#fly in a hive ‼️

[lyninabin]

BEEE how are you today?

*pulls you into a hug as i lay down in bed trying to sleep*

mine 💕

[trollwizard]

gimme your most fun fact on sigurd

a fun fact and a scary fact on bea

two fun facts and a weird fact about caurra

and for fafnir

a fun fact, a secret, and her most controversial opinion!!

go go gogogogo❗‼️❗‼️❗‼️▶️⏩⏭️🍾🥂🍻

this is gonna be a long one I guess!! follow sigurd under the cut for more

2a) Fun fact about Bea: her Lusus is a virgin queen of a bigger species of bee than her hives are! but it still bosses her hives around as like, a higher level queen. as she's packing up for her upcoming move, she's the bee that is letting everyone know to be back at the hive on time or they'll get left behind.

1) Funnest fact about Sigurd: something not mentioned often but is implicit about him is the fact that, as a cusp, he doesn't have gills! Just the dinky little finny ears. He's got the lung capacity of a seadwelling mammal though so he often freedives to visit seadwellers. this leads into the true fun fact: he has an oxygen tank for safe scuba diving, but he only really wears it when hes taking merle somewhere as a redundant backup in case hers has a problem. he's a huge worrywart but he can't possibly let her find out.

bea!!

3a) Fun fact about Caurra: we all know the pirate thing is just a fun stylistic choice. Caurra gets seasick if she's on a boat. she rocks up to most ship events with a bag of ginger chews in her pocket and a flask that she says is the hard stuff, but is really just spearmint tea.

2🐝) A Scary fact about Bea: while Sigs has strength proportionate to his size, Bea is true to her hymenopteran roots and can easily lift him. she's easily the strongest troll in the cast and has dealt with unsavory parties before using her bare hands. she can crush a watermelon between her thighs. and your skull. if she felt so inclined. she does not tend to disclose any murders she has committed as she finds them a necessary evil in troll society and prefers not to dwell on it.

caurra......

3b) Another fun Caurra fact: she knew she'd end up big as sin from her lineage, so her hive was built with that in mind. Very forgiving doorways and high up cabinets. but that brief time she was a youngin she was like, "man if i end up being a short king this is gonna be so embarrassing" as she needed a fold out stepladder for everything in her home

3c) A weird fact about Caurra: what isn't weird about her??? despite her casual air, she's very counter culture and off-putting to other royals. what kind of rich royal blood lives in a pond? anyways she has definitely tried fish food more than once. she keeps forgetting that it's nasty.

fafnir time

4a) fun fact about fafs: her favorite psychic trick truly is the sudden harvest one she picked up. she'll pull all the plums off a tree at once, crop up all the carrots in one crack, or pluck a bulk batch of berries in a big bang. HOWEVER she does lose her grip right after the tug so she will immediately drop all that food and might send it flying. so it's best you just have her pick fruit by hand.

4c) her most controversial opinion? she doesn't think ancestors mean anything, despite her dabbling in genetics. like yeah you'll get their horns and maybe their abilities but it's total bullshit to think you'd end up like them. she believes strongly in nurture vs nature, an odd view for a troll to have.

4b) a secret... she doesn't have many of those! she's very impulsive and doesn't keep secrets well bc she tends to say what's on her mind. that said if she thinks she has to, she'll lie about stuff but she's super bad at it. You can tell if fafnir is keeping a secret because she simply will not say anything. just tight lipped about everything to avoid giving anything away. do not trust her with surprise party planning.

embarrassing secret that everyone who knows her knows? she still will wear karbals clothes and pretend to be her in the mirror. she thinks it's funny.

which is rich coming from her. she was just a few months away from snapping and eating her lusus like her ancestor nidhoggr did.

[yin-shimo]

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Coming! Hang on a second. Hello? Barry? Adam? Can you believe this is happening? I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs, Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. You got lint on your fuzz. Ow! That's me! Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! Hey, Adam. Hey, Barry. Is that fuzz gel? A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around The Hive. You did come back different. Hi, Barry. Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. Hear about Frankie? Yeah. You going to the funeral? No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp under the circumstances. Well, Adam, today we are men. We are! Bee-men. Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive City graduating class of 9:15. That concludes our ceremonies And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick our job today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. Wonder what it'll be like? A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to The Hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as… Honey! That girl was hot. She's my cousin! She is? Yes, we're all cousins. Right. You're right. At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. What do you think he makes? Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. What does that do? Catches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions. Can anyone work on the Krelman? Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones. But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot. But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life. The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that. What's the difference? You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years. So you'll just work us to death? We'll sure try. Wow! That blew my mind! "What's the difference?" How can you say that? One job forever? That's an insane choice to have to make. I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life. But, Adam, how could they never have told us that? Why would you question anything? We're bees. We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth. You ever think maybe things work a little too well here? Like what? Give me one example. I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about.

i’m beating the yapping allegations ‼️‼️‼️‼️

[lyninabin]

*sending love*

*takes the love, bites it and gives you some*

[lyninabin]

how are you today? 💖💗

bweeeeehhh

lowkey feeling like carl thomsen’s after the ball from 1873

[viemarin]

Yes the insects! I didn't know bugs were an actual category of insects? I thought it's just what people called insects they didn't like.

most people don’t know the differences between insects and true bugs, because it’s not common knowledge! (in some languages - like mine - there aren’t even different words for either…)

from what i’ve seen, a lot use both as interchangeable terms when it’s not the case at all ^^ taxonomists (those who classify into families) use ‘true bugs’ to refer to this very particular category of insects :)

actually, a lot of insects whose common names include the word ‘bug’ aren’t true bugs at all - the lovebug is a fly, and the ladybug is a beetle, for example!

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What insects are the most dangerous?

one of the most dangerous insect that we know is - the mosquito 🦟

in general, the dislike for mosquitoes comes from the fact that that their bite leaves red, itchy bumps on your skin; but by itself, it’s mostly just an annoyance. unfortunately, a mosquito bite can have more serious consequences depending on the species and its habitat.

the problem is that mosquitoes can carry parasites that will transmit sometimes deadly diseases to humans: like malaria or yellow fever, for example. this only applies to females, though - the males only feed on nectar. (yep, mosquitoes are pollinators! others insects that pollinate include beetles, butterflies / moths, flies, … and, for the fun fact: birds and bats are also pollinators ^^)

it’s estimated that, as a whole, mosquitoes have caused around 2.7 million deaths every year! this makes them the deadliest animal to humans that we know of. :0

there are other dangerous insects, though - and it’s usually because of similar reasons as mosquitoes, aka carrying deadly diseases. those include: kissing bugs (chagas disease - about 12,000 people annually), fleas (either the black plague which, yes, still exist, or typhus - about 110 000 people annually), as well as some others.

some people are also allergic to insects!

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that being said, while we should remember that insects can, indeed, be dangerous to us in certain conditions, i think it’s important not to follow ‘insects are the literal plague and we should exterminate them all’ logic too closely. (it’s a thing, unfortunately… i can sort of vaguely see where it comes from, but it’s just such an extreme…)

i’ve seen people posting pro-insects posts being sent death treats, which is like… Big Yikes. insects have importance in our ecosystem - even mosquitoes, as deadly to us as they can be. they keep pest insects in check, they pollinate flowers, they serve as a food source. mosquitoes being gone would cause many disturbances in nature. birds, bats, aquatic animals, etc, rely on them to feed themselves. their role is absolutely central. (of course, it’s possible that some of the changes engendered by the disappearance of mosquitoes could be good for us - but a lot could be bad, too. that’s why we shouldn’t aim to modify nature unless necessary.)

i’m especially passionate abt this topic because i’ve seen sooo many bad takes online on the subject >:(

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What differences to social (hive?) insects have with solitary insects?

oh boy, i have sooo many things to say abt this‼️‼️

firstly! 'hive minds' as they appear in fiction do not exist in nature - every insect living in a hive are not mentally connected with each other; they communicate, usually either by pheromones - like ants - or by movements - like bees.

secondly! in insects, social behaviors are more complicated than just ‘social’ and ‘solitary’ - in fact, scientists have described 5 of them: eusocial, semisocial, subsocial, solitary, communal and quasisocial!

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insects like bees or ants are at the origin of this concept. people before had no idea how they communicated, so to them, it simply felt like they all shared the same consciousness - hence why hive minds were represented this way in fiction!

that being said, they are a thing; it’s just not what people think it is ^^ to put it simply, hive minds are large, highly organized groups! they can divide tasks between themselves, and they’re organized around a single, fertile female - the queen!

of course, this include all ants and termites, but also some species of bees and wasps!

those two here are the yellowjacket wasp, and the hornet wasp, who both belong in the genus vespidae.

those four insects are what we call ‘eusocial’ - meaning that they exhibit all three social behaviors. but now, you might be wandering: what are these social behaviors?

sharing a common nest

cooperative care of the broods

division of labor

overlapping generations

let me explain what they are~!

the first three are very self-explanatory - every member of the colony lives together, all of them help care for the broods, and tasks are divided between individuals.

but for the last one - what we call ‘overlapping generations' in insects is when certain offsprings grow up, and start helping the parents feed and care for the young.

ants, bees, termites and wasps do all three of these things, so they’re considered ‘true social’ insects.

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so how do the other four categories work? to put it simply - we classify species depending on how many of these social behaviors they exhibit! :D

semisocial insects (ie, an halictid bee) share a common nest with their species; care for offsprings; have a caste system.

subsocial insects (ie, a cockroach) share a common nest with their species; care for offsprings for some period of time.

solitary insects (ie, most of them) no social behaviors.

communal insects (ie, a digger bee) share a common nest with their species. no cooperation in brood care.

quasisocial insects (ie, an euglossine bee) share a common nest with their species; care for offsprings.

(subsocial and quasisocial are two categories that are kind of hard to differentiate from each other - they’re both referred to as 'parasocial.' the main difference is, 'how long do they care for offsprings?')

social behaviors are very complex, but that makes them very interesting to learn abt, too :DD

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What's the difference between a locust and a grasshopper?

that question is really interesting, because…

locusts ARE grasshoppers ^^ more specifically, they’re short-horned grasshoppers :D

both of them belong in the genus acrididae; they follow a primarily herbivore diet, and are sometimes considered agricultural pests. the main difference is in their behaviors!

grasshoppers are solitary animals, but locusts are the exact opposite, as they develop social behaviors. this is what we call 'gregarious characteristics' x3

it’s only certain conditions that lead grasshoppers to develop those behaviors, the main one being droughts! when a dry spell happens anywhere, the vegetation is going to suffer - unfortunately, this is dangerous for insects such as grasshoppers.

in these cases, they will abandon their solitary ways and become gregarious: they’ll reproduce at an extremely high rate, and when that’s done, the nymphs and swarms will move as one, stopping at any green area they find to eat!

and this change is actually happening on a chemical level - in this situation, grasshoppers will secrete serotonin, which is the hormone that boosts mood in humans. ^^ it’s not the only change, though!

like, physically, locusts have longer and stronger wings, since they migrate - they need to fly long distance, and often. their body is also smaller than a grasshopper’s!

fun fact:

farmers will often use locusts to know when to prepare for droughts, as their presence indicate the arrival of a dry spell :D

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What’s the purpose of a butterflies colourful wings?

generally, in nature, colors have one purpose - being a warning sign.

i’m sure you’ve seen the blue-ringed octopus before, but the thing with this little guy is that the blue on its body is here to warn predators that 'hey, i'm venomous, and if you try to fuck with me then i'm gonna poison you'

the same applies to butterflies, especially those with particularly vibrant colors!

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the other reasons behind a butterfly’s wings being the way they are can either be as a way to communicate with each other or as a means of scaring off predators. sometimes, this can also be how butterflies communicate with each other!

one example is the forest giant owl butterfly! the eyesposts on its wings are meant to look like an owl’s, which is how it protects itself from becoming someone’s dinner xD

also this is kinda off-topic but i Need you to see those butterflies‼️‼️

right - glasswinged butterfly, left - dead leaf butterfly!

the glasswinged butterfly’s wings might seem weak, but they can actually carry up to 40x their own weight! the more you know xD (and you know i love my mimicry!!)

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What physical differences are there between carnivorous and herbivorous insects? (And omnivorous too, if there are any).

gonna answer the shortest question first - yep, there are omnivorous insects too! that include some species of crickets, for example. the number of omnivorous insects is pretty low, though - most of them are herbivorous ^^

(there’s a hypothesis that says herbivorous insects could have evolved into omnivorous ones when they lost their primary source of food, but it’s just a theory atm!!)

but as for physical differences between carnivorous and herbivorous insects, well… they’re all very varied, and there’s not really any specific, physical caracteristics shared between two carnivores / herbivores ^^;

for example, dragonflies and most ground beetles eat flesh, but they look vastly different from each other.

(ok, i kind of cheated on the beetles because they’re not solely carnivorous, but it still works sksks)

most differences happen on an internal level!

(and, of course, we can’t forget our beloved decomposers, those little insects that eat dead stuff x3)

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Also I’d love to hear about centipedes and millipedes too!

yeeee its centipedes / millipedes time‼️‼️‼️

okay firstly!!! what are the differences between them!!!!!!!

this is a Good graph :D

some fun facts!!!

centipedes never have 100 legs; in fact, they can’t have an even number pairs of legs, period!

they can have as few as 15 pairs, or as many as 191 pairs!

while most centipedes have are born with a full complement of leg pairs, certain centipedes (like the stone centipedes) add theirs throughout their molts! also‼️ a centipede can sacrifice a few of its legs to escape the grip of a predator! they can even regrow them! (if you find one with some legs that are shorter, then it’s probably recovering from the process ^^)

some centipedes are good moms :D

and for millipedes!!!!!

much like centipedes, millipedes can never have exactly a 1000 legs. (the liars!) the majority of millipedes can have anywhere between 80-400 legs!

millipedes are born without legs! they stay as legless larva until their first molt, where they’ll end up with 6 body segments and 3 pairs of legs :D

like the picture above says, a millipede will curl up into a ball when attacked! some species also take it further by defending themselves via chemicals - they can either be poisonous, or just foul-smelling x3

milipedes were the first known land-dwelling animals over 430 million years ago :0

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also unrelated but.

this is a giraffe weevil. he’s a beetle. he fights others from his species with his neck. he is silly

Sometimes I feel sad that my special interest is learning as a broad because I used love school so much but obviously the school system and being autistic and shit kinda ruined my experience and now I really struggle to engage in my own special interest.

But then I remember I’m the perfect friend to other autistics. Like please. Tell me everything about your niche interest. I will ask questions. Lots. I will get as obsessed with you. I will remember for next time.