#its actually a cicada not a roach but
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gargoylegirly · 1 month ago
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💋🪳
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bogleech · 2 years ago
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REVIEWING THIS WHOLE BAG OF RUBBER BUGS:
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I mentioned recently that bags of cheap rubber bugs are harder to come by in real stores, but that there are a few options for them online. I just received this set from Aliexpress that’s currently only $4 with free shipping, you might even find the same set cheaper since there’s multiple listings for it, but I can verify this source is using an accurate photo and I am now going to REVIEW THEM:
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SPIDER: obligatory, all-purpose spider, ambiguous species, noodly legs, minimal paint application, 3/5
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COCKROACH: nice silky black coloration on the back, tan on the underside, rather haphazard leg pose, I like it but in terms of objective quality it’s unfortunately a 2/5 compared to other fake roaches and even to other bugs in this set.
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DRAGONFLIES: so this set is definitely pieced together from what were once multiple different rubber bug sets, but I can also confirm that you always get the same selection I’m reviewing, which includes several redundancies. You get both a large and small dragonfly with entirely different sculpts, the smaller one more accurately sculpted but not as dynamically painted! Both I’d give a 3/5, adequate dragonflies
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ORTHOPTERA: you get a cricket AND two different styles of grasshopper! The big, detailed black and red cricket is crudely painted but very unique, 3.5/5. The small grasshopper is cute and inoffensive, barely painted, 3/5. The large grasshopper is a 4/5 for me because while I’ve seen plenty like it, it has a really nice gradient from lime green to a darker grassier green that I just find very pleasant.
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BEES: two very differently sculpted bees, and they both use a sparkly metallic gold with black stripes. Both deserve a 4/5.
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ANTS: collectively I’m gonna say these are a 3.5/5, on their own very plain but I like that together you have a dull yellow-tan ant with comical googly eyes and a bigger, more ominous shiny black ant with spooky red eyes. I like that the black ant is also tied with a couple others as the largest bug in the set. It’s actually only slightly larger than the real life Giant Amazonian ant, Dinoponera, which is also entirely black.
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MANTIDS: excellent choice for another double bug, I like the simple cheapness of the little one with its awkwardly sculpted forelegs but to fair it’s a 2/5 compared to the 4/5 of the larger, red-eyed mantis which has more of that “sparkly” paint style!
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SCORPIONS: the only other arachnids in the set, and it’s amazing they included two different scorpions but only one spider. Trust me when I say that’s the most radical maverick decision a rubber bug set has ever made in the history of mankind. The small red scorpion is alright, a 3 I guess. The larger one has only six legs which is not accurate (the claws of a scorpion are modified mouthparts, not legs!) but I can’t look at its little black eyes and not want to cry so 5/5 actually.
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CICADA: not terribly common in these! Charming, chunky brown cicada, though the thorax piece is so transparent you can always see the hole it plugs into. At one time, this sculpt may have been part of a higher quality set that actually painted over this design flaw. 4/5 regardless.
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FLY: there’s a pattern here in which almost every flying insect in the set has a gold-brown base, which I’m not a big fan of. Sadly I’m overall neutral on this fly, normally my favorite of all the basic insects, perhaps because it looks just as much like some sort of wasp. It’s definitely a fly due to having only one pair of wings, and plenty of flies look exactly like this, but I’d just be a bigger fan if it was a chunkier, larger-eyed blowfly or horsefly. 2.5/5
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UNKNOWN: there are actually several insects this could possibly represent including a few Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, but the one insect it most closely resembles is an adult caddisfly. I like it, but it’s difficult to fairly judge it with no certain identification so 3/5 has to do.
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HAWKMOTH: stellar choice! I’ve seen only one cheap-grade plastic hawkmoth in my whole life, actually! Several hawkmoths are even clear-winged, though those usually still have dark markings around the wing edges. Would’ve been more accurate to some real species if they just cast the wings in a solid color, but that’s a trivial criticism. 5/5
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WASP: the wasp is SO good. The paint on this one is skewed funny but that’s fine, the green of the abdomen pops really well and I love the grouchy red eyes. 5/5
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CATERPILLAR: larvae are so rarely included in these, and when they are, they’re often an incredibly plain segmented tube that doesn’t look like anything in particular, or a recolor of a generic caterpillar I’ve seen several times before. This caterpillar sculpt is actually new to me and nicely shaped, with a tapering body and accurate limbs. It is however a rather stiff hunk of plastic, not as rubbery as the others, and honestly this is the one you would want rubberiest! Still a 5/5 for its inclusion at all.
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BEETLE: beetles are the most abundant, diverse insect group and the most common rubber bug toy after spiders, so it’s another bold move that they include only one in this whole set and it isn’t even one of the more recognizable, more famous beetles. On its own merits as just a rubber beetle it’s a 3/5, but its metallic blue stands out so nicely in this set, and the sculpt appears to be some sort of blister beetle, a rare choice and a very cool (but dangerous! Don’t touch them!!!) insect group so 5/5
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MOSQUITO: mosquitoes are another of my favorite animal groups, and as one of the world’s most abundant, most recognized, most controversial insects you’d think they’d be a standard bug toy already, but this is only the third plastic mosquito design I’ve ever seen in my entire long life! It’s brown, unpainted, dinky and bent funny. 10/5
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ssseriema · 7 months ago
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figured id send something more positive too and i thought this might make you laugh, but im like slowly working on my fear of bugs and my arachnophobia and im trying to do so by like. this is so silly but ive been just like addressing bugs as little people. like i say hi to ants like theyre my homies and i talk to little pill bugs and beetles and stink bugs and moths, and im getting way better with bees!! bees used to scare me a lot but im getting a lot better with making myself relax when they fly by instead of freaking out because i know they wont just sting me unless i provoke them or make them scared, and ive even been able to like gently help some moths out when theyre in trouble or i see them hurt themselves :) even with the spiders thing ive been trying to slowly get more comfortable like... existing near them, kind of a "you stay in your space and ill stay in mine" and i used to talk to the spiders on my balcony and joke around like "i respect women at work so much godspeed women" @ the spider 😭 just thought this would make you smile :) also bug facts are super helpful!! actually learning about them and learning which ones are harmless or harmful and learning facts about them and learning that they wont hurt me if i dont hurt them has been so helpful :) just a silly little positive update :D im still scared, especially of spiders, but im trying my best!!! ❤️
waitttt thats so cute.. its true... bugs are like little guys. and hey the fact that youre tryna overcome your fear of bugs is already like massive and really awesome and brave. i know its hard cause my big sister has always been afraid of me and i know several people who will scream at butterflies or ants. i dont blame them for that tbh, everyones got their own phobias and icks and fears, but my respect for a person increases dramatically when they still try to be kind to those creatures regardless, they are trying to make it in this world as any other animal is (including us!!!)
and i agree that knowing more about bugs can help you be less afraid of them!!! im gonna say a secret and reveal that i didnt always like bugs lol. it wasnt until end of highschool/start of college that my interest really was sparked by them. the only experiences with bugs i remember really well from when i was young are when ants once climbed up my shoes and legs, being scared shitless of bees (and even more wasps), and being really grossed out by roaches. however, educating oneself does wonders, and it turns out that you can even discover one of your biggest passions through it!!!! like its a little crazy going from highschool (didnt like bugs) to going all the way to chicago just to see some of them. thats why at every opportunity i have i try to share my limited knowledge, others learn something new and i get a chance to nerd out!
just today i mentioned the sound of the cicadas while i was hanging out with my physics lab mates, and one of them was like "oh yeah i always wondered what those were, thought they were like grasshoppers or something. do they bite?" the answer is no, and its like wonderful that i know enough about cicadas to say that and maybe even soothe someones apprehension of them
about spiders, one little guy that ive heard helps people with arachnophobia are jumping spiders! theres a ton of videos on youtube about building little vivariums and habitats for them, and the spiders themselves are really cute. personally when i see a jumping spider i get really excited because they have awesome colors/patterns and theyre small and smart enough that i know theres no way they will hurt me. ive even tried to handle a couple of them (sorry spiders for bothering you) and they are just one of the most pleasant creatures ive met (they are pretty darty and they jump tho so it can be easy to get spooked when you dont expect it lmao)
so yeah, my hats off to you. since i started paying attention to bugs my life has gotten a little brighter (and its also inspired me to go outside more lolol). it makes me happy when my friends send me pictures of bugs because they think theyre cool or they wanna ask me what the bug is, because it means i have more chances to engage with the world of arthropods AND talk to my friends! maybe even make new ones! who fuckin knows
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chaosnightmare · 2 years ago
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there are lots of crawlies I'm afraid of and lots of crawlies I'm not afraid of and some of them make sense for my region and life experiences and some of them are completely arbitrary hold on I'll make a list
crawlies i am not scared of
roly polys as previously mentioned, i think theyre very polite and i have nothing but good experiences with them
ants - i like them
bees - not particularly a big fan of them but rarely do you ever need to be concerned around one
moths - 👍
butterflies also
roaches - i fucking hate roaches :( but i am not scared of them i just have awful life experiences related to them and they make me feel itchy. no actual fear of them though
spiders - depends on the spider obviously there are some you're better off being afraid of especially where i live. they dont as a whole scare me though i do try to keep my distance as many of them can get Fairly Aggressive
centipedes - best friend no complaints
millipedes - shittier imitation of a centipede but not bad, rescued one from an emergency situation in the kitchen once and it was very cooperative
ladybugs - one of few acceptable beetles
seed bugs - theyre kind of stupid its hard to be scared of them
mantises - big fan of these dope souls
MOST average flies - just annoying not scary
mosquito - i am insanely allergic to these bastards i do not like them at all but theyre not scary or creepy
daddy long legs - really good, no complaints
most other general bugs
crawlies i AM scared of
crickets (SCARY AS FUCK. LEAST FAVORITE. CICADAS AND GRASSHOPPERS ALSO)
wasps - i knowww i know theyre not bad animals but when you get stung by something enough times as a kid your brain starts to associate that creature with Agony even if it was entirely your fault. i dont kill them i just run when theyre near me
bed bugs - i have scars left from bed bug bites from 2 years ago that i didn't scratch. thats how allergic i am to these. do not put one anywhere near me
dragonflies - :( they scare meeee why are you moving like that stop....
mayflies - horrible. awful
junebugs - Terrible.
scorpions - another childhood association. millie got stung by a scorpion and now just the sight of them makes me panic
silverfish - AAHHH
earwigs - i didnt used to be afraid of them but for some reason i am now?
water bugs - BAD
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strawberryscentedsoap · 1 year ago
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"can i.. save the wish? like for later. i dont want to use it now," asks kayce.
"i suppose you could. it is a lot to think about, i could see why youd want to save it. ill be here as long as the wish remains. whenever you decide, open the lamp. itll let me out," replies the genie.
and back into the lamp the genie went. kayce set the top back on it.
the lamp itself looked more like a teapot than your stereotypical "genie lamp". aladdins depiction wasnt very accurate. it was white ceramic, with gold detailing around the lid and around a printed image on one side. the image was of a forest. it was autumn, with half the leaves on the tree haven already fell. a faerie covered by a leaf sat on the ground, staring into her own reflection using a mirror she held. the spout of the pot was curled a bit downwards. the handle matched the gold detailing of the lid. gold brought together the whole autumn scene.
kayce stuffed the lamp/pot into her bag. it barely fit, with all the rope and knives and canned foods, and meds, and any other ridiculous item she would never have had it not been the apocalypse. she had been living this way for about a year now. laying low, finding safe people and sticking with them when she could. avoiding any military personel. staying far away from churches. not bothering to check if that person had a pulse anymore. raiding what was left of shops.
it was less apocalypse and more post-world war three. the only apocalyptic thing about the world now was the lack of civilisation. other than that, it was the same as before the bombings. there were still power-crazed politicians hiding out in the rich cities. still people who would hold you to gunpoint if you were different. still people who cared about the wrong things. she still didnt have a place to settle and breathe for a moment.
the only thing that was noticeably different to her was the lack of semi-sane people and she didnt have her apartment or job. she still "stole" things before the war.
it was all the same.
-
a couple months after the initial meeting of the genie, she was alone. she hadnt seen anyone for months. typically, this would be a good thing. no people trying to kill her. no one trying to convince her to turn to god (the religious freaks "sacrificed" people to try to stop the wars. it.. did not work. they just think it did or will or whatever). but there was also no one to tell her there was still a reaskn to not give up. no one to share her months old canned beans with. no one to look up at the sky with for a moment. no one to be a person with.
she opened the lamp.
the genie crawled out into her hand. it was a tiny little thing. looked like it could use an insect of some sort
to get around (but not an ant. probably something like a cicada or cricket or roach).
"i see youve decided. what is your wish?"
she hesitated. how do you tell a mythical being that you didnt actually follow their directions? at least it only had enough power for one more wish. surely it wouldnt waste its last little bit of magick on trying to curse her, if it could even do that.
"i, uh- i dont actually have one yet. i just needed a friend," she admitted. the genie quirked an eyebrow. "so, you wish for a friend?"
"no. i dont. i dont *want* a friend. i *need* a friend. its not a wish. not some extravagant item i could only have im my dreams. its a requirement."
it contemplated. "so, what do you want me to do?"
it was a long shot, but hopefully this worked. "is there a way you domt have to- yknow. go back in the teapot? couldnt you stay out here?"
the genie looked up at her. it had an extremely confused expression on its face.
"i mean. i suppose i could... do you wish for me to?"
kayce sighed, "no, i dont wish. if you dont want to or cant thats fine. it was a question and if youre not down, then you can go back."
it was quick to change its attitude. "no, no, no, no, no, no, no- i do- i want. i want to stay on the outside. outside is good."
she got it to break character. the genie really had no room to put the wall back up. the room was filled with rubble and couldnt be moved out of the way.
"great, then stay out here."
she reached into her jacket pocket, shuffling around a lighter and pocket knife to grab the bread she had been snacking on all day.
she offered some to the genie. "sorry, i dont really feel human pleasure. i get nothing from eating or drinking or drugs or falling from tall cliffs or stuff. my pleasure comes from playing with the magick. it settles.. things."
it showed no signs of wanting to elaborate. it was probably best not to ask anyways.
-
a year or two later, kayce didnt know. her sense of time has been screwed up since forever, the genie was sitting on top of the lamp staring at the stars. it didnt need sleep. it never got tired.
kayce had been having issues sleeping the past few nights. she thinks shes finally decided, but she doesnt known if itll work. she doesnt know if the genie can do it, or if itll even want to-
she turned over to face the lamp.
"is something bothering you?"
"no," she replied. it wasnt.. a lie. not the truth either, but it was all coming to light tonight anyways, she was sure of that much. she continued, "i just- i think i know what i want my wish to be."
the genie slouched into itself, dropping its chin into its hands. "what might that be?" its tone offered no information. no feeling, nothing to give away how it was feeling (she had learned that although it didnt feel pleasure, it could feel emotions, similar to humans, but less-so. there were some special genie-only emotions she had witnessed a couple times. that was a roller coaster. this time though, none of that was coming through).
"if its possible,
i wish,
for the two of us to be able to live together, happy, away from the harm. i want us to be able to be in a place completely free of the war and the suffering and all of it. im tired of it. its so draining, running all the time. but i still want you with me. i was terrified to ask this so hopefully its actually okay and you dont use all your magick and disappear.
please."
-
it turns out, the autumn setting on the lamp was a whole world. thats where the genie took them.
also turns out, the faerie was the genie. it was never a genie. it came out of the lamp (left its world for the human one) when humans opened the portal. the only reasom it granted wishes was it wanted to good for the world. it didnt realise how greedy and destructive and just- bad- humans were. until it met kayce.
or, until kayce found it.
thats why theyre here now. thats why, three years later, theyre happy.
kayce was the only human who wanted good for the both of them (no matter how many times she thought it was a bad idea because it felt selfish to ask that of the faerie).
when the last wish the faerie had enough power for was granted, the pot shattered. it was left in the field they were laying that night, under the stars. by now, maybe, it was washed away, or eroded, but layce never thought about it. she never thought about any of it.
maybe she shouldve.
but for once, she was happy, and so she didnt.
You’re living in a wasteland in a post-apocalyptic future when you stumble upon a magic lamp. The genie informs you there is only enough magic left for one wish. Choose wisely.
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write-ur-wrongs · 4 years ago
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Nature’s Nurturing Ways
Hi y’all! This pandemic has really taken the wind out of my sails these past few weeks (maybe months? Time is completely untraceable right now). This piece is born out of a lovely anon’s request, bolded below. As always, I haven’t proofread this mess, so please forgive the typos! I’ll do my best to correct them post-publishing. I seriously can’t thank you enough for taking the time to send me your ideas, and I promise I’ll get better at writing actual drabbles LOL. I hope you enjoy :) 
Hii can you write something abt Geralt being w a plant-based reader where she loves animals and nature? Tysm
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Geralt and Jaskier had been travelling for hours when the beating sun finally wore them down. There hadn’t been a breeze in days and the hot, stale air was starting to suffocate the uncharacteristically quiet bard, who wouldn’t dare compete with the surrounding cicada’s symphony.
“Geralt,” he rasped, “do you hear any running water? Drips or gurgles? I’ll take anything.”
“Jask, it hasn’t rained in days and it’s hotter than the depths of hell,” the Witcher sighed before continuing, “I said no yesterday, the answer is the same today.”
“Euughh!” Jaskier threw his head back in despair before hanging his head in exhaustion. “Geralt, I don’t want to be dramatic -,”
“Ha!” Geralt twisted in his saddle to look back at his friend with a quirked brow.
“- but I will fall off this horse and die of exposure if we don’t find water soon.”
Shaking his head, Geralt knew that despite the bard’s tendency to embellish, the situation was getting dire. They’d traveled this way dozens of times before and had always relied on the steady creek that ran alongside the trail for water. The region wasn’t known for dry spells and while Geralt was sure he could manage either way, his companion on the trail was not so durable.
They wouldn’t arrive at their destination for another three or four hours, at his level of dehydration and with probable heat exhaustion, Jaskier might not have that much time.
With another gruff sigh, Geralt pulled back on Roach’s reins and redirected her off the road and into the forest, turning back to ensure Jaskier’s horse would follow.
Geralt knew that there was a small clearing off the road where the thick leaves from the old trees made a lush, and shaded, canopy. He’d been there before a handful of times. It’s where he shared a tender first kiss, where he’d laid his head on Y/N’s chest before falling asleep feeling the cool, lush, grass cradling his large frame. It’s where he first said I love you.
Shaking his head slightly to pull himself from his memories, he dismounted and grabbed both sets of reins, leading the horses into farther the clearing. Once they’d reached the middle of the small field, Geralt released Roach’s lead and gave her a neck a scratch before leaving her to graze.
“Come on Jaskier,” he said, reaching into the gelding’s saddle bag for some food, “get off your horse and lay down in the grass.”
The bard fell out of his saddle with a thud while Geralt continue to root around the bag, huffing as he kept coming up empty.
“Did you eat the last of the cheese?”
“Mmpft,” Jaskier replied incoherently, face down in the grass.
“Hey –”
“Oi! You kicked me!”
“Where is the food? We had bread, cheese, and meat left over last night. Did you fucking eat it all?”
“No, you oaf,” he said, rolling over onto his back, “we ate the rest of it this morning.”
“Fuck!” Geralt cursed under his breath, pulling his hair up off his neck to cool off. He could barely remember what they’d done earlier that day. The heat had been unbearable all evening, and the rising sun only made it worse.  
“Don’t worry about it Geralt! No need to apologize for accusing me so harshly.” Jaskier said, words dripping in sarcasm.
Geralt merely looked down at the bard with disdain and rolled his eyes, refusing to admit the sun might be affecting him too.
“Shut up and take off your shirt –”
“Oh-ho!” he laughed weakly, wiggling his eye brows at the witcher. No matter how beaten and battered the bard may be, he’d never miss an opportunity to tease Geralt.
“No, Gods! Fuck,” Geralt went on, flustered, “the grass will cool you down a hell of a lot faster if you’re in direct contact. And besides, Y/N will kill me if I let you die of exposure.”
“Always so serious, eh Geralt?” Jaskier chided playfully, pulling off his tunic before laying back down onto the grass, “Oh-ho-ho-ohhhh yes… Sweet merciful goddess of all that is good, this feels amazing! Yes, yes, yes!”
While he was sure the bard was still mumbling gratefully, and disgustingly, at the feeling of the cool grass against his skin, Geralt’s mind was elsewhere. Somewhere in this clearing, wild heliotropes had bloomed and the sweet, almondine scent was pulling him into a memory.
“Geralt! Witchers use herbs, mushrooms, and flowers in all kinds of magic,” you said, your hands resting high on your hips, “I find it incredibly hard to believe that in all your years and extensive travels, you’d never learned to forage?”
“All my years, eh?” he’d replied, cat-like eyes gleaming back at you.
“Well of course,” you teased, “I mean, unless you mean to tell me that silver head of hair is a choice born out of vanity?”
“I’m going to make you pay for that later, Y/N.” He laughed, taken aback and a little impressed that you felt so comfortable with his mutations as to mock him playfully.
“Ha! Me and what coin?” you reply with a light laugh, bending over to collect the generous mushrooms growing through the bed of leaves and needles.
Geralt turned his head towards you to hit you with a winning comeback, but found himself lost for words when his eyes failed to meet yours.
You get up slowly, peering over your shoulder to find your witcher’s eyes on your backside. Smirking to yourself and quirking a brow flirtatiously, you toss a handful of dirt and wet leaves his way, hitting the poor soul right in the chest.
“Distracted, Geralt?” you said, tossing your hair over your shoulder as you straightened up.
Geralt swallowed thickly, desperately trying to string together at least a couple words – witty at best, coherent at least – when he heard a twig snap in the surrounding forest.
Quick as a flash, he drew his sword and his attention towards the source of the disturbance, a large boar. Chest already swelling with pride at the thought of providing you with a hearty meal, Geralt prepared his attack on the creature before him.
Seeing that the “threat” in question was nothing but a passing porcine, you dove before him with a shout, dropping the mushrooms on the way. Your scream coupled with your sudden movement startled the beast, and it dove deeper into the brush to escape.
“Geralt, no!”
“Damn it, Y/N,” he swore, “I could’ve had it! We could have had a decent meal! We – we would have been set for days!”
“No, Geralt! We have food, right here in this clearing. We needn’t take lives from the forest to eat.”
“Gods, Y/N,” he sighed, dropping his sword to the ground in frustration, “do I need to remind you of the cycle of life? Creatures live, they die, and they get eaten so others can live –”
“Yes, and by leaving that gentle giant to its ruminations, we’ve allowed it to go on, to feed its young, or hell! By leaving that boar to live, we might have secured a lifeline for a fellow wolf or fox. Geralt look around you; mushrooms, flowers, these thick leaves, those berries? You see that tree there? At its roots there are nuts, and over there? Those flowers? Means there is garlic. The forest will feed us with ease if we simply care to drop our weapons, and look.”
Geralt looked at you and with soft eyes, he took in the way your eyes burned with passion, the way your chest rose and fell with every energized breath. He looked around you and really looked at the plants around him, beyond scanning for any toxic or dangerous herbs, he did his best to see the forest through your bright eyes.
Looking at you he felt his chest swell once more, but this time the feeling was warm, grounding.
“I love you, Y/N,” he said quietly, pulling you into his arms, “so, so much.”
You looked up at him with tears in your eyes. You knew he loved you. You had known for months, but you’d made peace with the fact that he loved you however he could, and that that would have to be enough, even if it meant you wouldn’t hear him say it.
“Oh, my sweet, sweet dove,” you murmured, reaching up to lay a soft kiss on his forehead, “I love you too.”
Geralt was wrenched from his thoughts by a swift kick to his shin, courtesy of the bard.
“Shhht!! Geralt!” Jaskier shout-whispered, still kicking at the witcher’s shins. “A deer! A d- dinner! Food! Geralt!”
Side-stepping out of the bard’s frantic little kicks, Geralt looked around him in a quick movement, spotting the deer with his hand primed above his sword’s hilt.
The world seemed to go quiet and still when his eyes met the doe’s. Despite himself, he could hear your voice in his head telling him that she’s a young, vibrant member of this forest’s population. That at her age, she’s likely a first-time mom or about to be. That she has more life to live and more to give to the land than be a poor man’s meal.
Jaskier watched in hungry-horror as Geralt waved his large hand at the creature, turning his back to it before looking down to meet his shell-shocked gaze.
“What the fuck, Geralt!” he spat, “what happened to “Y/N would kill me if I let Jaskier die”? What the fuck! That was food! Survival!”
“You’ll be fine Jask, shut up and lay in your grass.”
“As long as you don’t make me eat it.” He grumbled, not quietly enough.
A laugh rumbled through him as he walked towards to forest line, spotting thick dandelion leaves, mushrooms, and bushes ripe with nuts. He might not necessarily need to feed Jaskier the grass beneath his feet, but he was going to make him eat his words.
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“There you are my intrepid explorers!” You damn near squealed at the sight of them, dropping your basket of recently-purchased produce as you ran towards them.
At the sight of you, Geralt dismounts and runs to meet you in a tight embrace. You hold each other tightly, breathing in each other’s scent; his cedar, damp earth, and cut grass, and yours sweet almond.
You pull back just enough to look him over quickly and, spotting no fresh injury or new scars, pull your brows together curiously.
“Did you get lost?”
“Not at all,” replied Jaskier, clapping Geralt on the shoulder, “You’d be impressed, madam Y/N! Our dear witcher made quite the feast. Pulled me right out of the greedy jaws of death, he did!”
“Oh?” You said, brows furrowed in a silent question. Knowing what you meant, Geralt shook his head and kissed your temple to reassure you.
“Picture me this, Y/N,” Jaskier mused as he untacked his gelding, “I’m wilting away, inches from Death’s grip, and Geralt sweeps me under a lush canopy of trees and lays me in the grass…”
“Lays him in the grass? Should I be jealous?” you whispered.
“Never my love,” he replied softly, his forehead against yours.
“… then our honorable friend bid the deer a fond farewell, letting him get away! Yes, Y/N, there I lay, starving, thinking the sun must have cooked the sense right out of him when he marches out of sight only to emerge moments later with a bounty!”
“A bounty?” you mock-gasp, egging the bard on to Geralt’s great displeasure.
“Yes! We ate like kings in that forest, Y/N. All we did was eat but I felt hydrated and renewed! Truly a culinary delight.”
“A delight, Geralt!” you giggled, giving his waist a squeeze.
“Gods, won’t he ever shut up?” he grumbled, ghost of a blush creeping up his collar.
“Oh hush, my love,” you cooed, “without Jask’s bragging, I’d have never known what a big softy you’ve become.”
Wordlessly, Geralt looked down at you in mock-contempt, unsure that this wasn’t a veiled insult. He was instantly reassured though, when his eyes met yours.
“You left the deer.”
“I did.”
“And you foraged, found just what you needed.” You spoke softly, admiration and love rounding your features out beautifully.
“That’s right.”
“Now where did you pick up skills like that, my dove?” You chanced another tease, twirling a lock of his white, dust-packed hair around a finger before giving it a light tug, your head cocked to the side.
“Oh, I had an exceptional teacher…” he said, wrapping an arm tightly around your waist and bringing his other hand up to cup your face, pulling into a deep kiss.
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saturniidays · 3 years ago
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22, 41, 50 :)
22. I like showing people my hissers! people think roaches are all super fast and able to get into anything but hissers are slow and bumbling and stupid babies. they can be hit or miss though, sometimes the hissing actually scares people lol
41. well i don't actively read it but I really love The insects: Structure and Function by R. F. Chapman for the anatomical diagrams that are super well drawn and labeled, its so helpful. I also love flipping through really old books to laugh at the outdated taxonomy. Its how I found out that mantises used to be orthopterans lol
50. I wish for at least one emoji from each order. also I think I deserve a cicada emoji.
x
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lysbethabrams · 6 years ago
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My little bowl of indoor duckweed!
it’s kind of an adult attention deficit thingy…
I have a small water garden on the patio, in a 5 gallon pail. The aquatic plants are mostly things from clients gardens that they didn’t want, such as the duckweed (we skim duckweed from one pond every week since it multiplies so fast, and I like the bright green color, so I just brought some home). Well, when we had tree work done, it totally changed the patio from mostly shady to mostly sunny. So it has been interesting, and heartbreaking, watching some plants thrive and others die. Turns out duckweed really doesn’t do well in full sun! So I figured I’d bring some inside and put it in a blue glass bowl since I really like the color combination of blue and green. I really REALLY like certain 3-color combinations, in this case: green-blue-yellow (I also happen to like red-yellow-green, red-green-brown, and blue-green-brown. But I digress). I have so much *clutter* that I didn’t even see the bugs till I looked at my photo. I have a box of cicada skins - how can you NOT save these when you see them? Bonus if you actually get to see the emerging cicada! I saw one the other day on a Locust tree (HAHAHA seriously). So the skins are here and there. Except when they get dusty. It’s impossible to dust these little buggers. I hate dusting anyway. I hate cleaning too. Which is probably why there is so much crap in piles all over the house. I paid one of the boys to clean one summer but it turns out they hate cleaning too. So. I usually keep the plastic roaches under the bananas, near the wind-up plastic mouse THAT REALLY MOVES LIKE A MOUSE haha. I don’t know how they got over to the windowsill. The roaches were part of a set of plastic vermin that I once used to decorate the boys meals. There is nothing like being served eggs with little black ants on top. I don’t know what happened to all the ants but they have dispersed over time. I don’t do this anymore, sadly. Max is going to turn 20 next week! No more teenagers!
Angiosperms are flowering plants, as opposed to gymnosperms, which do not produce flowers (like pine trees). Duckweed is actually a group of aquatic plants, and the smallest of these is the genus Wolffia, which I don’t think this is (taxonomists generally fall into 2 camps, lumpers and splitters. The splitters put duckweed in its own family, Lemnaceae. But the lumpers put them as a subfamily within the family Araceae. This is pretty exciting stuff to those of us who love to organize stuff. I don’t like to clean stuff though. I think I mentioned that). And mostly they just propagate vegetatively, so that is why the green mats get denser and denser. And probably why the client hates them. People think they are algae! Seriously! They don’t even LOOK like algae!
I really hope the duckweed survives the winter. I’m thinking I might put it in the dining room, on the lazy-Susan that my mom gave me.
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brittanyyoungblog · 4 years ago
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Could STIs Manipulate Us Into Having More Sex To Increase Disease Spread?
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Most of us like to think of ourselves as having free will. We engage in behaviors—sexually and otherwise—because we choose to do so, right? But what if this wasn't entirely true? What if some of our behaviors were unknowingly being manipulated by microorganisms that entered our bodies and brains?
I know what you’re thinking—this sounds kind of crazy, bordering on science fiction or conspiracy theory. But hear me out. Science suggests that there might very well be something to the idea that viruses (including STIs) could potentially "hijack" your brain, subtly directing you to behave in ways that serve the virus and help it to reproduce. Let’s take a look at the evidence.
A few years ago, I wrote a fascinating (and disturbing) article on how a certain sexually transmitted infection in crickets seems to wield a powerful influence over their mating behaviors in a way that appears to help the infection spread more easily. The virus makes the host infertile, but doesn’t cause any apparent change in external appearance (i.e., the cricket doesn’t look or appear to be sick), nor does it cause a change in general behavior—except that it makes male crickets much faster to mate, thereby creating more opportunities for viral spread.
Since publishing that article, another study has come out showing that cicadas infected with a deadly fungus essentially go on a “sex binge” post-infection, which helps to disperse the fungus far and wide. Here’s an article summarizing the research that’s well worth a read. It might be a tad sensationalized, given that it describes infected cicadas as “rampant sex-bots of destruction” (ha!), but that’s honestly one of the best lines I’ve read in a long time. If you’d rather read the more serious academic version of the study, you can find it here.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the fascinating TED Talk below titled "Zombie Roaches and Other Parasite Tales" by science writer Ed Yong for more provocative and disturbing examples of how parasites can manipulate a host's behavior in dramatic ways.
Now, all of the examples discussed so far are about insects and animals. So is there any evidence that something similar can potentially happen in humans? Yes. Although not an STI, rabies is a prime example. In mammals, rabies increases aggressiveness and leads to more fighting and biting, which helps the virus to spread faster.
But what about STIs? Are there any STIs in humans that might alter sexual behavior in order to enhance viral spread? There has been very little research to date exploring this possibility, but a recent study actually suggests that HIV might potentially operate in this way.
The authors of this study (published in the journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health) hypothesized that “during the acute and early stages of HIV infection, the virus manipulates host behavior such that it increases male sexual behavior, resulting in more frequent and riskier sex with more partners.” Of course, providing a direct test of this hypothesis through a randomized controlled trial would be unethical, so what the researchers did was analyze reports of sexual behavior in studies of gay men who had recently been diagnosed with HIV.
Specifically, they looked at reports of number of sexual partners in the past month before diagnosis compared to the two months prior. What they found was that HIV+ men with acute infections reported substantially more sexual partners (about twice as many) in the past month than did men with non-acute infections. The acutely infected men also had more partners in the past month than they did in the prior two months, on average. Further, they found that condomless sex was higher for these men in the last month as well.
They looked at data from five existing studies, and they all showed a similar pattern: when viral load (the amount of virus present in the bloodstream) was higher, people had more partners and more unprotected sex—and, importantly, when viral load is high, this is when the risk of disease transmission is greatest.
Of course, as mentioned above, this study has its limitations and alternative explanations are possible. However, it provides the first compelling evidence that STIs could potentially lead to sexual behavior modification in humans in ways that increase disease spread. Given all of the previous insect and animal studies demonstrating similar phenomena, it does at least seem plausible that some STIs in humans might have this effect. All of this points to the need for further research (including research that explores STIs beyond HIV) to better understand what’s going on in the interest of public health.
Watch more videos on the science of sex and relationships here.
Want to learn more about Sex and Psychology? Click here for more from the blog or here to listen to the podcast. Follow Sex and Psychology on Facebook, Twitter (@JustinLehmiller), or Reddit to receive updates. You can also follow Dr. Lehmiller on YouTube and Instagram.
Image Source: Bram Janssens/123RF
You Might Also Like: 
Hijacked By STIs: Infections That Spread By Increasing The Host’s Interest In Sex
Six Myths About Sexually Transmitted Infections Debunked
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bogleech · 6 years ago
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Notes for drawing (and writing) insects
I do something like this almost yearly and it feels like it gets a little longer every time!
Personally I draw either cartoony stuff or hybrid monsters where none of this is mandatory, but here are some of the things I sometimes see missing or inaccurate in insect artwork that was meant to be lifelike, and even if you only do alien, monster or cartoon arthropods, or you don’t make art at all, you might still like to know some of these things!
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First off, an insect leg pretty much always has 9 segments. #1, the coxa, is what attaches it to the body and can be a short little “ball” or a whole long piece, but almost always bends DOWN. The last five segments are almost always very short, forming a super flexible “foot” or “tarsus” ending in a set of claws and sticky pads. All spiders have this “foot” as well!
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The foot is even still present on the claws of a preying mantis - growing right out of the “sickle” like this, and still used as feet when the mantis walks around or climbs. Basically ONLY CRABS have limbs ending in simple points!
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Insects don’t just have side-to-side mandibles at all, but an upper and lower set of “lips” like a duck bill! In some, however, these parts can be very small or even fused solid.
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Insects also typically have four “palps” on their head, an upper and lower pair, which evolved from legs and are used to handle food!
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Most *FLYING* insects have ocelli, single-lens eyes in addition to their multi-faceted compound eyes! Some flightless insects can also have them but it depends on the species.
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All legs and wings are always attached to the thorax!
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Caterpillars still have six legs! They’re very small and up near the head. All the other “legs” are actually just suckers on its underbelly.
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You will be forgiven for never drawing this but this is how many parts a mosquito’s mouth actually has. Every piece you can find in another insect’s mouth - the “upper lip,” the mandibles, the palps, etc. - are all present as different needles and blades!
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The word “bug” originally referred only to one group of insects, the hemiptera, including stink bugs, assassin bugs, aphids, cicadas, bed bugs and water striders to name a few. One distinguishing feature of this group is that it did away with all those separate mouth parts - all “bugs” have just a single, hollow “beak” or “proboscis” to feed through!
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The vast majority of insect groups have wings or at least members with wings, and all insects with wings have  FOUR of them.....except that in beetles, the front wings evolved into solid, protective shields for the hind wings, and in true flies (which includes mosquitoes!) the hind wings evolved into tiny little knobs with weights on the end, called halteres, which the fly’s fast-paced brain uses to feel its orientation, altitude, speed, surrounding air pressure and other fine data making them quite possibly the most advanced aerial navigators on the planet. OTHER NOTES THAT DON’T NEED ILLUSTRATION:
Insects and other arthropods HAVE TRUE BRAINS in their heads, made of brain cells like ours. They can learn, memorize, and make decisions.
Insects do have males and females and obviously only females lay eggs. Fiction is always getting this wrong, but I guess it also does so with birds so whatever.
Of insects, only termites, ants, some bees and some wasps have fully evolved a eusocial colony structure with “queens” as we think of them. Of these, the termites are actually highly specialized cockroaches, and the rest (bees, ants, wasps) are the same exact group.
The scrabbling, clicking noise associated with insects is usually added artificially in nature footage for dramatic effect. While their movements likely emit some sort of sound, it’s probably no “louder” proportionately than, say, the sound of a cat’s fur as it walks. In other words it should not be noticeable; what kind of animal survives as a species if it clatters with every step??
Compound eyes do not see a bunch of identical little images. There is no advantage to any organism seeing that way. An insect sees one big picture just like you do.
Only some insect groups have “larvae.” Others have “nymphs” which resemble fully grown but wingless insects.
The only insects with a venomous bite are some true bugs and some flies. There are no beetles or roaches or wasps or anything else that inject offensive toxins through their mouth parts, as far as I know!
The only insects that lay eggs inside other insects parasitically are certain wasps and flies. There are also NO arachnids that do this.
Only certain bees, wasps and ants have stingers on their abdomens. These are modified from egg laying appendages, so it’s also only ever the females.
The only other kind of “sting” in any insect is a venomous hair or spine, mostly seen in caterpillars.
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jerrytackettca · 6 years ago
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Can You Believe There Are Cockroach Farms in China?
The featured video, produced by the South China Morning Post, opens with these words: "If cockroaches make you uncomfortable … this could be your worst nightmare." Indeed. Most of us would do almost anything to avoid a daily work environment that involves contact with millions of teeming roaches. In China, however, cockroaches are big business.
A number of Chinese cities contending with explosive population growth are finding cockroaches to be a helpful solution to the ever-increasing problem of food waste disposal. With landfills approaching capacity in some areas, it's roaches to the rescue.
Not only do these pesky insects eat food scraps, but they also are a source of animal feed and an ingredient in some health and beauty products, as well as medicines. Though you may find it hard to believe, cockroach breeding farms in China are the real deal.
Roaches to the Rescue: China's Unusual Urban Waste Disposal System
Cockroaches are big business in China, where, according to Reuters, teeming colonies of them are entrusted with the serious job of devouring tons of kitchen waste.1 Though the thought of millions of cockroaches together in one location sounds like something from a horror movie, it is actually the foundation of an innovative urban waste disposal system.
The goal: Reduce the amount of food-related garbage deposited in landfills. The issue of food waste is particularly problematic in large Chinese cities with rapidly expanding populations. Because roaches have voracious appetites and are easy to house, they are, it seems, the perfect match for China's garbage problem.
These so-called cockroach farms are maintained in humid, near-dark conditions, which are ideal for the insects. When the bugs eventually die, they are usually transformed into animal feed. On the outskirts of Jinan, for example, the capital of eastern Shandong province, a billion cockroaches are being fed about 50 metric tons of kitchen waste a day.
That's an amount equivalent in weight to seven elephants. With respect to how the garbage makes its way to the roaches, Reuters states:2
"The waste arrives before daybreak at the plant run by Shandong Qiaobin Agricultural Technology Co., where it is fed through pipes to cockroaches in their cells. Shandong Qiaobin plans to set up three more such plants next year, aiming to process a third of the kitchen waste produced by Jinan, home to about 7 million people."
While some people despise cockroaches and others are disgusted by them, Li Yanrong, general manager of Shandong Qiaobin, sees these hardy insects only for their beneficial qualities. In 2017, Li told China Daily:3
"We spent six years doing research into using cockroaches after finding that they can feed on kitchen waste and create no pollutants. Using cockroaches to deal with kitchen waste is good for our country and for business. Social problems created by kitchen waste will be eradicated."
Li claims cockroaches are able and willing to devour almost anything. He says they can consume up to 5 percent of their body weight every day. "Cockroaches have been eating plants and organic matter since hundreds of millions of years ago," he said. "They are experts in waste composting."4
Cockroaches Picking Up Where Pigs Left Off After Swine Fever Outbreak
Li is not the only one enthused about roaches. "Cockroaches are a biotechnological pathway for the converting and processing of kitchen waste," says Liu Yusheng, president of Shandong Insect Industry Association and entomology professor at Shandong Agricultural University.5
This is particularly the case because it's currently illegal to feed human food waste to pigs in China. Roaches have come to the forefront, in part, due to the Chinese nationwide ban on using food waste for pig feed.6 That ban, which has fueled the growth of the cockroach industry, came about as a result of African swine fever outbreaks first detected in August 2018.7
In October 2018, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a statement saying, "After the provinces with outbreaks and neighboring provinces completely banned feeding of kitchen waste to pigs, the epidemic was greatly reduced, which fully demonstrates the importance of completely prohibiting the feeding of waste [to pigs]."8
The industry is primed to grow even more as a result of the new laws around pigs and food waste. In the past three years, Liu notes the number of cockroach farmers in Shandong alone has tripled to about 400. "There have been huge developments in cockroach breeding and research in the past few years," said Liu.9
Novel Uses for Cockroaches Include Health and Beauty Applications
Beyond eating waste, cockroaches are valued for other reasons, including their eggs. Li told China Daily his company can earn 36.5 million yuan ($5.3 million) a year by selling protein feed produced from cockroach eggs.10 "A cockroach begins laying eggs when it is 4 months old. It lays one egg each week and can lay eggs for eight months," Li said.11
In addition, roaches are being considered for their potential usefulness in health and beauty products and medications. As presented in the featured video, in Sichuan, a privately held company called Gooddoctor Pharmaceutical Research, established in 1998, is raising about 6 billion cockroaches.
Geng Funeng, president of Gooddoctor, who appears in the video, says he hopes the international science community will one day recognize the value of roaches for medicine.
"Insects are a complete and living organism," Geng states in the video. He told the Sydney Morning Herald he personally eats 10 of them a day.12 "They contain multiple compounds to benefit our health," he added. "I think the problems in our lives can be better solved with living solutions."
Beyond the use of cockroaches in medications, researchers at Gooddoctor are also investigating the possibility of using roach extracts in beauty masks, diet pills and even hair-loss treatments.13 Another source says it can be used to treat diabetic ulcers and severe skin wounds.14
"The essence of cockroach is good for curing oral and peptic ulcers, skin wounds and even stomach cancer," asserts Wen Jianguo, manager of Gooddoctor's cockroach facility.15 According to Reuters, "At Gooddoctor, when cockroaches reach the end of their life span of about six months, they are blasted by steam, washed and dried, before being sent to a huge nutrient extraction tank."16
"They really are a miracle drug," Liu added. "They can cure a number of ailments and they work much faster than other medicine."17 In 2013, Liu told The Telegraph a cream made from powdered cockroaches had been used in some Chinese hospitals as a treatment for burns and for cosmetic facial masks in Korea.18
Beyond that, The Telegraph reported a syrup invented by a drug manufacturer in Sichuan promises to cure duodenal ulcers, gastroenteritis and pulmonary tuberculosis.19 "China has the problem of an aging population," said Liu. "So, we are trying to find new medicines for older people, and these are generally cheaper than Western medicine."20
Cockroaches Used to Feed Chickens and Humans
At Shandong Qiaobin, Li and his employees bake and mill dead cockroaches into high-protein powder that is added to chicken feed. He claims the powder has been found to "reduce body fat and boost immunity in the 1,000-plus chickens he has raised."21
The South China Morning Post calls out the high protein content of cockroaches, suggesting they can be useful as food not just for animals, but humans as well.22 Consumer Reports notes the use of insect protein in energy bars and other food items sold in the U.S. In a 2014 review of such products, they stated:23
"[T]he cricket products popping up on store shelves in the U.S. don't contain insects that are rounded up in the wild. These critters are raised on domestic cricket farms, where they are fed a grain-based diet. They're dried or roasted and then milled into a fine flour. About 40 crickets are packed into an average snack bar."
According to Liu, restaurants in major cockroach-farming provinces like Shandong, Sichuan and Yunnan already sell cockroach dishes for human consumption.24 Very often, he notes, molting cockroaches are seasoned with salt or spices and then deep-fried or stir-fried.
Although nobody has made a commercial venture selling edible cockroaches on a large scale, Liu said he believes businesses will soon make the move. "They can easily mill the molting cockroaches and make flour with them," he said.25
Given the increasing interest in insects as food, in May 2018, the 2nd International Conference "Insects to Feed the World" was held in China to discuss the role of insects in helping to sustain human life and promote nutrition.26
In 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (U.N.) published a report suggesting people start eating insects as a possible solution to global food shortages.27 As for the types of insects most commonly eaten for food, the U.N. notes the following breakdown:28
Beetles (Coleoptera) — 31 percent
Caterpillars (Lepidoptera) — 18 percent
Bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera) — 14 percent
Grasshoppers, locusts and crickets (Orthoptera) — 13 percent
Cicadas, leafhoppers, planthoppers, scale insects and true bugs (Hemiptera) — 10 percent
Termites (Isoptera, also known as Blattodea) — 3 percent
Dragonflies (Odonata) — 3 percent
Flies (Diptera) — 2 percent
Other orders — 5 percent
As members of the same order as termites, cockroaches rank No. 6 on the list of most commonly eaten insects. You can learn more about the U.N. report by checking out my article "Eat Insects, Save the World."
Speaking of roaches as a food source, more intriguing still is the notion of cockroach milk as a potential super food. Yes, that's right, cockroach milk. A certain type of cockroach (Diploptera punctata), found mostly in the Pacific Islands, is the main source of this bug beverage.
A 2016 study29,30 from India asserts cockroach milk contains more than three times as much energy as cow's milk. That said, the researchers indicated there is a lack of evidence roach milk is safe for human consumption, so further investigation is needed.
To learn more about this, you may want to read my article "Cockroach Milk — The Most Nutritious?" Roach milk aside, the potential for other roach-inspired food products has captured the interest of at least one cockroach farmer in Sichuan province's rural Yibin city.
He sells about 22 pounds of cockroaches a month to two local restaurants, where they are used in various dishes. Says Li Bingcai:31
"I plan to produce food products like cockroach meatballs and cockroach flour in two years. I've always wanted to make food products from the beginning. People were scared of [cockroaches] at first, but now so many are eating them. The taste is special and they are full of protein."
Cockroaches Are a Lucrative Business in China
While it is clear there is money to be made across the board with cockroaches and cockroach breeding farms in China, it seems operations focused on using roach extracts for medicinal purposes are among the most lucrative.
As reported by The Telegraph,32 Wang Fuming operates a cockroach farm in China's Shandong province, where he houses more than 22 million of the insects in concrete bunkers in the suburbs of Jinan. Wang raises the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) exclusively and sells his output to pharmaceutical companies for top dollar.
Previously, Wang says he bred a particular type of wingless, flightless cockroach (Eupolyphaga sinensis) whose dried body is prized in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
The increases in demand for the American cockroach are such that from 2011 to 2013 he claims to have quintupled production to more than 100 tons a year. "There are hundreds of species of cockroaches, but only this one has any medicinal value," says Wang."33
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Gooddoctor's 2017 sales amounted to 6.3 billion Chinese yuan ($914 million). Their best seller, worth $1 billion yuan ($145 million), was a cockroach-containing "Recovery New Potion" that can be consumed orally or used on your skin.
While using legions of cockroaches as waste composters or as food and medicine continues to make news in China, most people in the U.S. and other Western nations still consider this insect as nothing more than an unwanted pest.
Unless you are looking to shock your family or friends by eating cockroaches, I recommend waiting for researchers in China and elsewhere to further develop the science around how cockroaches may benefit human health.
from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/12/29/cockroach-farming-in-china.aspx
source http://niapurenaturecom.weebly.com/blog/can-you-believe-there-are-cockroach-farms-in-china
0 notes
jakehglover · 6 years ago
Text
Can You Believe There Are Cockroach Farms in China?
youtube
The featured video, produced by the South China Morning Post, opens with these words: "If cockroaches make you uncomfortable … this could be your worst nightmare." Indeed. Most of us would do almost anything to avoid a daily work environment that involves contact with millions of teeming roaches. In China, however, cockroaches are big business.
A number of Chinese cities contending with explosive population growth are finding cockroaches to be a helpful solution to the ever-increasing problem of food waste disposal. With landfills approaching capacity in some areas, it's roaches to the rescue.
Not only do these pesky insects eat food scraps, but they also are a source of animal feed and an ingredient in some health and beauty products, as well as medicines. Though you may find it hard to believe, cockroach breeding farms in China are the real deal.
Roaches to the Rescue: China's Unusual Urban Waste Disposal System
Cockroaches are big business in China, where, according to Reuters, teeming colonies of them are entrusted with the serious job of devouring tons of kitchen waste.1 Though the thought of millions of cockroaches together in one location sounds like something from a horror movie, it is actually the foundation of an innovative urban waste disposal system.
The goal: Reduce the amount of food-related garbage deposited in landfills. The issue of food waste is particularly problematic in large Chinese cities with rapidly expanding populations. Because roaches have voracious appetites and are easy to house, they are, it seems, the perfect match for China's garbage problem.
These so-called cockroach farms are maintained in humid, near-dark conditions, which are ideal for the insects. When the bugs eventually die, they are usually transformed into animal feed. On the outskirts of Jinan, for example, the capital of eastern Shandong province, a billion cockroaches are being fed about 50 metric tons of kitchen waste a day.
That's an amount equivalent in weight to seven elephants. With respect to how the garbage makes its way to the roaches, Reuters states:2
"The waste arrives before daybreak at the plant run by Shandong Qiaobin Agricultural Technology Co., where it is fed through pipes to cockroaches in their cells. Shandong Qiaobin plans to set up three more such plants next year, aiming to process a third of the kitchen waste produced by Jinan, home to about 7 million people."
While some people despise cockroaches and others are disgusted by them, Li Yanrong, general manager of Shandong Qiaobin, sees these hardy insects only for their beneficial qualities. In 2017, Li told China Daily:3
"We spent six years doing research into using cockroaches after finding that they can feed on kitchen waste and create no pollutants. Using cockroaches to deal with kitchen waste is good for our country and for business. Social problems created by kitchen waste will be eradicated."
Li claims cockroaches are able and willing to devour almost anything. He says they can consume up to 5 percent of their body weight every day. "Cockroaches have been eating plants and organic matter since hundreds of millions of years ago," he said. "They are experts in waste composting."4
Cockroaches Picking Up Where Pigs Left Off After Swine Fever Outbreak
Li is not the only one enthused about roaches. "Cockroaches are a biotechnological pathway for the converting and processing of kitchen waste," says Liu Yusheng, president of Shandong Insect Industry Association and entomology professor at Shandong Agricultural University.5
This is particularly the case because it's currently illegal to feed human food waste to pigs in China. Roaches have come to the forefront, in part, due to the Chinese nationwide ban on using food waste for pig feed.6 That ban, which has fueled the growth of the cockroach industry, came about as a result of African swine fever outbreaks first detected in August 2018.7
In October 2018, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a statement saying, "After the provinces with outbreaks and neighboring provinces completely banned feeding of kitchen waste to pigs, the epidemic was greatly reduced, which fully demonstrates the importance of completely prohibiting the feeding of waste [to pigs]."8
The industry is primed to grow even more as a result of the new laws around pigs and food waste. In the past three years, Liu notes the number of cockroach farmers in Shandong alone has tripled to about 400. "There have been huge developments in cockroach breeding and research in the past few years," said Liu.9
Novel Uses for Cockroaches Include Health and Beauty Applications
Beyond eating waste, cockroaches are valued for other reasons, including their eggs. Li told China Daily his company can earn 36.5 million yuan ($5.3 million) a year by selling protein feed produced from cockroach eggs.10 "A cockroach begins laying eggs when it is 4 months old. It lays one egg each week and can lay eggs for eight months," Li said.11
In addition, roaches are being considered for their potential usefulness in health and beauty products and medications. As presented in the featured video, in Sichuan, a privately held company called Gooddoctor Pharmaceutical Research, established in 1998, is raising about 6 billion cockroaches.
Geng Funeng, president of Gooddoctor, who appears in the video, says he hopes the international science community will one day recognize the value of roaches for medicine.
"Insects are a complete and living organism," Geng states in the video. He told the Sydney Morning Herald he personally eats 10 of them a day.12 "They contain multiple compounds to benefit our health," he added. "I think the problems in our lives can be better solved with living solutions."
Beyond the use of cockroaches in medications, researchers at Gooddoctor are also investigating the possibility of using roach extracts in beauty masks, diet pills and even hair-loss treatments.13 Another source says it can be used to treat diabetic ulcers and severe skin wounds.14
"The essence of cockroach is good for curing oral and peptic ulcers, skin wounds and even stomach cancer," asserts Wen Jianguo, manager of Gooddoctor's cockroach facility.15 According to Reuters, "At Gooddoctor, when cockroaches reach the end of their life span of about six months, they are blasted by steam, washed and dried, before being sent to a huge nutrient extraction tank."16
"They really are a miracle drug," Liu added. "They can cure a number of ailments and they work much faster than other medicine."17 In 2013, Liu told The Telegraph a cream made from powdered cockroaches had been used in some Chinese hospitals as a treatment for burns and for cosmetic facial masks in Korea.18
Beyond that, The Telegraph reported a syrup invented by a drug manufacturer in Sichuan promises to cure duodenal ulcers, gastroenteritis and pulmonary tuberculosis.19 "China has the problem of an aging population," said Liu. "So, we are trying to find new medicines for older people, and these are generally cheaper than Western medicine."20
Cockroaches Used to Feed Chickens and Humans
At Shandong Qiaobin, Li and his employees bake and mill dead cockroaches into high-protein powder that is added to chicken feed. He claims the powder has been found to "reduce body fat and boost immunity in the 1,000-plus chickens he has raised."21
The South China Morning Post calls out the high protein content of cockroaches, suggesting they can be useful as food not just for animals, but humans as well.22 Consumer Reports notes the use of insect protein in energy bars and other food items sold in the U.S. In a 2014 review of such products, they stated:23
"[T]he cricket products popping up on store shelves in the U.S. don't contain insects that are rounded up in the wild. These critters are raised on domestic cricket farms, where they are fed a grain-based diet. They're dried or roasted and then milled into a fine flour. About 40 crickets are packed into an average snack bar."
According to Liu, restaurants in major cockroach-farming provinces like Shandong, Sichuan and Yunnan already sell cockroach dishes for human consumption.24 Very often, he notes, molting cockroaches are seasoned with salt or spices and then deep-fried or stir-fried.
Although nobody has made a commercial venture selling edible cockroaches on a large scale, Liu said he believes businesses will soon make the move. "They can easily mill the molting cockroaches and make flour with them," he said.25
Given the increasing interest in insects as food, in May 2018, the 2nd International Conference "Insects to Feed the World" was held in China to discuss the role of insects in helping to sustain human life and promote nutrition.26
In 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (U.N.) published a report suggesting people start eating insects as a possible solution to global food shortages.27 As for the types of insects most commonly eaten for food, the U.N. notes the following breakdown:28
Beetles (Coleoptera) — 31 percent
Caterpillars (Lepidoptera) — 18 percent
Bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera) — 14 percent
Grasshoppers, locusts and crickets (Orthoptera) — 13 percent
Cicadas, leafhoppers, planthoppers, scale insects and true bugs (Hemiptera) — 10 percent
Termites (Isoptera, also known as Blattodea) — 3 percent
Dragonflies (Odonata) — 3 percent
Flies (Diptera) — 2 percent
Other orders — 5 percent
As members of the same order as termites, cockroaches rank No. 6 on the list of most commonly eaten insects. You can learn more about the U.N. report by checking out my article "Eat Insects, Save the World."
Speaking of roaches as a food source, more intriguing still is the notion of cockroach milk as a potential super food. Yes, that's right, cockroach milk. A certain type of cockroach (Diploptera punctata), found mostly in the Pacific Islands, is the main source of this bug beverage.
A 2016 study29,30 from India asserts cockroach milk contains more than three times as much energy as cow's milk. That said, the researchers indicated there is a lack of evidence roach milk is safe for human consumption, so further investigation is needed.
To learn more about this, you may want to read my article "Cockroach Milk — The Most Nutritious?" Roach milk aside, the potential for other roach-inspired food products has captured the interest of at least one cockroach farmer in Sichuan province's rural Yibin city.
He sells about 22 pounds of cockroaches a month to two local restaurants, where they are used in various dishes. Says Li Bingcai:31
"I plan to produce food products like cockroach meatballs and cockroach flour in two years. I've always wanted to make food products from the beginning. People were scared of [cockroaches] at first, but now so many are eating them. The taste is special and they are full of protein."
Cockroaches Are a Lucrative Business in China
While it is clear there is money to be made across the board with cockroaches and cockroach breeding farms in China, it seems operations focused on using roach extracts for medicinal purposes are among the most lucrative.
As reported by The Telegraph,32 Wang Fuming operates a cockroach farm in China's Shandong province, where he houses more than 22 million of the insects in concrete bunkers in the suburbs of Jinan. Wang raises the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) exclusively and sells his output to pharmaceutical companies for top dollar.
Previously, Wang says he bred a particular type of wingless, flightless cockroach (Eupolyphaga sinensis) whose dried body is prized in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
The increases in demand for the American cockroach are such that from 2011 to 2013 he claims to have quintupled production to more than 100 tons a year. "There are hundreds of species of cockroaches, but only this one has any medicinal value," says Wang."33
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Gooddoctor's 2017 sales amounted to 6.3 billion Chinese yuan ($914 million). Their best seller, worth $1 billion yuan ($145 million), was a cockroach-containing "Recovery New Potion" that can be consumed orally or used on your skin.
While using legions of cockroaches as waste composters or as food and medicine continues to make news in China, most people in the U.S. and other Western nations still consider this insect as nothing more than an unwanted pest.
Unless you are looking to shock your family or friends by eating cockroaches, I recommend waiting for researchers in China and elsewhere to further develop the science around how cockroaches may benefit human health.
from HealthyLife via Jake Glover on Inoreader http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/12/29/cockroach-farming-in-china.aspx
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These Hideous Bugs Will Ensure You Won't Feel Safe In Your Own Home. They're Horrifying.
New Post has been published on https://kidsviral.info/these-hideous-bugs-will-ensure-you-wont-feel-safe-in-your-own-home-theyre-horrifying/
These Hideous Bugs Will Ensure You Won't Feel Safe In Your Own Home. They're Horrifying.
Every night, you may think that you’re safe in your own bed, tucked into freshly laundered sheets. The terrifying fact is, though, you’re not. Your bedroom doesn’t stop absolutely terrifying monstrosities from being born every day. (You probably think I’m kidding. I’m not.) Even more horrifying? Some of those monsters might just end up under your bed. That’s because those monstrous creatures are something so commonplace, you probably never think about them: bugs. There are more frightening insects, arachnids and otherwise in the world than you can even imagine. This list of horrifying bugs barely scratches the surface of the creepy-crawlies that exist around the world. (Guess which ones you can find in your own home.)
1.) Assassin Bugs: There are different species of these bugs; they attack their prey quickly and violently. They kill other insects by stabbing them with their sharp beaks and then inject enzymes into the prey. The enzymes soften the insides, allowing them to slurp it out.
2.) Cicadas: These “tree crickets” live underground and then, as they mature, make their way to the surface. They can produce sounds up to 120 decibels (louder than a concert). They hang out in, and die in, extremely large numbers/swarms.
Yuck.
3.) Giant Katydids: Although these bugs can make you cringe in every way possible, the hamster-sized katydids aren’t harmful to humans. You can even keep them as pets (if you’re brave like that). They’re more active at night and create songs, like crickets do.
4.) Botflies: These bugs kind of resemble a little bumblebee, but they are far more horrifying. Their larvae are parasitic, injected into unsuspecting hosts by infected misquitos. They burrow under an animal’s skin (or yours) until they painfully crawl out.
5.) Dobsonflies: Both males and females can grow to be up to 5 inches long. The males’ mandibles are actually so big, they are unable to harm humans. The females, however, can bite you and even draw blood. Adults can generally be found from late spring into the middle of summer, remaining near bodies of water. Where you will be on vacation.
6.) Japanese Giant Hornets: These suckers can grow to be 2 inches long and their stingers can be a quarter-inch long. Not only are they GIANT, but they are extremely aggressive and fearless.
7.) Africanized Honey Bee: These are “killer bees.” Their ancestors were European honey bees crossed with African honey bees. They’re aggressive and extremely protective of their hives. Being swarmed by these bees can kill you, or result in so many stings your organs shut down.
8.) Giant Orb-Weaving Spiders: This family of spiders is particularly terrifying. Many are poisonous and some are SO BIG, they can hunt and kill a snake for a snack.
Or a bird. There is no reason why you should go near one if you see it in the wild. You should, in fact, run.
9.) Titan Beetles: These giant bugs can be around 7 inches long and their pincers can snap a pencil in half… but they usually leave humans alone. If you bother it, though, it will attack you. The world’s largest beetle WILL attack you.
10.) Huntsman Spiders: These spiders are big. And, depending on where you live in the world, you can find them in your own home. It doesn’t use a web to catch its prey, it’ll actually use its unreasonably huge legs to chase down its food. Thankfully, it’s not poisonous.
11.) House Centipedes: That’s right, as in, YOUR HOUSE. They are harmless, but you can find them underneath cabinets, in closets and basically everywhere you wouldn’t want to find a disgusting centipede.
12.) Bullet Ants: Found in rainforests throughout Central America, their bite is so painful, you’ll feel like you’ve been shot. Plus, the pain lasts for 24 hours. An indigenous Brazilian tribe use gloves filled with these ants as a painful initiation ceremony.
13.) Jewel Wasps: This parasitoid wasp use cockroaches as a live food supply for its developing larvae. It attacks the cockroach, paralyzing it. Then, it injects venom into the roach’s head, preventing it from trying to walk. The wasp then turns it into a zombie nursery, by laying its eggs into its abdomen. Yikes.
14.) Puss Caterpillars: It may look cute, but this fuzzball is actually quite venemous. They are high in protein and slow moving, so they needed a defense mechanism: serious toxins. Do. Not. Pet. Them.
If you do touch one: You will experience “intense throbbing pain develops within five minutes of contact, with pain extending up the affected arm. Other symptoms may include headaches, nausea, vomiting, intense abdominal distress, lymphadenopathy, lymphadenitis, and sometimes shock or respiratory stress.”
15.) Stink Bugs: They may not bother humans (they prefer vegetation), but they will make you smell if you bother them too much. Even if you smash one, you’ll be plagued by his or her stink.
16.) Brahmin Caterpillar: You don’t think living nightmares exist? Well, you’re WRONG. These caterpillars look like a creation of Tim Burton, like tiny terrors, but they can’t harm you.
You’d think that their appearance is for camouflaging purposes, but they may just want to make sure you never sleep soundly again.
17.) Saddleback Caterpillars: Although they are cute (they have their own little saddles!), these bright bugs are venomous. Contact with their hairs causes a painful, swollen rash and sometimes nausea. The sting can feel like an electric shock.
18.) Cockroaches: These guys are extremely common… and can carry 33 types of bacteria, 6 kinds of parasites and 7 pathogens. They can go 45 minutes without breathing, live a month without food and they will eat hair, toenails, eyelashes and eyebrows.
19.) Japanese Mountain Leeches: You’d think most leeches live in water, but this one can hunt you on land. They are typically slow, but can somersault after any prey pretty quickly, or drop down from trees. They can chew through your clothing and the numbing agent they can inject you with will ensure you don’t feel them sucking on your blood.
20.) Giant Centipedes: These awful creatures can grow to be up to 15 inches long. Even better? It’s also poisonous. It can’t kill you, but you will need to go to the doctor. (The solution is to just avoid these nightmares entirely.)
21.) Joro Spiders: Unfortunately, this scary spider is poisonous. Its bite is similar to that of a black widow spider. They are so awful, they have existed in Japanese folklore as evil seducing demons.
22.) Giant Wetas: Found in New Zealand, this oversized bug is one of the largest and heaviest in the world. They typically don’t bother humans, aside from haunting our dreams.
23.) Giant Isopods: This isn’t from a science fiction movie. These giant isopods, although technically a crustacean, are still terrifying. They live in the oceans… but that doesn’t mean you’re safe.
24.) Giant Silkworm Moth Caterpillars: This terrifying caterpillar is actually responsible for several deaths a year. The tiny, fragile hairs it is covered with are full of potent toxins. Gangrene-like symptoms and internal hemorrhaging can occur as a result of this sting.
Stock up on your bug spray. Some of these are terrifying, but others can actually kill you. You never know what monster will be lurking at the foot of your bed, hiding in the folds of your sheets… so, good luck sleeping tonight! Share the horror with others by clicking on the button below. Misery halved is misery shared, right?
Read more: http://viralnova.com/horrifying-bugs/
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