#stridulation

[revretch]

this is kind of a weird question but I'm doing some insectoid worldbuilding and you were the first person that came to mind

If insects were able to have proper voices, would their mouthparts be able to articulate any human sounds?

We can speak with our mouths the way we do because our mouths lead right to our lungs. The insect respiratory system is laid out completely differently: they breathe through small holes called spiracles that line the sides of their body. Some arachnids at least can stridulate with their mouthparts, but without a way to force air through their mouths, they couldn't talk the same way we do. No air flow, no vowels!

Some insects can control their breathing with lung-like air sacs behind the spiracles. The aptly named Madagascar hissing cockroach makes its hisses that way.

There's also stridulation. Grasshoppers make sounds by rubbing their legs against their wings. Cicadas make sounds by rubbing their wings together. Bess beetles can make a wide variety of sounds for communication by rubbing different parts of their bodies together.

Taking those facts together, you could possibly get something going with the legs or wings interacting with the spiracles somehow. Stridulation for consonants, spiracles for vowels. Maybe even the spiracles would be enough--parrots do all their talking with just the syrinx, after all!

With all these spiracles, though, it might seem as though your insect person is speaking in many voices simultaneously. Neat!

[hajovyk]

Can you hear it bzzzzzzz? (Rhantus exsoletus)

[be-fae-do-crime]

Did you hear that they captured a colossal squid on video for the first time :0

Yesss I saw!!! Was freaking out over the little baby ^_^ the one captured was nearly a foot long and the adults are expected to get to 42 feet if I’m not mistaken, I’m so hopeful for more footage of them ,,><,,

[daily-nature-facts]

longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) can "squeak" or "chirp"!

this process is called stridulation. longhorn beetles were found to have a file (a ridged surface) and a scraper under their abdomen, which, when rubbed together, create a hissy sort of squeak.

it's theorized to be a defense mechanism of sorts, but i'd argue that in the case of humans it's too cute to be a deterrent :3 here is a link to a video of an especially clear squeak!

source: this paper by Jia-Quan Wei, Xiao-Yun Wang, Xia-Lin Zheng, and Xin Tong at Guangxi Laboratory

photo source: Rahul Alvares

[xalatath]

I watched one of the beetles step on the velvet ant (because beetles are large, lumbering oafs and wasps are scheming viziers) and she started squeaking indignantly. I can't believe velvet ants are real animals.

[hawkepockets]

anybody on this blog smoke ursula k leguin? to be inquisitor is to be the eaten one. yes?

[zick-the-fairy]

create table fairy (

bug type,

color,

location,

food habits,

slay levels);

Girl, help, they turned me into a table

[nimblermortal]

Words I am Learning Today

stridulate - to produce sound by rubbing parts of the body together (esp. of crickets or grasshoppers) stratigraphic - related to the study of rock layers and layering theophoric - bearing the name of a god

[zick-the-fairy]

Anyone with a net worth living in a superhero universe must have at least one underground bunker. In the MCUniverse especially. There are huge cosmic threats every other week, new horrorbeasts or petty god drama. I bet the biggest difference between their world and ours is how cheap rent must be in a central high-rise in NYC.

okay but this is so funny

Batman (2016) #106

[be-fae-do-crime]

hi about your tags on the n nendo post! i got mine on ebay for about $350aud, but i took a quick scroll and can't see one under $500aud atm unfortunately :( i don't remember what it was called exactly but i think other people had good luck with cheaper merch on mercari? just worth checking around bc the first results are never the best ones! good luck!!

Tyyyy >< I’ve seen it on goodsmile I think but idk which exact version it was -3- did it come with all the different faceplates and reshiram or is there a version sold with just one?

[zick-the-fairy]

"Ye fairies of olde England."  From Winthrop University's 1910 yearbook.

[mishmash-webster]

the idea of getting ‘X’ put on my drivers license for my gender is so ouuuhggh i want that ouhgng that’s so oooiOOo I want it oug ouu outhfnng

[zick-the-fairy]

This is really touching. Feel this in a personal way I cannot really describe to you. Lots of different feelings are bubbling up. Sign of a great work of art I think! I am not the introspective kind, but I think I can tell there is a part of me here in this work that I could find. That is a special feeling. You might not be able to relate, but I have amnesia over my teen years, and this reminds me of what I forgot. If that makes sense.

Margo!

[mybuddyjimmy]

Stridulate

Stridulate [STRIH-jə-lait] Part of speech: verb Origin: French, mid-19th century 1. (Of an insect, especially a male cricket or grasshopper) Make a shrill sound by rubbing the legs, wings, or other parts of the body together. Examples of stridulate in a sentence “The southern lubber grasshopper stridulates with a distinct sound.” “Ted was frustrated that he couldn’t find the cricket in his…

[life-on-our-planet]

One of the many unique creatures found on Madagascar is the streaked tenrec. It's the only mammal known to make sounds using stridulation, a method most commonly associated with crickets and other invertebrates, which it does using specialized quills on its back. ©Smithsonian Channel

[be-fae-do-crime]

Awesome username you got!

Thx!! Came up with it on the spot lol ><