#bug-swarm

[gingerspicepunch]

“Won’t stop trying to make me actually pro genocide” is crazy

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Giant Emerald Pill-Millipede: when these enormous millipedes are all rolled up, their bodies can be as big as a baseball, a tennis ball, or a small orange

This species (Zoosphaerium neptunus) is commonly known as a giant emerald pill-millipede. The females can measure up to 90mm long (roughly 3.5 inches), making this the largest species of pill-millipede in the world.

There is a significant degree of sexual dimorphism in this species, with the males measuring only about 45mm (1.8 inches) long -- roughly half the size of the females.

Giant emerald pill-millipedes are found only in Madagascar, which is home to several endemic species of giant pill-millipedes (order Sphaerotheriida). The Malagasy name for giant pill-millipedes is "Tainkintana," which means "shooting-star."

Pill-millipedes use conglobation as a defense mechanism, which means that they can curl their bodies up into a spherical shape so that their dorsal plates form a protective shield around the softer, more vulnerable parts of their bodies, just like an actual pill-bug or a "roly-poly."

When they roll themselves up completely, they look almost like gently polished chunks of malachite, emerald, or jade.

Giant emerald pill-millipedes will sometimes form large swarms that travel together as a group. This is the only species of giant pill-millipede that engages in any sort of swarming behavior, and the purpose of that behavior is still unclear. The swarms often contain thousands of individuals, with almost all of them moving in the same direction, even when there is no physical contact that might allow the millipedes to "herd" one another along.

Their swarming behavior also has some very peculiar features, as this article explains:

During swarming, Zoosphaerium neptunus individuals pay little attention to their surroundings; many specimens were observed walking straight into and drowning in small puddles. Some swarms even display ‘cliché lemming behaviour:' in Marojejy, a large part of a swarm walked into and drowned in a small river.

No single specimen was observed walking ‘against the current,' all specimens were moving in the same direction (southeast), even when not in contact with one another.

Of 273 randomly collected individuals, 105 were males, while 168 were females. The males were 8.3 - 14.1 mm wide (average width 10.4 mm). According to the inner horns of the posterior telopods, all males were sexually mature. The females were 9.95 - 15.4 mm wide (average width 11.4 mm). All females displayed non sclerotized vulvae and were sexually immature.

Some researchers argue that the swarming serves as a defense mechanism, providing a layer of protection (or at least some cryptic cover) against local predators, but the swarming behavior is still poorly understood.

Important Note: I just want to remind everyone that these animals belong in their own natural habitat -- they should not be trapped, bought/sold, traded, shipped, collected, or kept as pets. This particular species does not survive well in captivity, either, and the demand for these "exotic" invertebrates is putting the wild populations in jeopardy. The previous article discusses those issues, too:

Another possible threat for Z. neptunus swarms are collections for the pet trade. There exists a large demand in Japan, Europe and North America for 'green -eyed monsters’ as pets. Giant pill -millipedes from Madagascar unfortunately have a very short survival time in terraria. The species is specialized on low-energy food (dead leaves), and adapted to the cool climates (<20°C) of the highlands. Specimens in terraria often starve to death quickly.

So I know that they're adorable and really, really fascinating...but let's just let them be their chunky, adorable little selves out in the wild where they belong.

Sources & More Info:

European Journal of Taxonomy: Seven New Giant Pill-Millipede Species and New Records of the Genus Zoosphaerium from Madagascar

Madagascar Conservation & Development: Swarming Behavior in the World's Largest Giant Pill-Millipede, Z. neptunus, and its Implication for Conservation Efforts

Bonn Zoological Bulletin Supplementum: The Giant Millipedes, Order Sphaerotheriida (an Annotated Species Catalogue) (PDF)

African Invertebrates: Madagascar's Living Giants: Discovery of Five New Species of Endemic Giant Pill-Millipedes from Madagascar (PDF)

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

FEED, MY CHILDREN! FOR I HAVE BLESSED UPON THEE COLOURED DISKS OF MUCH SUSTENANCE. LEAFFALL SHALL ALSO BE PROVIDED FOR THINE LARDERS, TO SHORE UP FOR THE COMING MONTHS

(it's leaf litter refresh day and I've provided a few slices of carrot for the isopods)

[lloydskywalkers]

☆ﾟDragons Rising Season 3.*･｡ﾟ

[evans-endeavors]

ABILITY FORMS LEDIAN #166

The idea of giving pokemon different forms/designs based on their abilities is so charming. Had to draw my favorite little guy!

Original idea by @n0rtist

[mipmoth]

Hunting for bugs in their clothes before they go in the washing machine is a nightmare and ofcourse brining the sun home

[wordpress-blaze-223640688]

LGBTQ Inclusion Tests Our Christian Virtues

A gentle reminder to those who passionately profess their Christian faith and assert their devotion to the teachings of Jesus: a true adoption of the teachings of Jesus is not solely a vocal declarations of love for Christ, repeatedly affirming belief in him or in his sacrifice. At the heart of this faith lies a call to embody the virtues that Jesus himself lived and taught—compassion, humility, mercy, forgiveness, and love for others. True discipleship is measured not by how loudly one proclaims allegiance, but by how faithfully one reflects the character of Christ in daily life. Jesus did not instruct his followers to prove their faith through words alone, but through the transformative power of sincere and consistent action.

At no point did he condition a swearing of allegiance to him, to loving him or accepting him as your savior as that would have been incredibly narcissistic of him. He simply taught his disciples to follow principles in their day to day lives in order to experience a transcendent spiritual awakening. All life lessons that would ultimately result in humanity live in harmony with each-other rather than in constant contentious conflicts and general human suffering as a result of a lack of empathy and compassion.

He guided his followers to experience a spiritual awakening which lets us access what he referred to as the 'kingdom of heaven' within which was his name/term for a state of egoless enlightenment he said was present and possible within all of us. Despite what many Christians think, it is not something you experience after you die, nor is it a literal kingdom, as Jesus spoke in metaphors often. It was an apt and descriptive term, as it involves us finally remembering, realizing and reestablishing our unity and oneness with the greater universe above us as well as unity and oneness with all fellow human beings which he casually referred to as our siblings. This description of fellow human beings as our siblings was also apt as it emphasizes the fact that we are all inherently and intrinsically family, and not separate like our egos would like us to believe.

Understanding that we are all one family would have a tremendous impact on everyone's attitude, thinking and the way we act towards others instead of the current method which has us selfishly prioritizing ourselves or persons within our close circle of friends and family.

LGBT Community

That being said, the universe presents us often with opportunities to not judge others as being separate, as being inferior or 'sinners' that should be condemned, judged, or derided. Jesus made this clear when he made it a point to rebuke a man for judging a woman that their society had deemed a sinner, making him a more important focal point of his speech than the woman herself. The takeaway from that story should terminate the Christian habit of scolding and berating anyone they see as sinners in their eyes, knowing full well they have had their fair share of deviations of what they deem acceptable. This hypocrisy should always be monitored and nipped in the bud when it happens.

Other common examples of judging others comes in the form of other races or nationalities. It's easy to fall into the delusion of thinking that we are different or superior to others, but keep in mind these are ego motivated thoughts, and are purely intended to convince ourselves that we are separate from others or to judge others as being inferior to us. This is completely out of line with what Jesus taught his followers which was to see all everyone as effectively our siblings and therefore we are all united as a human family. The consequences of separatist thinking, which is the default for many, contributes to an inability for many to achieve oneness with all humanity and the universe. These are obstructions towards enlightenment constructed and placed by our own egos. Any line of thinking that has us putting ourselves above others is always motivated by our egos

Fortunately many Christians have made efforts to normalize not judging others about superficial differences like skin color, race, gender and other illusionary differences between us. Reminder that these differences are illusionary because we are all in fact one. In the past several decades, there has been a substantial increase in the amount of gay and non-binary individuals gaining mainstream attention and demand for equal treatment in society. While many stubborn Christians will refer to the old testament and older books in the bible to justify condemnation and hatred towards people who they feel violate laws in the bible, they are also conveniently forgetting that these older biblical verses that encourage hatred, anger, judgment and even violence towards them also violate Jesus teachings of expressing non-judgement and love towards all our neighbors who are quite literally our brothers and sisters as we are all one family.

These hateful and violent teachings in the old testament texts are mutually exclusive with Jesus teachings, and the time has finally come for Christians to acknowledge and accept this. You cannot honor Jesus teachings and values while also upholding archaic biblical instructions that tell us to direct hatred, anger and violence towards others. For self-proclaimed followers of Jesus, they need to pick which teachings they want to honor and hold. The hateful archaic teachings that are outdated or the teachings of the man they've declared as their spiritual leader & guide for years. Sorry to break it to these Christians, but the fact that it's in the Bible doesn't automatically make it morally righteous. These older laws prove the Bible contains morally dubious instructions by any measure.

It is vita that anyone who is saying they follow Jesus teachings actually follow what he taught and not just cherry picking the biblical teachings that are most aligned with their own personal beliefs out of convenience.

You've betrayed Jesus' teachings the moment you've upheld biblical teachings you feel justify your hatred and judgement towards others. Hatred wrapped in biblical texts and verses is still hatred. Frankly, biblical texts and teachings that cannot be reconciled with Jesus teachings should be completely abandoned. Let members of the LGBTQ+ community serve as reminders and opportunities for you to not judge others, to bless and help others and most importantly put others before yourself in a true act of selflessness as we journey towards a state of egoless consciousness and enlightenment.

As we move towards a complete egoless society, it's not surprising that we are being tested to see how welcoming we would be to persons who do not easily fit into the traditional binary gender roles. We need to leap over these hurdles effectively and together.

Contemporary Christian "compassion" in effect:

Source: LGBTQ Inclusion Tests Our Christian Virtues

[blondebrainpowered]

Mesmerizing Monarchs

A common term for a group of butterflies is a “kaleidoscope,” aptly capturing their mesmerizing effect when seen together. Other terms include a “swarm” or a “flutter,” each evoking different images and behaviors associated with butterfly groupings.

[plantanarchy]

personally I love to look outside and see the air completely full of little bugs. I cannot relate to the idea of wanting there not to be a world full of little bugs

[goryhorroor]

horror sub-genres: insect

[lemonszircon]

💠🍧❄️

Trying to remember how to draw featuring Blizzaria <3

I think I haven't done a real drawing in like a year, so this was a struggle, but luckily I've been hyperfixated on yokai watch again so I'm happy I could draw my favorite yokai !

Speaking of, shout out to all 5 yokai watch fans, this goes out to you 🫂

[peophonia]

How do i make this about centipedes

All i do is yap in the tags thumbs down emoji

[dazzelmethat]

Sea water spider. It is a water spider that mimics a jellyfish. Females can stick their silk to an object on the surface to pull themselves up later to nest closer to the shore. Males just drift like a jellyfish.

Speculative biology for if there were salt water bugs.

[candieduranium]

forbidden popcorn

[ink-the-artist]

Sorry to everyone who followed me for art this is a cicada blog now

[wordpress-blaze-223640688]

LGBTQ Inclusion Tests Our Christian Virtues

A gentle reminder to those who passionately profess their Christian faith and assert their devotion to the teachings of Jesus: a true adoption of the teachings of Jesus is not solely a vocal declarations of love for Christ, repeatedly affirming belief in him or in his sacrifice. At the heart of this faith lies a call to embody the virtues that Jesus himself lived and taught—compassion, humility, mercy, forgiveness, and love for others. True discipleship is measured not by how loudly one proclaims allegiance, but by how faithfully one reflects the character of Christ in daily life. Jesus did not instruct his followers to prove their faith through words alone, but through the transformative power of sincere and consistent action.

At no point did he condition a swearing of allegiance to him, to loving him or accepting him as your savior as that would have been incredibly narcissistic of him. He simply taught his disciples to follow principles in their day to day lives in order to experience a transcendent spiritual awakening. All life lessons that would ultimately result in humanity live in harmony with each-other rather than in constant contentious conflicts and general human suffering as a result of a lack of empathy and compassion.

He guided his followers to experience a spiritual awakening which lets us access what he referred to as the 'kingdom of heaven' within which was his name/term for a state of egoless enlightenment he said was present and possible within all of us. Despite what many Christians think, it is not something you experience after you die, nor is it a literal kingdom, as Jesus spoke in metaphors often. It was an apt and descriptive term, as it involves us finally remembering, realizing and reestablishing our unity and oneness with the greater universe above us as well as unity and oneness with all fellow human beings which he casually referred to as our siblings. This description of fellow human beings as our siblings was also apt as it emphasizes the fact that we are all inherently and intrinsically family, and not separate like our egos would like us to believe.

Understanding that we are all one family would have a tremendous impact on everyone's attitude, thinking and the way we act towards others instead of the current method which has us selfishly prioritizing ourselves or persons within our close circle of friends and family.

LGBT Community

That being said, the universe presents us often with opportunities to not judge others as being separate, as being inferior or 'sinners' that should be condemned, judged, or derided. Jesus made this clear when he made it a point to rebuke a man for judging a woman that their society had deemed a sinner, making him a more important focal point of his speech than the woman herself. The takeaway from that story should terminate the Christian habit of scolding and berating anyone they see as sinners in their eyes, knowing full well they have had their fair share of deviations of what they deem acceptable. This hypocrisy should always be monitored and nipped in the bud when it happens.

Other common examples of judging others comes in the form of other races or nationalities. It's easy to fall into the delusion of thinking that we are different or superior to others, but keep in mind these are ego motivated thoughts, and are purely intended to convince ourselves that we are separate from others or to judge others as being inferior to us. This is completely out of line with what Jesus taught his followers which was to see all everyone as effectively our siblings and therefore we are all united as a human family. The consequences of separatist thinking, which is the default for many, contributes to an inability for many to achieve oneness with all humanity and the universe. These are obstructions towards enlightenment constructed and placed by our own egos. Any line of thinking that has us putting ourselves above others is always motivated by our egos

Fortunately many Christians have made efforts to normalize not judging others about superficial differences like skin color, race, gender and other illusionary differences between us. Reminder that these differences are illusionary because we are all in fact one. In the past several decades, there has been a substantial increase in the amount of gay and non-binary individuals gaining mainstream attention and demand for equal treatment in society. While many stubborn Christians will refer to the old testament and older books in the bible to justify condemnation and hatred towards people who they feel violate laws in the bible, they are also conveniently forgetting that these older biblical verses that encourage hatred, anger, judgment and even violence towards them also violate Jesus teachings of expressing non-judgement and love towards all our neighbors who are quite literally our brothers and sisters as we are all one family.

These hateful and violent teachings in the old testament texts are mutually exclusive with Jesus teachings, and the time has finally come for Christians to acknowledge and accept this. You cannot honor Jesus teachings and values while also upholding archaic biblical instructions that tell us to direct hatred, anger and violence towards others. For self-proclaimed followers of Jesus, they need to pick which teachings they want to honor and hold. The hateful archaic teachings that are outdated or the teachings of the man they've declared as their spiritual leader & guide for years. Sorry to break it to these Christians, but the fact that it's in the Bible doesn't automatically make it morally righteous. These older laws prove the Bible contains morally dubious instructions by any measure.

It is vita that anyone who is saying they follow Jesus teachings actually follow what he taught and not just cherry picking the biblical teachings that are most aligned with their own personal beliefs out of convenience.

You've betrayed Jesus' teachings the moment you've upheld biblical teachings you feel justify your hatred and judgement towards others. Hatred wrapped in biblical texts and verses is still hatred. Frankly, biblical texts and teachings that cannot be reconciled with Jesus teachings should be completely abandoned. Let members of the LGBTQ+ community serve as reminders and opportunities for you to not judge others, to bless and help others and most importantly put others before yourself in a true act of selflessness as we journey towards a state of egoless consciousness and enlightenment.

As we move towards a complete egoless society, it's not surprising that we are being tested to see how welcoming we would be to persons who do not easily fit into the traditional binary gender roles. We need to leap over these hurdles effectively and together.

Contemporary Christian "compassion" in effect:

Source: LGBTQ Inclusion Tests Our Christian Virtues

[jurassicshields]

The Bug

[katjapetersart]

we did some very important work today

let me know if you want a base for further nids that aren't swarm tij