly return on their own! If you can, do your best to ensure that the flowers you plant all have different blooming periods--that way, your garden can support wildlife throughout the year instead of for just one brief season. 

Flowers are environmental super boosters. Their nectar and pollen can feed insects and birds, their stems and leaves can provide nesting materials for all sorts of creatures, and their seeds are a popular food source among birds at all times of the year.

Climbing Plants

Climbing plants can be fantastic options for maximizing your impact. If you have limited ground space, growing up can provide interest as well as additional habitat for all kinds of creatures.

Training plants up a trellis, fence, or bare wall offers food, shelter, and habitat. Trumpet vines, passionflowers, honeysuckles, and more will provide sweet nectar for pollinators as well as nesting and hiding spaces for other wildlife like birds, bugs, and lizards. Do note that in some cases, climbing plants can actually affect the structural integrity of walls and roofs if allowed to climb too much and too far along a house, so be careful. 

Bushes/Shrubs

Bushes provide shelter for creatures, which then provides hunting grounds for other animals. Their fallen leaves and petals can be food and shelter for detritivores, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals--and they also provide good cover for moving around the garden, for creatures who like to stay hidden. They can be a bit more pricey to obtain--unless you get cuttings or seeds and are willing to wait--but they’ll definitely be worth it, and they’re typically low-maintenance once they’re established.

Bonus points if you get a flowering and fruiting bush, like bottlebrush, serviceberry, lilac, or others. This’ll make your bushes not only a place of shelter, but a food source as well--and depending on the kind you pick, may be food for you too! Making a garden border with a series of bushes can be a great option to providing lots of habitat, if you can manage it.

Shrubs with pithy or hollow stems are excellent options for supporting solitary bees. Some examples you could look into are elderberry, raspberry, blackberry, or sumac.

Trees

Trees have a high up-front cost and take awhile to grow, but once they’re settled in place they provide crucial habitat to all kinds of creatures! Insects will be attracted to flowers they may provide, or to nest in the wood. Others may eat the leaves as food, or use them as nesting materials. Birds will perch and nest in trees, and feed off the fruits and seeds and insects that also use the tree. Squirrels also use trees as nesting places, piling up dead leaves into huge clusters to raise their young in, and will absolutely feast on any nuts the tree may provide. Mice, badgers, and more will feast on fallen fruits or seeds, and bats roost in the trunks when given the chance. Detritivores eat fallen leaves and decomposing fruits, providing further food for hunting creatures. Trees can also be good for us--they help block out noise and air pollution, and are the poster child for taking CO2 and making it breathable oxygen. Not to mention they can provide plenty of food for us, too. Nesting grounds, hunting grounds, shelter from weather, and more--trees are, in my opinion, likely to be the best way to boost biodiversity long-term. If you can get your hands on a sapling for cheap and can care for it for awhile, I’d definitely give it a shot! Make sure the tree won’t get too big for where you’re growing it, though--you’ve definitely gotta plan for the long-term before you plant any. 

Some trees can be grown in containers. Though they won’t become gigantic branching behemoths, they’ll still do their part to support all the life that depends on them. Growing a tree from seed may take awhile, but could be an easy option to getting one if you have the patience--the trees are more than happy to help you, as they drop tons of seeds and fruit in fall for you to gather. 

Groundcover

Bare soil is the enemy of microbial life in the soil, and while small pockets of bare soil can be great nesting places for bees and other insects, having swaths of empty soil should be avoided. Groundcover plants grow low to the ground in a sprawling habit, and will often spread quite easily on their own. This is a great way to provide shelter, keep soil temperatures cool, block out weeds, and give your soil life a chance to thrive.

Sometimes, ground covers don’t even have to be planted in the ground. Shallow-rooted plants like succulents, ferns, and alyssum can be planted into cracks in stone walls, and moss can be planted by making moss graffiti and painting it onto a surface. As with climbing plants, do make sure that you don’t cause extra damage to important walls and housing foundations.

Host Plants

Host plants get their own section, because plants of all kinds can be host plants for different creatures! It’s common to think only flowers can be host plants in the beginning, but in reality, many bushes and trees are host plants to dozens of species of butterflies and moths. Honestly, I feel that factor's not talked about enough. Look up what insects live in your area and what kind of host plants they need, and plant some if you can! Bonus points if you can plant a variety of them--I know that there’s hundreds of kinds of milkweed, each one flowering and leafing up around different times of the year. Planting several varieties of milkweed, then, would provide monarchs with food through several seasons, allowing many more of them to grow up in your garden!

Nectar Plants

Plants that provide nectar to insects is a great foundation to increasing biodiversity! This is, of course, many native wildflowers (and even nonnative wildflowers, though be sure they aren’t invasives who’ll do more harm than good), but many native bushes, vines, and trees will also provide nectar to hungry pollinators! 

Keystone Species

To be frank, some plants can have a bigger impact than others in a landscape. By all means, every bit helps, but if you want to boost biodiversity quickly there are a few plants that can essentially serve as the backbone of local ecosystems that you can grow in anything from a balcony pot to a small patch of your backyard. These plants can be different depending on where you are, so do your research to find out what would be best to grow in your area. If you can’t get them all? That’s alright! But even hitting just a few of these target species really can do a lot.

That’s the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about things to keep in mind/continue to do once you get plants in the ground! Until then, I hope this advice was helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, your success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

[libraryofmoths]

Moth of the Week

Buff-Tip

Phalera bucephala

The buff-tip is part of the family Notodontidae and was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. They are best know for their resemblance of a broken birch twig when at rest. The name buff-tip comes from the color on the head and edge of the wings, buff: “a light brownish yellow, ochreous colour, typical of buff leather.”

Description The body is hairy, with a buff colored patch on the head followed by a brown ring. The upper body visible from under the wings is a mottled gray to match the forewings. The rest of the body is covered when resting and is a cream white with gray, cream and or brown legs. The forewings are also mottled gray with brown patterning and a buff patch at the tip mirrored on both sides. The hindwings are the same cream as the lower body. The antennae are brown and hidden when camouflaged.

Average wingspan: 55-68 mm

Males are smaller than females

Diet and Habitat Common food plants for this moth include the Norway maple, birch, chestnut, hazel, oak and many more. Caterpillars are social as young larva and eat in groups which can cause the defoliation of their host plants. Adult moths do not feed.

This moth is found across Europe and in Asia to eastern Siberia. It is very common in the British Isles, more so in the south than in the north. They prefer habitats with deciduous trees like open woodlands, scrubs, hedgerows, and urban gardens.

Mating Generally, the buff-tip can be seen from May to July, which is most likely their mating season. This moth is strictly nocturnal so it is also most likely they mate during the night. They have one generation per year with the females laying the eggs in clusters on the underside of leaves. The young larva are sociable and grow to be solitary through 4 instars.

Predators In order to protect itself while resting during the day, this species has adapted to look like a broken birch twig. This deceives common day time predators of moths such as birds and lizards.

Fun Fact This moth has been considered a pest in Lithuania for eating apple trees in the 1900s. High levels of environmental nitrogen compounds can increase outbreaks of the buff-tip.

(Source: Wikipedia, Wildlife Insight, London Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation)

[mutant-distraction]

Robin Rajan

Danaus genutia(common tiger) butterfly on lantana flower, oriental garden lizard in the background.

Location: Parasuvaikal,lndia

[wikipediapictures]

Cat playing with a lizard

“Seated Felis silvestris catus (domestic cat) playing with a passive Calotes versicolor, (oriental garden lizard), facing it, in Laos.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[mineralsrocksandfossiltalks]

FOSSIL FRIDAY: CERATOSAURUS

Ceratosaurus, the "horned lizard" is probably one of the coolest dinosaurs discovered. It was described by Othniel Charles Marsh based on a nearly complete specimen from Garden Park, Colorado.

It is one of four large theropods in the Morrison Formation of the U.S. and the Lourina Formation of Portugal. There is currently only one accepted species: Ceratosaurus nasicornis.

Allosaurus, Torvosaurus and Ceratosaurus at the BYU Museum of Paleontology.

Ceratosaurus is a medium-sized theropod. The type specimen is about 17 ft (5.3 m) long but other specimens indicate it could get more than 20 ft long. It is characterized by deep jaws that supported proportionally long, blade-like teeth, a prominent, ridge-like nasal crest, and a pair of crests over the eyes making it appear very dragon-like.

It had fairly short arms especially compared to its contemporary rivals. Each hand had four fingers with the three larger ones sporting a claw.

It also had a row of osteoderms that ran down it's neck, back and tail.

It is thought that Ceratosaurus was a solitary hunter. None have ever been found in close proximity to another. In a paper written by Donald M. Henderson in 1998, he stated that Ceratosaurus' taller skull indicated a resistance to bending. Its long, broad teeth would present increased frictional resistance to penetration due to increased surface area.

It had powerful adductor muscles that would increase the overall stresses on the entire skull. Having a deeper skull would relieve that by increasing the flexural rigidity and thus the strength. Think pit bull or hyena.

Ceratosaurus is only represented by a handful of specimens, far more common than Torvosaurus but still much less common than Allosaurus. There are two ideas floating around about why this is. One, there simply weren't as many of them. Two, it preferred a habitat that just didn't preserve fossils as well. Whatever the case may be, I hope that we can help answer some of these questions with the potential specimen we found at the Evil Tree Bonebed.

Possible Ceratosaur ischium (and it's a whopper for size).

Want to help recover the Ceratosaurus? Then come join us this summer at Colorado Northwestern Community College! Check out the link for more info. Hope to see you there!

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Lampropholis guichenoti, more popularly known as the grass skink, Guichenot's grass skink, the pale-flecked garden sunskink, or the penny lizard, is a small species of skink found throughout western and southern Australia. Its primary habitat is grasslands and scrublands with plenty of vegetative cover, though they are also a common sight in suburban backyards.

Though a nondescript brown, the penny lizard can be identified by a black stripe running the length of its body. Females can be distinguished by the light orange or reddish tint to their underbellies, while males are light grey. However, identifying the grass skink may prove difficult, as their small size makes them extremely good at hiding; on average an individual is only 8–10 cm (3.1–3.9 in) and weighs less than 2g (0.07 oz).

Male L. guichenoti are extremely terrirotial, and will fiercely defend their territory from other males- particularly in the spring. Breeding begins in September or October and continues throughout the summer. After mating, the female will lay about 2-6 eggs in a communal clutch alongside other females; in total these clutches can contain up to 250 eggs. These eggs hatch approximately 30 days to hatch, and young are fully independent upon emerging. On average, the grass skink can live for 2-3 years in the wild.

Because of their small size and lack of defensive systems, Guichenot's grass skink is an easy prey target for many species. Birds and feral cats are the primary predators, but the grass skink can also become a meal for larger lizards and snakes. The main way L. guichenoti avoids being lunch is by dropping its tail-- a common skink tactic. The tail continues to wriggle after being dropped, distracting the predator while the skink makes its escape and later regrows its tail. The penny lizard itself feeds mainly on small insects like crickets, isopods, earthworms, flies, and ants, as well as the occasional fruit or vegetable.

Conservation status: Lampropholis guichenoti has not been evaluated by the IUCN, but its population is generally considered to be large and stable.

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Photos

David Paul

Colin Silvey

Reiner Richter via iNaturalist

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

So, Pern has limited resources for writing materials, illiteracy is common among people and there is strong oral tradition. Aside from songs this also means the Pernese people should have many proverbs. I know there are already some canon ones, but to spice things up a little I tried to translate some Czech proverbs and sayings and adapt them to fit Pern, which turned out to be a pretty fun exercise. If you have ideas for your own, do share! If you'd like to use any of mine in fics and such, feel free!

Here goes:

"don't provoke a (tunnel) snake with your bare foot" - don't tempt fate

"no Master Harper has ever fallen from the sky" - orig. "no scholar has ever fallen from the sky", no one is born an expert; it's okay to make mistakes

"once in a Long Interval" - orig. "once in a Hungarian year", same as "once in a blue moon"

"to make a herdbeast a Masterfarmer" - orig. "to make a billy goat the gardener", to make someone manage a task they're woefully unqualified for

"every rider praises his own dragon"/"every feline praises its own spots" - orig. "every fox praises its own tail", people tend to emphasize the virtues of whatever is dear to them, or whatever they're trying to sell

"to wheedle a clutch out of a green" - orig. "to wheedle a calf out of a heifer", to be very convincing; to charm someone into doing absolutely anything

"Weaver, stick to your yarns" - orig. "shoemaker, stick to your last", you should stick to things you truly understand

"yeah, and then the Harpers sang for him"/"and now tell the one about a talking wherry" - orig. "and they said they sang for him"/"and now the one about Little Red Riding Hood", said when you don't believe anything someone's just told you

"one about a wagon, the other about dragon" - orig. "one about a goat, the other about a cart", when people talk about completely different things while thinking they're on the same note

"after Threadfall, everyone is a Weyrleader" - orig. "after battle, everyone is a general", it's easy to criticize things in hindsight, especially for unqualified people

"a Smith's runnerbeast walks barefoot" - orig. "a blacksmith's horse walks barefoot", those who craft/sell a particular thing often don't have enough of it for themselves

"so the dragon can eat and the herdbeast remains whole" - orig. "so the wolf can eat and the goat remains whole", essentially "to have your cake and eat it too", a solution that deals with the unpleasant aspects while still benefiting you

"wait like a guardfowl for grain" - orig. "wait like a goose for grain", advice to be patient

"having cheek is better than owning a Hold" - orig. "having cheek is better than owning a Meierhof", being daring and impudent often gets you in better places than being rich

"a fire-lizard on your shoulder is better than a bronze/queen on the Sands" - orig. "a sparrow in your hand is better than a pigeon on the roof", it's better to be grateful for smaller things you already have than to hope for things you have no guarantee of getting

"who wants to beat a wher always finds a cane" - orig. "who wants to beat a dog always finds a cane", people who want to do harm always find a way to do so

"fast of wing, short of mind"/"he's like a green - fast of wing..." - orig. "fast of feet, short of mind", an impulsive person who doesn't think things through

"bubbly pies don't bake themselves"/"roasted wherries won't fly in your mouth" - orig. "kolache don't bake themselves"/"roasted pigeons won't fly in your mouth", if you want something, you have to work for it

"for a quarter-mark he'd let them drill through his knee" - when someone is willing to do anything for money, even at the cost of one's own wellbeing

"beauty without a good heart is like a house without door, a spring without water, a rider without a dragon" - physical appearance means nothing when the person is bad

"every Hold has bread with two crusts" - every place has good and bad things

"what has once left your mouth, not even a pair of draft beasts can pull back" - watch what you say because you can't take it back

"fish start to smell from the head" - when something isn't working, the problem is likely in upper management

"doesn't have to be a downpour, a drizzle is enough" - success doesn't have to come all at once

"smart ones need advice, dumb ones need a kick" - for some people a hint isn't enough, they need to be shown explicitly

"the heart won't ache for what the eyes can't see" - some things do less harm if they're kept secret; blissful ignorance is sometimes better

"sing the song of those who give you bread" - kind of like "don't bite the hand that feeds you"; if you take favors from someone, you should act in their favor too

"he who digs a hole for others often falls in himself" - essentially "hoist by his own petard"

"the tunic is closer than the coat" - people tend to focus on their own interests rather than the interests of wider society

"the scythe has hit a rock" - when someone encounters something beyond their competence

"repetition is the mother of wisdom" - essentially "practice makes perfect", but sounds fancier. could be especialy in connection to memorizing teaching songs

"don't fight fire that doesn't burn you" - mind your own business, don't try to fix other people's problems

"the sated don't believe the hungry" - privileged people tend not to believe others' misfortunes

"he's got butter on his head" - essentially "keeping skeletons in his closet"

"rough fabric needs rough patching" - being soft on nasty people will achieve nothing, you have to answer in the person's own language

"the cape goes where the wind blows" - when someone is too obedient, a blind follower. said as "he's kind of a 'the cape goes where the wind blows' kind of person"

"honey in his mouth, venom in his heart" - a charming, sweet-spoken, but malicious person

Edit: more in reblogs!

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

Forced fairy tail

Every fairy tail needs an evil dragon to set the scene and malleus knows that silver and the prefect will make the best shining knight and royal in distress

Read also:Even if he doesn't show malleus loves silver and wants his happiness regardless of how moral lying is.

WC: 800

Cw: malleus puts reader under a spell; silver pulls a sleeping beauty and kisses reader while unconscious; malleus playing matchmaking to the extreme

Malleus remembers when Lilia brought a little bundle of silver hair and spit. Even if at the beginning he believed it to be quite disgusting, when his little hands grabbed at his robes and called him 'maweus' with a lazy smile he couldn't help but pick it up like he saw Lilia do.

Ever since silver was a toddler Lilia feared he might become a spoiled brat, from how often his little whims might get given to him by malleus, thankfully after a chat he started being more subtle with his gifts

As a kid Silver loved chocolates, whenever he followed his father and malleus in tte briar valley and passed by a chocolatier his eyes couldn't help but focus on the colorful and cute chocolates. How lucky that later that day they would be in the tin can that he hides under his bed.

He didn't catch that Lilia seemed annoyed when he went to say thanks, too busy munching on the sweets.

When he was a preteen, silver started doing more house chores and odd jobs to get a brand new sword that he saw on the forge. He was so happy he didn't notice how he reached his goal faster than expected, his father did

And now, in night raven academy, his eyes can help but drift to the visitor from another world when they pass by, feeling his cheeks heat up

Even as much as Lilia would like to tease him about how his son got his first spring, he wouldn't want to give any ideas to malleus.

As he accidentally fell asleep on a couch on the common room in diasomnia he had a strange dream

"you know, the fun thing about love is to chase and to be chased, the subtle pinning" said a bat

" So what? I'm only pushing him towards his happiness. Their lives are oh, so short for them to deal with sadness and heartbreak, if one can help it." Said a lizard standing on two feet " that child is at a similar stage at 17 as me at 178. Look at me and tell me his life isn't short"

" °°°, don't dare to intervene"

When the prefect pricked their finger on a plant during biology and fell in a deep slumber, when malleus asked for him to accompany him to check what happened and he saw his father grimace silver had a hunch.

When as soon as arriving he saw malleus make his way towards the prefect and grab their wrist, feeling the magic poisoning their blood and said

" this type of magic is similar to the witch of thorn's, a deep slumber curse only broken by the kiss of true love" as he chewed the inside of his lower lip, a habit silver noticed when malleus lies, similar to when he ate all the ice cream and blamed sebek and him

Even amidst the mess that was the botanical garden with friends, teachers, housewardens coming in and out, even knowing this was set up, silver couldn't help but want to try

Sitting next to you on the bench you got laid on, silver grabs your hand, now up close he can see the faint green tint on your knuckles and the tip of your fingers, and the typical petrichor smell of the briar valley's magic. His father's, sebek's and malleus' magic smells like that.

Giving a quick kiss on your hand before getting close to your face, looking at your greenish tinted lips, your eyelashes and the hair falling down your face. He closes the distance and kisses you.

As he gets away, he sees your face again and your nose no longer has a green undertone, nor do you smell of the familiar petrichor. When a few seconds pass and you don't open your eyes his heart drops, was this really not meant to be? It isn't until you open your eyes and try to sit up that he breathes calmly again.

Even as he gets pushed away from you thanks to your multiple friends as they try and explain what happened, he can't help but touch his lips softly as Sebek yells at him for being uncouth and kissing you in front of everyone.

Before he leaves the botanical garden he turns to see you and meets your gaze, before you quickly look away, touching your lips causing him to blush

This time the disapproving look on Lilia's face doesn't get lost, nor does malleus' pleased grin. Neither does the suspicious quantity of money malleus gives Crowley each month or the missing books in the library

The fact that the mirror that was supposed to take you back home was found broken isn't either, he thinks as he consoles you, a clean hit on the middle of the glass shattering all hope of returning home. A hand slides up and down your back as you both sit on his bed at the dorm he wonders if you will like his hometown

There are many things Silver doesn't want to admit outloud, like he is happy about the incident, or the fact that malleus seemed especially proud of himself lately, even excusing him from training to go on dates