gwynfish

[gwynfish]

[gwynfish]

Ein paar Kölner Stadttauben

[gwynfish]

reblog this to put a leaf on your mutuals head

[gwynfish]

I genuinely believe that the new SW trilogy wouldn’t have flopped out into irrelevance like it did if they hadn’t dumped Finn on the side of the freeway like a new pet rabbit the week after easter

[gwynfish]

Osmia avosetta: these solitary bees place their eggs in colorful nesting capsules that they build using flower petals, nectar, and mud

Osmia avosetta is a very rare species of mason bee that was just discovered about 16 years ago. These are solitary bees, meaning that they don't form colonies or live together in hives; each female builds her own nest instead, placing her eggs in a small batch of enclosed brood capsules and then burying the capsules in burrows and other cavities.

Each capsule contains a single egg, along with enough pollen and nectar to sustain the larva until it reaches adulthood.

Above: the photo at the top shows a capsule that was made by Osmia avosetta, and the image at the bottom shows several capsules buried in the ground at a nesting site in Turkey

Osmia avosetta builds its nesting capsules with petals from the flowers Onobrychis vicilifolia or Hedysarum elymaiticum (depending on the region). The bee uses its mandibles to trim the petals and then carries each of the pieces back to its nesting site, where the petals are carefully folded together and then formed into several small, rounded capsules. Nectar and mud are both used to "glue" the petals together.

As this article describes:

Both practical and beautiful, the mother bee first sources the perfect petals and brings them back to her nest site. She then digs a 1.5 cm-deep burrow and lays down multiple layers of overlapping petals and mud. After filling the nest with nutritious pollen and nectar, she then lays her precious egg on top. Finally, she seals the cell by folding the scale-like petals inwards and plugging the hole with mud. While the exterior drys like a hard shell, the interior stays humid, allowing a cozy environment for the larvae to grow and mature as they wait out the winter.

Above: the inside of a nesting capsule, with a tiny egg resting atop a glob of pollen and nectar

The finished capsules are a colorful, delicate patchwork of pink, purple, blue, and yellow flower petals.

This species was first discovered and described in 2009. Two separate research teams in two different countries actually discovered the species on the very same day; one team discovered it at a site in Turkey while the other discovered it in Iran, and the two teams then published their findings together in a single paper.

Above: more capsules from the nesting site in Turkey

Osmia avosetta has scarcely been documented in the 16 years that have passed since its discovery, and the research that has been published on this species primarily focuses on the nesting behavior. There are very few photos of the actual bees themselves.

Above: Osmia bee from Turkey

The photos of the nesting capsules are pretty stunning, though.

There are several other mason bees that use flower petals and/or leaves to line their nests, and bees of the family Megachilidae are also known to engage in a similar behavior, as I explained in my previous post about petalcutter and leafcutter bees.

Sources & More Info:

My Modern Met: Rare Bee Species Makes Colorful Nests from Flower Petals

NPR: Busy Bees Use Flower Petals for Nest Wallpaper

American Museum Novitates: Nests, Petal Usage, Floral Preferences, and Immatures of Osmia avosetta, Including Biological Comparisons with Other Osmiine Bees

Acta Scientific Agriculture: Nature's Architects: Exploring the Biology, Behavior, and Pollination Impact of Mason Bees

[gwynfish]

concept: a period drama that's also a sitcom.

It's got all the rag-tag group of friends à la F.R.I.E.N.D.S. but they're all living in 1500's Paris or 1850's London and it's just a big sitcom but everything is period-compliant.

what i'm saying is, why should we choose between a sitcom tropes and a show with exciting historical fashion when we can have both at the same time

[gwynfish]

I love them 🌿

[gwynfish]

[gwynfish]

So sick of dog motif what about cat motif.

I love you but we don't love the same. I can't be near you when you want me to be. Your love is smothering and your need to keep me safe is trapping me. I'm my own person but I don't know how to show you that. I lash out and hurt you even though I don't mean to. I need you to move slowly around me or I'll bolt. I love you, even though I don't say it. If you stay still I'll sit next to you, and even though we don't understand each other we can be together like that.

[gwynfish]

ive decided to become a Lawful Good edgelord abt driving a car. *looks broodily away from you* what's wrong...? no, you wouldn't understand. I've been burdened with a great and terrible power. a lethal metal machine that obeys my every whim but which whispers dark things to me...tempting me to move ever faster, to grow careless in my movements... I've seen this power corrupt many others. my father. my great-aunt veronica. I've seen them neglect the wisdom of the turn signal. I've seen them text while driving. every day I must remain vigilant lest I become over-used to this dark power......

[gwynfish]

[gwynfish]

possession horror where the thing possessing the autistic character causes them to behave in a more neurotypical way. autistic possession horror where the thing inside you is easier to communicate with than you are, the thing inside you doesn’t have a flat affect, the thing inside you doesn’t let your body stim, the thing inside you is how you were told to behave and you can only do it when you are no longer you. autistic possession horror where you will never forget that everyone liked it better than you before they found out something was controlling you. autistic possession horror where they know what’s inside you isn’t you and debate whether it would be easier for everyone to leave you like this anyway. you agree. reblog.

[gwynfish]

the best time to consume media is like 5 years after its peak popularity

[gwynfish]

[gwynfish]

anyway. onto better things

[gwynfish]

[gwynfish]

i think when we used to point out that a story didn't need a sex scene what we meant was "this story reduces its women to mere sex objects and gives them no interiority so the sex scenes are gratuitous and geared towards the male gaze" it wasn't the sex that bothered us per se it was the objectification of female characters while givig them little to no consequence to the overall story but nowadays people mean "sex is icky and gross and has no merit to ever be portrayed in our arts which should be good and pure and never ever make ME feel discomfort" and it's like. i bet a bowl of unfrosted flakes looks real good to you rn