#feather millipede

[alienbath]

Today I want to show off feather millipedes. Super cool millipede that I've loved for a while, they come anywhere from tan to pink.

Look at these babies!

Finally, they brood their eggs, with the male millipede wrapping around them to keep them safe.

(Source: iNaturalist)

[onenicebugperday]

Pink feather boa millipede, Gosodesmus claremontus, Andrognathidae

Found primarily in California

Photos 1-3 by mhedin, 4 by kueda, 5 by merav, 6 by yetikat, 7-9 by chloe_and_trevor, and 10 (for scale) by biosam

[chameleocoonj]

feather millipede + cottony cushion

[cuttledreams-bugs]

October Theme: Eyes

Lensless: Fuzzy Nautilus (Allonautilus scrobiculatus)

Lens eyes: Ogre-faced Spider (Deinopis spinosa)

Compound eyes: Drake Mackerel (Ephemera vulgata)

Eyeless: Feather Millipede (Brachycybe lecontii)

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

The feather millipedes pictured are of the species Brachycybe lecontii.

[trepans-apprentice]

no one loves you like i do you soil crawling wood munching freaks

[talenlee]

Dragon Regulation

Dragons are cool

I don’t think that’s a controversial opinion. I think that, broadly speaking, if I put a thing in a fantasy universe and put it within certain benchmarks for what constitutes dragon-y-ness, it’ll be accepted as a dragon. And maybe you’re much more loose and casual about it, but I think about how there are rules for dragons. Or if there aren’t any, shouldn’t there be?

Rules For Being A dragon

Dragons are like pornography. I can’t define it for you but I sure know it when I see it and also terabytes of them have passed through my screens each year. But more the first part.

You can call anything you want a dragon. In the real world, we call a type of fruit a dragon, and a bug, and a very cute lizard, a bigger less cute but still cooll lizard, and a seahorse and a slug and a millipede that makes zyklon-B.

Yeah, really.

Messed up, huh?

Anyway, the point is, dragon isn’t a special title. You don’t actually have to fulfill any obligations to be considered a dragon. It isn’t about being a lizard or about being able to fly or being able to breathe fire or even something like number of legs. This extends into your world and what you mean when you say a dragon dragon.

Here’s a list of just… stuff that I’ve seen about dragons in different sources.

They’re ancient reptilian flame-breathing hexapodal creatures with two wings and four legs but no hands, like Smaug from The Hobbit Part 3.

They’re long ferret-like creatures that fly without wings, and a serpentine body, fluffy hair and antlers, like in Raya and the Last Dragon.

They’re round, with tiny flappy wings and big yellow eyes, like How to Train Your Dragon‘s Gronckle.

They’re a sinuous dinosaur-bird with a huge jagged beak and crest, like Ridley from Metroid.

These are just a handful of things, but while all of these things can be called dragons, none of them seem to ‘break’ the term, right? But what about:

Chrono Cross has a dragon that’s a human-shaped clown.

Seath the Scaleless from Dark Souls has no scales, which isn’t actually that big a deal compared to how he has no legs.

Like A Dragon is a game about Yakuza dudes.

temtem has a feathered serpent with no limbs as a dragon.

Pokemon has Exeggutor, which is a walking palm tree with four heads.

Bubble Bobble has two dragon protagonists who have no wings and barely necks.

Mario has Bowser? Who may? be a dragon? But he’s also a turtle, and lacks wings?

There are even more examples of things that are ‘dragons,’ and that seem to sit outside a single, obvious specific intersection of ‘dragon-ness.’ In your worldbuilding then, the thing to consider is what you need ‘dragon’ to do or mean. In Like A Dragon, the term Dragon is used as a reference to literature: nobody in that game is actually producing a real dragon because in that story, dragons aren’t real, except as a thing people can be, and – you know, so on.

To that end: Work out what Dragon is supposed to mean. It isn’t necessary to have rules, but it helps if you know whether or not you need them. For myself, I like the idea of dragons as very magical but materially real creatures. I like the idea that they fly with their wings, that they are very muscular, that they have a lot of weight, and that while there are a lot of virtues to being what they are, biologically speaking, they are creatures that exist, and follow rules. They’re long-lived, they eat, they drink, and they sleep.

Rules for Treating A Dragon

Okay so you have some rules, or some guidelines at least, in your mind for what a dragon is, what makes a thing a dragon. In my case, I started with ‘it’s big, magical, and it’s a meaty, material entity, not a god, or somehow fundamentally supernatural.’ The way I tend to think of a dragon is as a single character that represents a government you have to negotiate with or deal with.

How does the world treat dragons?

In your world, are dragons mysterious? Are they history or are they nonsense? Do people have the idea of dragons but no experience with what they really are? Are dragons common, such as things like kobolds (are they dragons, to you?) or Dragonborn? What about half-dragons? Kinda hard to claim that dragons are fake if you’ve got a queen who’s been famously a half-dragon for generations, at least, if that’s a claim that’s somehow believable.

Dragons are pretty materially significant: are there laws about dragons?

Consider, if a dragon is a dangerous thing that can endanger a city, it might be illegal to contact dragons. It might be seen as just fundamentally a dangerous thing for a random citizen to do because talking to a dragon could get the dragon’s attention on the city. In the real world, there are laws against doing things that can cause landslides, there are laws against encouraging wild animals to approach the city, and there are laws about contacting dangerous political entities.

A dragon is kinda like all three?

Rules For Slaying A Dragon

Who can fight dragons in your story?

Not everyone, right?

A dragon is something that in your mind is probably only going to show up if it’s important and difficult. It’s a term with a degree of prestige. You don’t just beat up a dragon in an alleyway, and you don’t go out slaying dragons like they’re rats. I mean, you might if you think of kobolds as a type of dragon, and maybe a setting where there are populations of feral dragons providing problems in city infrastructure could be interesting to go in one way or another, but by default, nah.

Dragons are dangerous.

Who kills a dragon? I’ve written about this in the past, in my talk about the way that a dragon is a surrogate government. Thing is, you gotta consider in your stories and your worlds what stops a dragon, what displaces or defeats a dragon. Can they be? Can they be reasoned with? I compare them to states, but are dragons going to have the needs of states, can they be reasoned with? Do they have the economic presence of a state?

Most of the time when you see a dragon defeated, it’s a story about someone who should defeat the dragon doing it. It’s very rarely a peasant uprising, it’s usually a knight or a prince and it very commonly is connected to a justifiable cause to go deal with the dragon. It’s really interesting to because it feels like to an extent, a dragon, at least an evil or hostile one, is a bit like a rogue state? And wouldn’t there be a clear idea that ‘hey, someone should go deal with this, or what it’s doing?’

Forgetting About Drakes

None of this is necessary, of course. Dragons are such iconic creatures that you can just have one apepar in a story in the world and people will go ‘oh, yeah, dragons, we know what those are.’ You don’t have to consider them as economic engines or state actors that result in regulation.

But isn’t it more interesting when you do?

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[h3aso3]

Making centipede & millipede sparklecare patient OCs. Still so hung up on the fact that apparently no insect anthries exist on spinch, but since Doom and Mood exist, other arthropods like arachnids and myriapods do, but we NEVER saw them or even hybrids besides those two. I shouldn’t be as annoyed about it as I am, but I am. I love centipedes. Justice for centipedes. Could’ve had centipedes but no, we need incest

Left to right: Random Scolopendra, House Centipede/German Shepherd, Feather Millipede

[asksean-theretiredgod]

*Aster & Willow return abit rough for wear- hell Willow and Aster have bite marks on theirs necks- Willow has one on her Left- Aster have one on his Right... They have gourds and mushrooms with roots and dead rabbits even... they both seem to have suffered something... life changing and Aster groans looking sniffly while Willow looks abit angry- although there is Another thing- a basket of eggs but not Feather Boa Ones- Not like Willow & Asters Endo-Vitro Eggs from a Unknown downer*

By the gods, what happened to you 2?!

(Sean gets up from his seat and runs to the millipedes, healing their injuries rather easily before tapping their stomachs gently)

I demand to know who are the people that hurt my amazing children!

[ngage2003]

I am literally a feather millipede did you know they form colonies and are social creatures? Did you know they eat meals together?? Did you know that males take care of eggs for weeks and keep them clean of infection? And if a male loses their clutch they will go look for a new one to protect? And even if they have a clutch still they will take in orphaned eggs to protect them? Also they're this gorgeous warm pink or yellows???

[sparklevents6000]

Response to least favourite worldbuilding anon:

The fact that the Spinch lore website says species of all kinds of anthries exist excluding humans and insects, but there’s not a ton of variety.

I mean, mood and doom are part arachnid, so obviously KC knows about the bugs that aren’t insects like Myriapods, Crustaceans, and other Arachnids. SO WHERE ARE THEY??? I wanted to see a centipede anthry having his toxicognaths removed and harvested for evil deeds. Feather millipede anthry. PINK DRAGON MILLIPEDE ANTHRY that secretes CYANIDE p what the fuck

.

[drdandy]

Hey so stepping in to make one correction! Members of the brachycybe genus of millipedes absolutely appear to be social! They raise young communally and during the warmer months live communally in aggregations near tasty mold. These aggregations are sometimes called pinwheels even if not all aggregations are pinwheel shaped.

Additionally, while not maternal, they are very paternal. Males will wrap their bodies around the eggs and hold them carefully to try and ensure that they hatch!! After the eggs hatch, they join the aggregation and are raised by all in the community. Here’s some pictures of my favorite: brachycybe lecontii! All pictures taken by me in and around Nashville, 2020-2023.

Are any millipedes or centipedes particularly maternal or social? I have an idea for an oc if so!

No millipedes that I know if, but there are a whole bunch of centipedes that care for their eggs before they hatch, and then for the young for a short time after they hatch.

In addition and while this behavior isn't specific to only centipedes because it's seen in a few bugs, I read some time ago that there is a species (or several?) of centipede where the mother allows herself to be eaten by the babies after they hatch. Probably not the vibe you're going for with your OC though...

[chameleocoonj]

smokey oak millipede + feather horned beetle

[webby-mogai]

milligender

[pt: milligender /end pt]

A gender about millipedes, for millipedes, for someone who likes millipedes, the gender is a millipede, etc.

simplified/accessible

[pt: simplified/accessible /end pt]

the center 5 stripes are all based on millipedes i thought were cool. top down are thai rainbow millipede, chocolate millipede, bumblebee millipede, giant fire millipede and feather millipede

divider by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more :3

[milligender flag id: a rectangular pride flag with 11 wavy stripes. the 1st, 6th and 11th stripes are wider than the rest. the stripe colors from top to bottom are black, dark grey, dark brown, pale blue, warm brown, black, a brownish black, pale orange, and the same dark brown, dark dark grey and black as the first 3 stripes. the 5 middle stripes have more details. the 4th stripe has a pinkish orange outline with a dark grey line through the middle. the 5th has a lighter brown stripe through the middle with a smaller lighter one inside of that. the 6th has a greenish yellow outline with a grey stripe through the middle and a white one through that. the 7th stripe is outlined with orangish red that blends into yellow at the half way point, and has an orange stripe through the middle. the 8th and last stripe has a pale blue outline and an orangish brown stripe through the middle. /end id]

[simplified milligender flag id: a rectangular pride flag with 11 wavy stripes. the 1st, 6th and 11th stripes are wider than the rest. the stripe colors from top to bottom are black, dark grey, dark brown, pale blue, warm brown, black, a brownish black, pale orange, and the same dark brown, dark dark grey and black as the first 3 stripes. /end id]

[divider id: a simple divider with a transparent background of a dotted line with a centipede in the center /end id]

[blondeaxolotl]

I love yapping about my stupid demon bugs ocs because I'm talking about like they're actual bugs and not full on eldritch beings Like fun fact, did you know two separate bug queens are not supposed to be left alone in the same room because there's a high chance they'll end up fighting and one might end up dead unless the fight is interrupted? Specifically this goes to queens because usually the females are more aggressive than the males (after all, females are the more dominant ones in the bug kingdoms). Though this only goes for ones who are a more aggressive species! (Manti, Spiders, Wasps, Scorpions.. etc) And thankfully it only happens if the two queens in question are both the aggressive kind, if you were to put a aggressive queen next to a friendlier queen (ex: moth, ant, butterfly, millipede etc) they would be fine left alone and would most likely get along than to fight.

And another fun fact but this goes out to demons in general than just the bug kingdom: if a demon ends up killing an angel, they will likely tear apart the angels feathers and wear them as jewelry. it's basically like a reward for what they did, and it's to show off to other demons that they've successfully killed an angel and got away with it. (and depending on the species, the demons would think highly of them and treat them with the utmost respect, they basically become some sort of celebrity instead of a criminal)

[paracosmic-gt]

A Prey's View of Colour

One of my anchors is "brown speckled feathers" and brown in general. Near every bird type I've had has been brown speckled, majority of my types are brown sometimes in a very similar way. I've found the brown and white colouration of chipmunks, rodents and some small birds to carry across. The brown millipedes and beetles are the ones that make me think.

It is very rare for me to investigate something colourful as a serious kintype. Why could that be?

I thought it was related to gender, and in some ways it is, because of the whole female sexed animal sexual dimorphism in birds. However, not all birds are sexually dimorphic, and I still relate to make birds which are brown in colour.

Then I had the thought: brown speckled/cryptic colourations are adopted for an animal mainly for camouflage and hiding. Baby animals like emu and warthog will often show stripes, female birds who take care of eggs and chicks need not to be spotted. And that is basically my whole deal, taking into my past and how I live my life now. I don't like to be seen unless I want it and consent to it. And I find that very interesting with regards to form and function of brown feathers.

As a borrower, brown and cryptic colourations would help me blend in with other average animals as well as with the sticks and logs when I venture outside.

And this theory relates my psychological nature being to hide, my kindred feelings towards prey animals, and my strong association with brown and cryptic colourations. There's also a subplot in that we are Black, and there's like...a colour thing. We use brown to colour our skin, that colour is part of our identity as a whole including me.

To give examples of the kinds of birds I have questioned in the past or have an identity with now.

- Ptarmigan

- Grouse

- Burrowing owl (current)

- Red tailed hawk

- Saker falcon (anteatype)

- Eurasian kestrel

- Great horned owl (linktype)

- Screech owl (linktype)

All of these could be described as cryptically coloured, brown speckled, or both. I don't seek out these birds on purpose, they are just always the ones that feel like me.