#clay weevil

[weevilsdaily]

weevil 270

[sqworms]

Opened up shop on kofi with some of my little sculpts, check out the link in my bio!

[ametat-arts]

The detritivores Etsy is now open! Made by bug enjoyers, for bug enjoyers!

we sell lil bug figurines, bug stickers, shirts, totes, and more!! Come give it a ponder, address is in the image :3

[pickledart]

A funky man named boogie woogie

[onenicebugperday]

@the-corvid-conundrum submitted: Hello! Could I please get an ID on this little fellow? I'm in western Washington state. Thank you for all of the bug information and positivity you spread!

Thank YOU for sharing this wonderful weevil. It's a broad-nosed weevil, but I'm not 100% confident on species. Maybe a clay-colored weevil, Otiorhynchus singularis.

[platycryptus]

this mud dauber wasp (Sceliphron caementarium) seemed distressed about something in her clay nest. Turns out it had been commandeered by a keyhole wasp (Pachodynerus nasidens), who was now aggressively asserting ownership

keyhole wasps, which hunt weevils and other small beetles, will opportunistically nest in any sort of small cavity (such as a keyhole). The existing literature on this species doesn’t say anything about taking over other wasp‘s nests, only that they sometimes refurbish abandoned nests, but I guess this one didn’t get the memo.

This isn't the worst of their mischief though- they also have a habit of building nests that clog up the airspeed measuring instruments in planes and have caused several fatal crashes.

(Florida, 10/6/21)

[amnhnyc]

Today’s Exhibit of the Day? 🐛🐞🐜 The Museum’s Life on the Forest Floor Diorama. To create this up-close look—full of decomposing debris and hungry critters—Museum artists studied specimens under a microscope. Then, these bugs, weevils, and beetles were enlarged to about 24 times their actual size! Models were made out of clay, wax, and other materials. This archival image, snapped in 1958, depicts a Museum preparator installing models into this scene. 

Photo: Image no. 325494 / © AMNH Library 

[palossssssand]

Haven’t made ‘em in a while, but I just picked up some fresh beetles from the ceramic studio!

Pleasantly surprised by the weevil, I didn’t put enough coats of underglaze, so the clay color shows through, but it looks SO cool. Hope to make more beetles soon!

[dazzlingskydreams]

Little clay figures I made of Weevil and Rex!

I don't usually share my clay work; but I'm really happy with how these two turned out. They're made with air-dry clay with some details painted on with acrylics. There's a brush-on glaze which makes them extra shiny.

[path-of-grass-and-leaves]

Creating a Backyard Land Spirit Profile

Working with land spirits can help connect you with your local ecosystem, and for some practitioners is a crucial aspect of bioregional magic. Some folks, like myself, consider themselves to be initiated by one or more land spirits.

When I use the term land spirits, I am referring to a few different things. First are the collective spirits of various plants, animals, and insects present in a specific bioregion. An example of collective, in this context, means that if I'm petitioning help from the spirit of violets, I am working with the spirit of all violets present in that area rather than a singe flower that grows in my yard.

The next is the land guardian, which in my practice is a more powerful spirit with claim over a specific territory, like a forest, river, or neighborhood.

Sometimes these two concepts are separate and sometimes they're interchangeable. It all depends on personal practice, culture, local folklore, etc.

One thing that has been extremely beneficial to my practice has been creating a backyard land spirit profile. This method has been useful for spirit work and "green" magic, but more importantly, it's helped me immerse myself in my local ecosystem and I get to meet a lot of cool animals and plants.

Here is an over-simplfied example of my backyard land profile:

Ecosystem: Central Interior and Appalachian: Mixed woodlands, close to possible floodplains

Soil Type: Clay in garden bed, Loamy near/beneath shrubs, Sandy in sunny areas of the lawn

Flora:

Cultivated- Paradise Apple, Highbush Blueberry, Rose of Sharon, Dog Rose, Black-Eyed Susan, Sundial Lupine

Native - Bloodroot, Wild Strawberry, Common Violet, Wrinkle-Leaf Goldenrod, Blue Wood-Aster, Horseweed, Fireweed, Deer-Tongue Witchgrass, Common Milkweed

Invasive - Round-Leaved Bittersweet, Yellow Toadflax, Creeping Bellflower, Common Mugwort

Naturalized - Dandelion, Broad-Leaf Plantain, Deadly Nightshade

Notes - Various mosses, unidentified mushrooms growing on lawn and lichens found on some trees/shrubs.

Fauna:

Mammals - Raccoon, Opossum, Striped Skunk, Grey Squirrel, Chipmunk, Feral Cats, Deer mouse, House Mouse

Birds - Cardinals, Chickadees, Catbirds, American Robin, Downy Woodpecker, Turkey Vulture, Crow

Reptiles and Amphibians - N/A

Fish - N/A

Invertebrates - Dotted Wolf Spider, Leopard Slug, Tiger Bee Fly, Monarch Caterpillars, Peach Root Weevile, Narrow-Winged Mantis, Fireflies

Ecoregion and Soil Type

The first thing I did was determine what type of ecosystem my yard used to be. In an urban/suburban area this was a bit challenging.

I started by identifying a few wild plants and finding out where they usually grow. Most of them seemed to prefer shady woodlands and rich soil. There were also a couple of pioneer species present in the sunnier and more disturbed areas of the yard.

Next, I took a look at surrounding wild areas. We are close to a mountain and a large river. There are woodlands near and within the city made up of mostly hardwood and conifer trees. I knew from memory that certain areas close to my home are likely floodlands.

After that, I found a bioregion map of my country which showed that my state fell under the category of Central Interior and Appalachian. I searched this region on landscope.org and was able to determine my specific ecoregion (not shared here for privacy reasons).

From there I started making educated guesses. I determined that my backyard was likely a mixed hardwood and conifer woodland sitting very close to what might have been a floodplain.

For my soil type, I took samples from different areas of my yard and used an online guide to determine what kind of soil I had. Most of it was sandy or loamy, but my flower beds seemed to have some clay.

Using all this information, I had a general idea of what kind of plants and wildlife would be present without human intervention. It also helped with deciding which native plants to start growing.

Plants

Throughout the year, I went out to the yard with a wildlife field guide and a couple identification apps and identified every plant and insect I found. I grouped the plants into four categories: native, invasive, naturalized, and cultivated. This isn't shown in the example, but I also grouped them by season and the time of year they appear.

Naturalized refers to plants that have integrated themselves into the environment without inflicting damage to the local ecosystem.

You'll notice that under the cultivated section I included a few native plants. This is because those plants were introduced by me and would not be present without my intervention and I wanted to make that distinction.

The importance of native and naturalized plants is obvious, but what about cultivated and invasive? Keeping a profile of invasive plants helped me keep a record of which noxious weeds I need to remove. From an ecological perspective, their removal is crucial to the survival of my native plants and garden crops. From a spiritual perspective, this can be an offering or act of service to the local land spirits. Some of these plants, like Common Mugwort, are both valuable for workings and fine to harvest in large quantities since they are invasive.

Cultivated plants are also important. Many of these plants, like my Blueberries, Apples, and Rose of Sharon, were here before me. The importance of plants introduced by humans is greater than you'd think. First, they are usually crops and flowering plants and provide food for both humans and the local wildlife. Secondly, I live in an urban area, and my land spirits are likely very closely associated with people.

I researched all of my plants and took note of growth patterns, toxicity, medicinal uses, ediblity, native region/habitat, ecological significance/impact, etc. Then I moved onto folklore and symbolism and started working with the spirits of a few plants, performing divination, leaving offerings, harvesting them and including them in rituals and spellwork. I did this in groups to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Please note that you should always properly identify plants and be aware of potential toxicity before harvesting, especially if you plan on burning or consuming said plant. Also steer clear of protected or threatened plants and keep harvest to a minimum even for abundant native species.

Wildlife

My next project was writing down every species of animal and insect that I had encountered in my yard. I grouped them into several categories: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. In real life my invertebrates section is separated into several subcategories (orb weavers, beetles, etc.).

Next, I used basically the same system I did for plants, researching their native range, preferred habitat, behavior, diet, ecological importance. Then I started looking into folklore.

Finally, I started integrating them into my practice and working with their collective spirits. This involved using animal symbolism in rituals, leaving offerings, and performing a lot of divination.

Remember to never interact with or directly feed wildlife. If I'm making offerings outdoors it is usually fresh water, scattered birdseed, and acts of service like creating habitats and growing plants that a specific species enjoys. If scattering birdseed, do so in the morning to keep too many animals, like raccoons, from entering your yard at night.

Side note: Keep a record of what appears in your yard each year! For example one year we had several chipmunks and one year I saw none. One year we had no fireflies and the next our backyard was covered in them.

Tying It All Together

Once I had my backyard profile completed, I started working with the collective spirits of select species. I have an offering schedule, perform communication, and petition these spirits regularly in spellwork. I use certain plants that I harvest for offerings and use for tinctures, infusions, cooking, and crafts. I use symbols of local animals in crafts and spellwork.

After working with the "smaller" spirits, you can start seeking out specific land guardians by using a combination of divination and research of local history and folklore.

On a mundane level, I am now able to cultivate an appropriate ecosystem for the local wildlife and start projects to support it. Examples of this are pollinator gardens, stick and brush piles for fireflies and small animals, growing seed-rich and fruiting plants for birds and mammals, winter shelters and TNR plans for feral cats, and more.

I also like to take notes on plants and wildlife that I encounter in my general area that don't usually make it into my backyard. For example there have been coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and black bears spotted in my neighborhood.

I want to stress that I live in a semi-urban and relatively populated neighborhood and I have a small yard. The brief example of of my land profile doesn't cover even a fraction of the wildlife I have encountered in my backyard. There is so much life in urban and suburban areas in need of our support.

[crevicedwelling]

hi! from a google search, i think this funky little dude's a weevil, but i couldn't figure out which one specifically (minnesota)

it’s a billbug (Sphenophorus) weevil, perhaps S. aequalis

[axilarycobra]

[Wings of Fire] Ace-spec Headcanons

I saw that it was asexuality day today and since I posted my aro-spec headcanons, I want to post my ace-spec headcanons today. Just like how I did with my aro-spec headcanons, if a character is asexual and aromantic, I'll just put them down as aroace.

Clay - demisexual

Tsunami - asexual

Glory - aroace

Starflight - asexual

Sunny - aroace

Moonwatcher - asexual

Winter - asexual

Peril - asexual

Qibli - aroace

Cricket - asexual

Snowfall - asexual

Luna - asexual

Burn - asexual

Blister - asexual

Blaze - demisexual

Scarlet - aceflux

Kinkajou - asexual

Fatespeaker - graysexual

Ochre - aroace

Glacier - aceflux

Tamarin - asexual

Orca - asexual

Bullfrog - demisexual

Carnelian - asexual

Clearsight - demisexual

Fathom - asexual

Io - aceflux

Jerboa III - aroace

Listener - asexual

Onyx - aroace

Peacemaker - asexual

Sky - aroace

Willow - demisexual

Umber - asexual

Albatross - demisexual

Cobra - aroace

Grandeur - demisexual

Liana - asexual

Moorhen - aroace

Ruby - demisexual

Wasp - aroace

Cattail - aroace

Coconut - demisexual

Fierceteeth - demisexual

Sora - aroace

Chameleon - aroace

Shapeshifter - demisexual

Freedom - aroace

Riptide - aroace

Gill - asexual

Allknowing - demisexual

Lagoon (TLH) - aroace

Quickstrike - asexual

Mango - asexual

Bigtail - asexual

Mightyclaws - demisexual

Ostrich (TBN) - demisexual

Alba - asexual

Current - asexual

Octopus - demisexual

Pike - demisexual

Ripple - aroace

Sapphire - aroace

Snapper - aroace

Anaconda - aroace

Bromeliad - asexual

Gibbon - asexual

Orangutan - aroace

Orchid - asexual

Battlewinner - demisexual

Darkstalker - demisexual

Discretion - aroace

Eclipse (DoD) - aroace

Hope - demisexual

Mastermind - demisexual

Mindreader - aroace

Morrowseer - demisexual

Obsidian - aroace

Slaughter - aroace

Smokeseer - asexual

Wisdom - aroace

Agave - aroace

Char - demisexual

Horizon - aroace

Needle - aroace

Quicksand - demisexual

Fjord - aroace

Permafrost - asexual

Osprey - aroace

Festoon - asexual

Heliconian - aroace

Aphid - asexual

Chafer - asexual

Glowworm - aroace

Lubber - aroace

Weevil - demisexual

Hawthorn - asexual

Hemlock - aceflux

Moccasin - aroace

Anhinga - aroace

Bayou - demisexual

Beryl - asexual

Bonecruncher - demisexual

Canyon - asexual

Caribou (bard) - demisexual

Caribou (bard's grandmother) - aroace

Caribou (bard's mother) - demisexual

Diadem - aroace

Jacaranda - demisexual

Linden - demisexual

Monarch (AGttDW 1) - demisexual

Monarch (AGttDW 2) - asexual

Olive - demisexual

Rowan (AGttDW) - demisexual

Sawgrass - demisexual

Silverwash - asexual

[ametat-arts]

we are making Creechures. Dropping on our Etsy soon ™️

[raspberry-ripley]

🌻 hiiii ripley!!!!!

hiiii ben!!!!!

i've been thinking about making my work desk more exciting by getting more silly figurines to sit by my computer (someone who sits near me does this with themed rubber ducks and someone else has fancy coins blutacked to the frame of their computer screen). so far i have a clay sheep from a local market, a bear-shaped usb that looks stupid as hell from its nose end, a little pumpkin-orange dragon from a con, and my beloved weevil my beloved friend crocheted for me (its name is Wee Bill (the creature not the friend.))

[computer-boy]

you are also unbeweevably awesome :D

@clay-pidgeon weevil mention !!!!!!

[realstarlume]

Ancyra annamensis

In stillness they linger, quiet as night,

Masquerading as weevils, deceiving the sight,

A sudden strike, turning stillness to flight.

With a hidden blade, they draw life away,

Feeding in silence as their prey turns to clay,

Predators cloaked in the guise of the day.