#brown belted bumblebee

[faguscarolinensis]

Bombus griseocollis on Asclepias syriaca / Brown-Belted Bumblebee on Common Milkweed at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[eilonwyj]

the sudden uptick in bugs didn't seem to bother eilonwy, possibly the only person completely unperturbed by their sudden increase in volume, bravery, and in some cases, size. why would they? they had always been her friends, and she to them, perhaps why the gardens seemed to be one of the few places throughout greywood where their numbers and behaviors were much more contained. at first, it had been just one easy call by someone who worked at the animal shelter and knew the fae's special little gift. it seemed from then to spiral into emails, texts, voice mail from people eilonwy had never heard of begging her to help them out. she agreed - not to ease their comfort, but to stop her beloved insects from suffering harm. more than once had she got into verbal altercations with pest control over specific species of beetles. "so, what are you dealing with here?" the dark haired woman asked her current client, unable to recall a name - they all seemed to blur together over the past day or two. "is it the brown-belted bumblebees the size of tennis balls? because they really shouldn't be out so early in the season but, you know global warming apparently doesn't exist - half these species shouldn't be around till well into spring," she rambled on. "sorry. just - point me in the direction of the problem,"

[mothsperhour]

Brown-belted bumblebee (Bombus griseocollis)

[celestialmacros]

Went to a well-known public garden and found lots of wildlife on the flowers.

Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon virescens)

Brown-Belted Bumblebee (Bombus griseocollis)

European Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum)

Nomad Bee (Nomada sp.)

Longhorn Bee (Melissodes sp.)

June 15, 2023

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[lorei-writes]

One Sunny Afternoon

Keith x Maeve (@keithsandwich 's OC) Fluff (?) ~500 words Content Warnings: none

@keithsandwich I was wondering when may be a good time to send it your way, but then I realised there's no such thing as bad time or a good time, so... Here it is? I hope it's a pleasant surprise.

Bumblebees buzzed in blooming clover, hundreds of hairy abdomens brushing against the white petals as a swarm of bees rushed ahead to another meadow. Shielding her eyes from the sun, Maeve turned her face towards the far end of the village, last few houses flickering at the very edge of the pasture. Something flickered between the faraway trees, further than her vision could reach…

Bumblebees buzzed in blooming clover, hundreds of hairy abdomens brushing against the white petals as a swarm of bees rushed ahead to another meadow. Shielding her eyes from the sun, Maeve turned her face towards the far end of the village, last few houses flickering at the very edge of the pasture. Something flickered between the faraway trees, further than her vision could reach…

Another something dropped on her head, a wide straw rim cutting away at the azure sky above.

“You’re goin’ to get burned,” Keith said. He said.

“Thank you. But I didn’t expect to see you now. I thought you said you weren’t interested in this inspection?”

Keith raised a quizzical brow. His mind took a pause, his lips pursing to then twist into a grin. “I ain’t, but I’m not lettin’ him blew it either.”

A large hand shot up, disappeared from within her field of vision, to then come down and take away the clouds. Keith tugged the hat further down – Maeve fought him, batting at his arm, and the pin in her hair only loosened, and loosened, until the knot at the back of her head fell apart. As if a dam broke, black waves cascaded down her shoulders, unrelenting current of hair drowning out her face, even if just for a moment. Maeve pushed the unruly strands back, eyes darting around to search for the lost accessory. Too slow, or perhaps Keith was simply too fast, the golden pin glinting, tucked behind his belt.

“He should have given ya a hat, not a pin. Wouldn’t want to see ya pretty skin get all red and hurtin’.”

Her eyes narrowed at his smirk. “I could have both.”

“No.”

Playful winds tousled Keith’s hair, combed their fingers through the ashen brown curls to then pull at his cape, few wayward gusts getting lost in the skirt of Maeve’s dress. Gold flickered at the very bottom of his eyes, eternally surprised as their hands touched, both of them reaching to hold the hat down… and she…

...so small, so delicate…

So fragile…

… as if she herself could be stolen from before his eyes, snatched away, taken directly from his arms, lifted somewhere, far beyond his hopes, outside of even his dreams…

“Keith?”

Her fingers entwined with his, roots taking firm hold of his feet. Whatever he felt, Keith pushed it back, hid it behind a smirk.

“Let’s go, Blackbird.” He pulled and Maeve followed. How could she not?

Sweltering sun seeped through the canopy of branches above, horses swaying in their trot, undulating air turning dry land into a sea. Maeve brought her mare to a halt, urgent chirping of juvenile starlings luring her towards a nearby tree hollow. The entirety of Jade shone crystallised in her eyes, her lips parting as beaks emerged, starved and pleading for a meal. Father-bird zapped through air… The silence, however, was momentary, gone before it fully settled, perhaps scattered by flutter of the wings.

“Watcha thinking about, hm?” Keith asked, laughter curling the ends of his words.

“You. I was thinking of you.”

He did not need to ask why.

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[silverior968]

Tfp gijinkas (2/4) The besties :]

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[Image ID: A character sheet with two characters on it. On the left side is a human version of Arcee from Transformers Prime, who is drawn as a middle-aged asian woman. She is muscular and has a haircut that is somewhere between a mullet and a mohawk, with shaved sides. Her hair is black with blue and pink streaks. Her eyes are brown and she has some eyeliner and lipstick, but not a lot. Her face is scarred, as are her arms and upper chest. She's standing with her hands on her hips with a determined but smiling expression. She has simple metal earrings and is wearing a blue cropped leather jacket with rolled up sleeves and the autobots logo on the left shoulder, a dark gray shirt, black biker gloves, black trousers with blue and pink geometric stripes and black boots. Her right arm has a tattoo in the shape of abstract stripes. The design notes placed around her read as follows: "Biker gloves", "cropped jackets seem to be this team's thing", "she can have hairstreaks and eyeliner, as a treat" "I made her look about late 30s to early 40s, I redid all the lineart for her face a few times when I wasn't happy with it", "I tried to give her a tattoo in the shape of the Autobots logo but it didn't look good. I still wanted to give her some tattoos, hence the stripes". On the right side of the page is a human version of Bumblebee from the same franchise, who is drawn as a young black man. He's also standing with his hands on his hips and smiling pleasantly. The sides of his head are also shaved, and he has a single dyed yellow streak in his hair. His eyes are brown and he has a little bit of gold eyeliner. There are two distinctive scars by the side of his mouth, and one surgical scar on his throat. He's wearing a yellow bomber jacket with black lapels and the autobots logo on the left shoulder, a white shirt, a black belt with a gold buckle, black cargo trousers with yellow stripes running down each side and black shoes with yellow stripes and shoelaces. The shoes are somewhere between high-top sneakers and hiking shoes. His nails are painted black and he has a silver dog tag and a necklace in the shape of a bumblebee. The design notes placed around him read as follows: "He can have a little bit of eyeliner - as a treat", "probably around 25", "never before has there been a guy who listens to Imagine Dragons as unironically as this one", "I combined hiking boot soles with high-top sneakers for traction, mobility and ankle support". Placed next to him is a picture of Buffins, the cat with the most appealing expression. Below the picture is the text "The resemblance is uncanny". / End ID]

[jasperthehatchet]

I just now had a dream that I need to talk about right now i was in this huge empty cob house getting ready to go on a road trip through the mountains and I packed a bag and created the coolest outfit I've ever seen I will do my very best to describe it

I had a black and yellow striped tank top with a thin dark brown long sleeve vest over it and a mossy green embroidered jacket over that, with the sleeves rolled up to show the brown underneath, the back of it was covered in patches. I had dark green and brown fingerless leather gloves with flower engravings on them. I wore a green pair of pants that poofed out a little bit and it had darker green spiral designs over it and bumblebee embroidery. Like a few bees scattered all over the pants and a golden yellow beehive pattern on the left pocket that faded down the leg. I wore a dark green sheer scarf for a belt with a macrame belt tied on top to hold it there and green and brown work boots with bees painted on the outside of them and flowers growing out of the top and out of the laces. The laces had beads on them. There were small flowers growing out of the collar of my jacket and around my macrame belt as well.

I wore metal cuff bracelets with beautiful engravings on them, they were runes I didn't recognize. I also wore them on my legs over my socks, right above my shoes but below the edges of my pants. And I wore a necklace with round metal beads with the same runes and a bumblebee charm. The runes looked like they were pulled straight from an earthdawn book or something.

The description of this outfit probably sounds nuts but I looked in the mirror in my dream and I looked like The Coolest Bitch. My backpack even matched my outfit it had flower embroidery and everything. My next long term project will be finding/making the pieces I need to have this outfit in my possession it made me feel so incredibly gender. Unbelievably gender, even

One of the people who I was going on the road trip with in the dream said exactly this: "you have a Bumblebee Butch thing going on" and then I woke up once I got in the car

[wildmountainlight]

brown-belted bumblebee (bombus griseocollis) - september 2022

[jondoe297]

latest toy thrifting finds. from about two weeks ago by now but eh lazy. these are also two trips in one post.

first we got some stuff from the mini figure bin:

-fruit bat/flying fox from a company called Yowie

-baby/pre-mutation/regular ol' turtle Donny

-an a couple of these vendin machine aliens i love

ID/image description: photo of small figures of a fruit bat/flying fox wrapped in their wings hanging upside down on a tree branch,an unpainted green figure of Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a regular turtle with his mask an bo staff on his belt,and two small aliens. one on a pogo stick and one wearing ice skates and holding a hockey stick. the figures are all placed on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind them. end description.

i was about to leave when a surprise! G1 Bumblebee mini figure from way back in 2014 for the 30th anniversary. in the package. an for less than a buck! i remember buyin these in blind bags back in the day :')

it's been 10 years since then...

ID/image description: photo of a small cartoony mini figure of Bumblebee from Transformers in his package placed on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind him. end description.

okay the stuff from this point is from the second trip. a couple of the shops were gettin new wares so i went back the next day.

an the first thing i found is this First Appearance Style Batman from Mattel's Action League line!! yeah the head an belt are not accurate but i love im an i've always wanted im. this is my first Batman of this year :)

ID/image description: photo of a small cartoony stylized figure of Batman in his First Appearance look placed on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind him. end description.

this nice lil Spidey. i was inspecting his joints before gettin im as i usually do when. his right leg snapped.(to be fair the joint was wonky even though i shoulda noticed that an i was not feelin my best that day) i did wanna get im anyway but i was gonna pass cuz he comes with a web line which is missin. but i broke im so of course i bought im. an super glue is our friend.

ID/image description: photo of a small action figure of Spider-Man placed on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind him. end description.

Camouflage Swamp Thing from Kenner!!! i almost missed out on im!! cuz i got Batman an Spidey an was about to leave when i decided to linger a lil more an look at this one section i don't usually look at cuz it's all knock-off stuff,but i just wanted to pass some more time. an what do i find behind them?? Swampyyyy!

the relief i felt cuz not only did i find a Swamp Thing but i could've just left an not gotten im. an he was right there!

ID/image description: photo of an action figure of Swamp Thing placed on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind him. he is mostly brown and has a tree branch look and texture to his body and limbs,except his head and chest which are green. end description.

last but not least thing we got is this 1998 The Power Of The Force Lak Sivrak action figure. honestly i didn't recognize im i was just like 'ooh sweet werewolf!' then i see it's Star Wars an i was like 'they didn't do a crossover with Universal too did they??' looked im up when i got home an learned he was actually in the Cantina scene before the Special Editions! an due to time restraints his look consisted of an off-the-shelf Halloween mask made by Rick Baker!! an a reused Jawa robe. fascinating stuff. he was also originally played by a woman??SO rad!! he also has a real exciting story where he started as a scout/hunter for the Empire then joined the Rebellion. the figure is not really very accurate but look at im! he's a Star Wars werewolf!

ID/image description: photo of an action figure of Star Wars character Lak Sivrak placed on a bookshelf with books and comics visible behind him. he looks like a werewolf in a beige jacket thing and pants with a lighter shirt under it and a belt. end description.

[ghostoffuturespast]

4 August 2023 - Field Notes Friday

I was kinda sort of doing this a bit earlier and I don't want to make it too formal, but this series is more of a way for me to share my time out on the prairie and synthesize the knowledge I pickup so I can try to remember at least some of it. I learn somethin' new every day.

Spent a lot of time walking around in the flowers and a lot of time with small creatures this week.

Asteraceae

The sunflowers, prairie coneflower, fetid marigold, and the gone to seed cowpen daisy with the bumblebee on it are all members of the family Asteraceae. This family of plants is one of the largest plant families on the planet estimated to be over 20,000 species.

Asters are composite flowers, meaning the flower head isn't just one flower but many. The large outer petals you see on asters are known as ray flowers (like the large yellow flowers you see on a sunflower). Often, but not always, ray flowers don't have any reproductive structures. The capitulum, the head of the plant, (like the brown section in the middle of a sunflower) is actually composed of hundreds of tiny flowers called disc flowers. These are the flowers that actually get pollinated and produce seeds.

Sunflowers, lettuce, endive, safflower, echinacea, dandelions, and thistles are all members of the Aster family. Often in the field they're sometimes referred to as DYC (damn yellow composites). Because there are so many of them and they're hard to id, even for folks with years of botany or biology under their belt.

Margined Burying Beetle & Funnel Spider

Margined Burying Beetles are a type of carrion beetle and have very distinctive Halloween colors, which I appreciate! I accidentally flooded a bunch of them out when I was watering some trees. Not very cool of me, but it was neat getting to observe them.

Male beetles fly around looking for the carcass of small vertebrates in order to bury them underground in a little house and attract a potential mate. Once a female does show up though, it's not unusual for other beetles to have arrived as well. If that's the case then they all have to duke it out to see who gets to stay, typically the largest male and female win and the losers have to go look elsewhere. The male and female beetles will mate, clean up the carcass of any fur and feathers, and the female will lay her eggs. Burying beetles engage in parental care and one, sometimes both, will watch after the young until they pupate and are able to take care of themselves. Parents will basically feed the larvae vomit until the young can feed on their own.

These beetles can also secrete enzymes that can actually mask the scent of carrion to reduce the chance of other critters trying to munch on it. Which is pretty wild, considering how much dead stuff smells sometimes. Also, if you can see in the picture that beetle has a beige dot on its head. The beetle had a bunch of mites hanging out on it on the underside! I thought they were parasites at first, but did some research and turns out it's a symbiotic relationship. The mites hitch rides to carcasses and like to eat fly larva. Free rides for the mites and reduced competition for the beetle, win-win.

I fed the funnel spider a grasshopper. She was probably happy to get breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the week.

Peace or War?

Couple of mice got stuck in this trash can. Don't know how long they'd been in there, but one of them was very agro. They did not like the mouse with the stubby tail and actually drew blood trying to bite the rest of it off. It was like watching a mini cage wrestling match while I was looking for a place to release them. They all made it out of the trash can, but I can't say what happens after...

Found this beautiful patch of prairie coneflower and spreading fleabane. Got distracted by them and all the bugs.

Young cottontail rabbit and barn swallow eggs. Mom's been sitting on them diligently, so hopefully they'll hatch soon.

[insectaesthetics]

I caught probably the best bumblebee mimic I’ve ever seen in my life the other day — here it is next to an actual (brown belted) bumblebee!

[blueikeproductions]

Two years ago, later in the afternoon, at Westerberg High, Daniel Braverman is at the school office getting his affairs in order for transferring.

Principal: Your timing is impeccable, Mr. Braverman, coming in when there’s only two hours left of school to do anything of any significance…

Dan: -fidgeting and looking embarrassed- Yeah, sorry about that, sir… Like I said, my family just moved into town yesterday and we were unpacking most of the day today until my Ma remembered I had to come here to make the transfer official…

Principal: And aren’t we so lucky…. -looking the tall boy over, in his messy blonde-brown hair, ALF t-shirt, baggy pants, Transformers Bumblebee keychain hanging off his belt, and beat up sneakers with curious, almost blood like stains on them. Next to him is a worn, similarly stained backpack decorated with ALF, Pac-Man and Autobot/Decepticon pins and crammed with comic books and notebooks- Westerberg gonna eat you alive, son.

Dan: I beg your pardon…?

Principal: You heard me. Anyhoo, -blithely thumbs through the papers-, everything’s in order here. Bing, bang, boom, yer a Rottweiler. Whoopie. -throws confetti in the confused boy’s face-

Dan: … -spits out some confetti- Well, possible step up from being a Hawkins Tiger?

Principal: Trust me, it’s not. -talks on the intercom- Can Veronica Sawyer report to the principal’s office? -addressing Dan again- Ms. Sawyer will show you around the Thunderdome.

Veronica enters, dressed in a blue skirt, jacket, scarf, wearing glasses and tennis shoes: You rang? -sees Dan who smiles and waves at her- Oh who’s this? Principal: Your problem now. -shoves them both out of his office- Just parade this geek around the school until it’s time to leave. -slams the door in their faces-

Dan and Veronica: … -bit of a pause-

Dan: Have to say, I’m not getting the warmest reception today…

Veronica: It’s not you, the principal’s just an ass.

Dan: -sarcastically- Really, I didn’t notice… -hoists his backpack on- Anyway, I’m Dan Braverman. -holds out his hand- I just moved here from Hawkins, Indiana.

Veronica: -smiles and shakes hands- Veronica Sawyer, but my friends call me Ronnie. So your family couldn’t do better than Sherwood, Ohio? -they start to walk-

Dan: Honestly after my time at Indiana a few days ago, this is an improvement.

Veronica: Mmm, let’s see how you feel after the tour… The Thunderdome awaits!

-The tour mostly goes well, Veronica showing Dan where his classes will be, the cafeteria, library, etc. As they go, Dan takes note of the … aggression the other students seem to have towards each other, insulting and terrorizing, as a certain trio walks by, surveying everything with a smile-

Dan: I never watched Mad Max, but I’m starting to get the Thunderdome comparison, Veronica. Also… learning a lot of new words today, “bull dyke” is the stand out one…

Veronica: Yeaaaahhh… Didn’t used to be like this. Y’know how it goes. We were shiny and new as little kids, playing tag and eating paste, then we got bigger, that was the trigger, like the Huns invading Rome.

Dan: I was gonna say turf war between the Autobots and Quintessons, but I like yours better…

Veronica: Heh. Best to just keep your head down, Dan and find a clique that will… not quite defend you but will stick with you.

Dan: I don’t believe in cliques.

Veronica: …Really?

Dan: I mean, I had nerdy friends back in Indiana like Dustin, Eddie and Will, but I also knew some other cooler fellas like Eleven, Steve and… -sighs sadly- Jason…

Veronica: Was Jason your… -implying boyfriend-

Dan: Oh! -blushes- No, Jason was my best friend. We had each other’s back back then. Just… well y’know moving and all. I… left him behind… -looks upset-

Veronica: -holds Dan’s shoulder trying to comfort him- Aw you were close huh. I’m sure he understood…!

Dan: I hope so. Last time we saw each other, we… um… -flashes back to him and JD, wielding a croquet mallet and shot gun respectively, ready to fight the Super Demogorgon- were playing an intense game of… croquet!

Veronica: Oh! You play croquet too~? Dan: Yeah…! -flashes back to trying to hit the Beast with his mallet, only to get throttled and slashed in the stomach- -Dan gingerly touches his chest where the scars linger, tears forming a bit- I wasn’t … that good at it… Jason always won, haha. -thinks back to JD shielding him and firing a few rounds at the creature’s head-

Veronica: I’ve got a croquet set at home! You should come over, and I’ll show you the Ronnie way to play! -grins-

Dan: Thank you. -wipes eyes with his arm- I’d like that.

-They bump into two jocks as they talk, the bulky Terrance Thrash and equally bulky Toby Throttle, who shoot the two teens a nasty look, Thrash shoving Dan and Veronica to the ground-

Thrash: Ugh, watch it, hunchback and slut! Touch us again, and your asses will be slam dunked in the dumpster! Dan: -helps Veronica up- So I was slouching a bit, I don’t have the best posture. And what’s the deal with calling Veronica that?

Thrash: -gets in a defiant Dan’s face- What’s YOUR deal getting on my case, white trash? -raises fist to an unflinching Dan- Veronica: -panics and gets in-between them- Aaaah, nothing! Nothing, Thrash! We were just going. -takes Dan by the arm and leads him away-

Thrash: Heh, that’s right, hide behind Mommy’s skirt, ass smear. Throttle: -snorts through his nose in acknowledgment as they watch the two round the corner-

Veronica: What were you doing?? That was Thrash, the football captain! You don’t want to get on his bad side!

Dan: -looks back at the two jocks talking amongst themselves- Seems to me Thrash doesn’t have a GOOD side. Besides, I’ve fought monsters, some Arnold wannabe isn’t enough to scare me!

???: Oh hey, you’re new! -Dan feels a foreign hand poke his back- Dan: WAH! -jumps in startled fright, his Hawkins PTSD kicking in, and instinctively protects Veronica- Oh…! -sees the person behind him is cute, glasses wearing fat girl with messy curly hair, wearing a loud, very 80’s sweater and matching pants smiling back at him. She’s carrying some school books and a unicorn trapper keeper-

Veronica: Haha, easy there, Mr. Macho Man, that’s just Martha Dunnstock. My best friend since… well diapers! She’s a sweetie, she won’t bite.

Dan: Heh, hiya Martha, I’m Dan Braverman, I’m the new kid in town! -shakes her hand-

Martha: Oooh! We don’t get many of those! Nice to meet’cha! -notices Dan’s shirt- Ooo you like ALF too? Isn’t he so funny?

Dan: I know right? One of my favorite shows along with stuff like V, Fraggle Rock, Growing Pains, Garfield… Martha: Oooh! Garfield and Fraggle Rock too? I’m liking you already! -smiles brightly causing Dan to blush- Oh that reminds me, Ronnie, were we still on for movie night tonight?

Veronica: Yup! You’re in Jiffy Pop duty~! Lemme guess, you rented The Princess Bride again?

Martha: Guilty~! What can I say? I’m a sucker for a happy ending~!

Dan: Huh, y’know, I’ve never watched The Princess Bride…!

Martha: …. -slowly turns her head to Dan in disbelief-

Dan: W-what…?

Martha: You’ve NEVER watched The Princess Bride???? Oh we are fixing THAT tonight!

Dan: Really? I… I don’t wanna impose on your Movie Night.

Martha: Nonsense! You can come, right, Ronnie?

Veronica: Sure! -smiles- I think he’s find his “clique” to start out, haha.

Dan: Heh, looks that way, huh? I’ll just give my folks a buzz and-

???: MARTHA DUMPTRUCK, WIDELOOAD!

-A shockingly tall kid with a mullet slaps Martha’s books out of her hand, and laughs like a little child-

Martha: Hey! Dang it, Kurt!

Kurt: Ooooops~!

Dan: I got it. -starts picking up Martha’s stuff, only to have it slapped out of his hands by a stockier, muscular kid with a more military hair cut- What the?

Kurt: Nice one, Ram! Punch it in, man! -the two fist bump, proud of their little deed- Ram side eyes Martha, and looks a little embarrassed though as Martha gives him a disappointed look-

Dan: -picks up the books and avoids Kurt trying to slap them away again, and hands them back to Martha, and gets in a defensive stance in front of her- Well I see I’m four for four today on jerky jocks.

Kurt: Guess we just have that natural magnetism, buddy boy~! -grins devilishly-

Veronica: Hey, beat it, you two future gas station attendants! -protects Martha with Dan-

Ram: Oh trust me, we are, to far more hotter snatch. -winks, looks at Martha again and his bravado wavers again-

-The school bell rings, and folks start filling out to go home-

Dan: Well, you two studs enjoy your pay per view, and we’ll just enjoy The Princess Bride, sound good?

Kurt: -leans into Dan’s face giving him a look over- You have a zit right there. -playfully poked him on the cheek as he and Ram get a guffaw out of it-

Veronica: Always gotta get the last laugh in don’t you? C’mon guys. -The two groups leave in the sea of people, though Ram and Martha linger, but go their separate way.-

Veronica: -visibly upset- God, they can be so immature! Ugh! Dan: …You ok?

Veronica: -sighs- Every so often I ask myself “what happened”? We changed before… Could we be… nice once more?

Martha: -hugs her books- Aw Ronnie…

Veronica: Everyday I pray for a better way… -sighs- …And God just… doesn’t answer.

Dan: God is… -thinks back to him, JD, Will, El, and Nancy dealing with a swarm of Demobats- …funny that way.

Martha: -sees the two look depressed- Hey!! We still have our Movie Night! Oh let’s see if Specs and Betty wanna join in too!

Veronica: Oh yeah, Betty loves Movie Night! I wonder what movie she’ll wanna bring in addition.

Martha: Ooo, Sixteen Candles, maybe? Dan: Specs?

Veronica: Another guy buddy of ours. He helps me with Yearbook and AV stuff. Oh you’ll like him, Dan. He’s got similar tastes to you and Martha, haha.

Dan: -smiles- Cool! Can’t wait to meet them both! -mind lingers to JD again and mutters- Wish you were here too, Jason…

Martha: Hmm~?

Dan: Oh um what should I bring? A round of Pepsi?

Veronica: -smiles- Make it Mountain Dew, and you’ll fit right in, haha.

[hankwag93]

A couple shots of a brown belted bumblebee on the family farm. Taken 8/10/22.

[bugsoupforthesoul]

Brown-belted bumblebee (Bombus griseocollis) on a purple coneflower

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Jonny's Insect Catalogue - Now on YouTube

As mentioned in my 5 Year Anniversary post showcasing a colony of Small Yellow Ants, the blog's reach has been expanded to YouTube as I've created a channel that will host insect videos. If you are interested in insect video content and nature, I will see you there!

With the channel up and running, all the videos featured in this blog’s Video Catalogue will eventually be uploaded there without any caveats. Videos that were previously trimmed or separated into multiple parts will be shown in full. Furthermore, the intent is to upload them chronologically, beginning with every video currently uploaded to this blog. I may jump around a bit, especially if I find an amazing insect to share. Videos will be made ready and uploaded every Sunday, creating the following upload schedule for this blog: Tuesday (Tb) >> Friday (Tb) >> Sunday (YT). For additional information, please refer to the YouTube info section of the blog. If you have further questions, I'm happy to answer them.

The rest of this post will speak briefly on the channel's welcome video (playing above), the channel's outro video and the first insect upload that will grace the channel. I hope to see you in the world of video content creation. Also, I apologize in advance for any audio "pops" heard in earlier recorded videos (particularly those from 2017-2019). Audio for those videos will be cleaned up best as possible before they are uploaded.

The Channel Welcome video is intended to showcase a glimpse into the content that has been on this blog for 5 years. To keep with the natural feel, the background audio was created using the sounds from the following videos: Asian Ladybug Pupa, Cicada Hatching, Potter Wasp. Ironically, though my channel is focused on insects, the Welcome audio primarily features birds. They may like to eat insects, but they provide some of the best and most recognizable natural ambience sounds! As the video approaches the end, there's also a bit of the outro audio when the logo appears...

The channel's video outro audio was created by layering the sounds of the insects in these videos into one track: Black-Legged Meadow Katydid, Brown-Belted Bumblebee, Eastern Carpenter Bee, Cicada Hatching. It was a challenge to sync the sounds to the text, but everything eventually clicked together. The outro features the famous slogan for creating a community, "Like, Share, Subscribe", and of course "Thank you for Watching". I do sincerely mean the latter, thank you! Shorter videos will use a truncated version of the outro since doesn't make sense to have the outro longer than the video itself (haha).

When I originally created the thumbnails for the videos on this blog, I chose the film strip since it holds strong iconography with visual media and movies. It also seemed classy and clean as well, as if to show the best possible glimpse into the life of the recorded insects. Little did I know that 5 years later I would join them together to create film reel styled graphics for the channel's banner. The image on the left is my first draft, and the image on the right is the final draft currently in use. I didn't want to change the dimensions and content, but it had to fit YouTube's TV and Desktop parameters. Still, I couldn't bare to junk the original, so it's also included in my channel's welcome video before the insect showcase, and it's featured on the blog in a few places.

All text and image graphics used in my video will be created in photoshop. The videos will be compiled together using Clipchamp (as it's the only resource I have at the moment). Though it has tremendously lag during playback, slow finishing export and a cluttered UI, I can make it work.

Finally, the first insect video to official grace my YouTube channel will be the Monarch Butterfly I found emerging from its Chrysalis after a few days of careful observation. It's the video I'm most proud of and it showcases something truly special in the insect world. On YouTube, it has a duration of 4:46 compared to 50 seconds here (it had to be trimmed due to size limitations). I'm honored to finally show it in full. Please see for yourself: Monarch Butterfly - Emerging from its Chrysalis.

Thank you to all my followers, readers, friends and family for your support and for viewing these insects. Every one of you mean the world to me. The journey into the insect world continues!

This post also represents a serendipitous milestone: 100 video posts uploaded to this blog! Here's to 100 more featuring many amazing insects!

[zsaffrynterra]

Delighted and honored that this Brown-belted Bumblebee allowed the pets 🥰 such friendly giants