#fungal nymph

[mossymandibles]

Random art of Ari (the one with the dress) and her girlfriend Heidi, who I haven’t properly introduced yet C: but I wanted to share anyway. I Liked the idea of giving Ari ‘paws’ since she’s based off of the lion mane mushroom anyway.

And listen, I’m not immune to the pretty femme/metalhead butch aesthetic trope ok? Ok.

Heidi is a ‘Bloomface’ Fungal Nymph. Bloomfaces are known for their distinct appearances, usually having mandibles or colorful growths, giving them a more alien look. It’s supposedly caused by mutations used by fungal nymphs who grew up on islands with more colorful, exotic plant life and dangerous land dwelling animals.

[existentialcrisis-24-7]

Abridged and very hastily summarised version of my winx magic system

(There will eventually be a whole post going into detail but that day is not soon)

Okay so you’ve got your 3 alignments, you have to be one of these if you’re going to do magic frequently:

Witch: using negative feelings and emotions to channel their magic. There’s transformations

Fairy: using positive feelings and emotions to channel their magic. There’s transformations

Wizard: not using feelings to channel their magic, instead just relying on your connection to it. There’s no transformations

Spells can be cast in two ways:

Oral (chanting, writing, singing etc)

Kinetic (waving your hand, dancing magic, magic punch etc)

And there’s also 4 different types of spells:

Offensive

Defensive

Healing

[no name rn] which encompasses: practical spells, Enchantments/Curses and Charms/Hexes.

Then there’s the types of magic, the list is kinda long and I’m debating whether or not some types should stay and also the names of some types but for now here it is:

Water

Fire

Ground

Air

Ice

Floral

Faunal

Fungal

Sound

Electricity(?)

Mind

Light

Dark

Opposite

Form manipulation/shapeshifting

Space

Everyone is born with at least two magic types (their native magic) with the maximum being five and they have a primary and secondary (and tertiary, etc depending on how many they have) magic. Magic types tend to manifest by the time a person is five or so. Magic types can be inherited, though you’re also very likely to be born with a naturally occurring magic if your on a certain planet (eg: if your parents have light and dark magic, you still might be born with floral if you’re on Linphea).

You also don’t technically have to have a full connection to use a certain magic (example being Stella, who was born with light, dark and space magic but still knows a fire spell or two). You can’t preform any powerful spells if you haven’t formed a connection to it though.

The two following are sort of different types of magics, and they’re magics you can’t be born into either. You either have to be gifted the ability to use them or you have to spend years trying to find a way to connect to them

Primal (like the dragon flame, a very source of magic itself)

Wild (essentially chaos magic)

Nymphs are all born with a connection to Primal magic. And on that topic!

Nymphs! They’re sort of like fate assigned protectors of a world. They’re not so much there to protect the people so much as they’re there to protect the magic of the planet they’re on. Nymphs, once they start practicing magic properly will earn a form called Nymphix. Nymphix is the only exception to the alignment transformation rule, as nymphs who are wizards can also earn this. And again, they all are born with a connection to primal magic and 99/100 are born with the main magic type of a planet (eg floral for Linphea).

Transformations! List is incomplete and will be added to but this is what I have so far:

Base, Renamed to Winx after season 1, can be earned in a variety of ways, from just happening when your magic fully manifests to a moment of strong emotions. It makes magic outside of transformation weaker but when transformed it is significantly stronger.

Charmix can be earned by overcoming a fear or a flaw and generally improving yourself. The vast majority of schools that teach fairy or witch magic will have earning this as the final exam, generally to show dedication to magic, a willingness to improve and also because it’s the easiest transformation to earn that doesn’t take a huge toll on the body.

Each magic type has its own transformation (I’m not gonna list them all here, as I said this is the abridged version)

Each magic combo also has a transformation

There is a transformation (lacking a name currently) that is formed out of a deeper understanding of oneself and a stronger connection to the magic they were born with.

There is a transformation that can be earned from finding a familiar, working name being Familiarix (the exception to this is if a familiar is found before someone’s magic is fully manifested. They’d have to some one on one bonding with their familiar to earn it in that case)

Enchantix, earned through sacrificing yourself to save someone. There’s a catch though. Most assume it has to do with home world, nah it’s just what magic you were born with, which conveniently, people of the same home worlds tend to share. This would mean that someone born on, say, Linphea had water magic and someone from Andros who also has water magic sacrificed themself for them, they would earn enchantix. It doesn’t happen a whole lot because most people don’t ever get in a situation where they need to sacrifice themself for someone, even rarer off your home world.

Disenchantix, same premise as Enchantix but you have to kill someone for someone else (of the same magic type).

Unfortunately that’s all I got for now (most of the cool names I had are for the magic-type transformations). There will probably be a Believix-esk transformation though it’s not gonna be earned the same nor will it have the exact same function, but because I haven’t ironed it out I’m not listing it.

Anyway as far as I can remember that’s everything, I know it’s very messy and disorganised but I like getting my thoughts out like this and then later returning and clarifying things.

[dea-certe]

A Cicada’s Guide to Periodical Romance

It may sound like a mosh pit out there. But to the participants, mating is a delicate, sonorous affair, fraught with potential missteps — and fungal zombies.

By Alan Burdick

The moment has arrived.

After years underground, periodical cicadas — insects of the genus Magicicada — are emerging by the trillions across more than a dozen states to molt, sing, court and mate. A casual human listener could mistake their collective chorus for the sound of a U.F.O. landing.

But to the individual cicada, what’s underway is a courtship ritual as intimate and intricate as a tango. The stakes are high; the potential missteps are many.

Review the guest list

This year, in a rare “dual emergence,” two groups of periodical cicadas are in attendance: Brood XIII, or the Northern Illinois Brood, comprising as many as three species of 17-year cicada in some locations, and Brood XIX, the Great Southern Brood, comprising up to four species of 13-year cicada. Their songs — like those of Magicicada septendecim and Magicicada neotredecim — can sound deceptively similar.

Arrive early(ish)

Female cicadas typically mate just once, so it behooves the male to emerge early — hence the mad rush from the soil to the treetops. But don’t be too early: The first cicadas over the top are ripe for slaughter, when “everything is hungry and predators discover that they’re the best thing to eat,” said David Marshall, a biologist and expert on periodical cicadas.

The odds of reproducing improve in the second wave, once what ecologists call “predator satiation” has set in. “You want to be Johnny on the spot,” Dr. Marshall said. “And if you show up late, you’re really screwing up.”

Get naked

After emerging, you may need several days to adjust to life aboveground. Right away you’ll molt, squeezing out of your nymph exoskeleton and unfurling your wings; slowly you’ll solidify and turn a glossy black. Soon enough, when the air turns warm and the sun is bright, it will be time for the males to sing.

Rattle your tymbals

The male cicada is an amplified beer can. The abdomen is hollow, and on either side is a membrane called a tymbal, not unlike a woofer: Vibrate it, and the sound broadcasts. To change the frequency, alter the shape and position of the abdomen.

Sing a little, fly a little

Courtship proceeds in roughly three phases, each with an associated song specific to a particular species. Initially, the male sings a brief, inviting phrase a couple of times, flies a foot or two, lands and sings again. “He’s acoustically trolling for receptive females,” Dr. Marshall said. The song of M. tredecim, a trill that bends into what scientists call a downslur as the male arcs his abdomen downward, sounds like an inverted question mark: bzzz-ewwwww.

Stop, look, listen

Most females will be unreceptive to male advances; either they have already mated or are not yet physiologically ready. Males, be on the lookout for subtle wing flicks, the little shrugs of potential interest. Eventually these become loud, obvious snaps of her wings.

Meanwhile, beware the buttinsky that lands nearby. Competing males can produce an interference buzz, like this one by M. tredecim: a slurred version of the invitational phrase, which jams the first male’s call, makes the female ignore him and prompts him to fly off, discouraged.

Now get closer

If the female expresses interest — if she snaps her wings within about a half-second of the male’s invitation — the male should approach and switch to the next song. This resembles the first song but comes in a rapid series with no gaps between phrases.

Until this moment it’s been hands- and legs-off, but now the male may reach out and gingerly touch the female, perhaps near the eye, as he switches to his last song, a series of staccato notes. Let the actual mating commence (and give it three to five hours to conclude).

Through all of this, the female has one job, Dr. Marshall notes: “Don’t mate with the wrong species.” With a variety of beer cans clattering all around, maybe transmitting a song physically is a good, final way of reassuring the female that she has picked the right brand.

Oh, and avoid the zombies!

As cicadas first burrow up through the soil, some will encounter the spores of Massospora cicadina, a fungus that turns cicadas into sex-crazed, spore-filled zombies intent on mating and spreading the infection. Woe unto the deceived, Dr. Marshall said: “He’ll become a hapless spore-spreader for the next generation.”

In four to six weeks it will all be over, the dance floor littered with spent cicada carcasses, the air stinking of decay — and the trees bearing small nests of cicada eggs. In another six to 10 weeks the eggs will hatch and the tiny nymphs will drop to the ground, burrow down, find a rootlet to sip on, and wait. See you in 13 or 17 years!

© 2024 The New York Times Company

[rocktonki]

Margarita flower

Margarita flower full#

Daisies in Ancient History, Myths, and Folklore The myth is also why daisies sometimes represent chastity and purity while also being associated with transformation or rebirth. This story is where the common English daisy gets its scientific name, Bellis. In the story, Belides transforms herself into a daisy to escape the unwanted affections of Vertumnus, the god of gardens and seasons. They’re also given to new mothers as a symbol of childbirth and motherhood.Īccording to a Roman myth, the nymph Belides is responsible for the creation of daisies. They symbolize new beginnings and rebirth, in addition to love, cheerfulness, beauty, purity, innocence, hope, fun, and affection. Brighten Your Spring Garden With Daisiesĭaisy flowers grow all over the world and have a long list of symbolic meanings.Daisies in Ancient History, Myths, and Folklore.The Symbolic Meaning of Common Daisy Colors.The Meaning, Symbolism, & Cultural Significance of Daisy Flowers.To What Regions Are Daisy Flowers Native?.Stem: Stem Color: Green Stem Is Aromatic: No Stem Description: Multi-branched with ascending stems.Leaves: Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics: Broadleaf Evergreen Leaf Color: Gray/Silver Green Leaf Value To Gardener: Fragrant Leaf Type: Compound (Pinnately, Bipinnately, Palmately) Leaf Arrangement: Other/more complex Leaf Shape: Obovate Hairs Present: No Leaf Length: 3-6 inches Leaf Width: Flowers: Flower Color: Gold/Yellow White Flower Inflorescence: Head Solitary Flower Value To Gardener: Long Bloom Season Flower Bloom Time: Fall Spring Summer Flower Shape: Star Flower Petals: more than 20 petals/rays Flower Size: 1-3 inches Flower Description: The flowers are a daisy-like white with a yellow center.Fruit: Fruit Type: Achene Fruit Length:

Margarita flower full#

Cultural Conditions: Light: Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) Soil Texture: Clay Loam (Silt) Sand Soil pH: Acid (8.0) Neutral (6.0-8.0) Soil Drainage: Good Drainage Occasionally Dry Occasionally Wet Available Space To Plant: 12 inches-3 feet NC Region: Coastal USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 8b, 8a, 9b, 9a, 10b, 10a, 11b, 11a.

Whole Plant Traits: Plant Type: Annual Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics: Broadleaf Evergreen Habit/Form: Erect Mounding Growth Rate: Rapid Maintenance: Low Texture: Fine.

Play Value: Attracts Pollinators Wildlife Food Source Edibility: The leaves are edible.

Attributes: Genus: Argyranthemum Species: foeniculaceum Family: Asteraceae Life Cycle: Annual Perennial Woody Recommended Propagation Strategy: Seed Stem Cutting Country Or Region Of Origin: Canary Islands (Tenerife) Wildlife Value: Bees, birds, and butterflies are attracted to the flowers.

Tags: #full sun tolerant #annuals #drought tolerant #white flowers #wildlife plant #yellow flowers #frost tender #blue leaves #tender perennials #daisy-like #long bloom time #pollinator plant #wildflower garden #compact habit #bird friendly #butterfly friendly #problem for cats #problem for dogs #bee friendly #problem for horses #humidity intolerant #compact #wet soils intolerant #shade intolerant #butterflies #butterfly #tender See this plant in the following landscape: Cultivars / Varieties: Poor drainage may lead to fungal problems. Aphids and leaf-mining sawflies are common insects. Insects, Diseases and Other Plant Problems: Will not grow in shade. In some locations worldwide, the plant has been declared as an environmental weed, escaping gardens and creating competition to other native plants. This plant can be reshaped by pruning after all flowering has completed. Removal of dead flowers may extend the blooming period. The blooms grow above the leaves, forming a carpet of white. Ensure to provide a sheltered location with some protection from the afternoon sun in hotter climates. This drought-tolerant plant cannot grow in shade, full sun is ideal. It is suitable for both dry and moist locations, however, it will decline when high humidity is present. It has both male and female organs and is pollinated by insects. In other locations, it can be grown as an annual. This daisy-like bushy plant is grown as an evergreen herbaceous perennial in its native habitat, which includes North Africa and the Canary Islands, primarily on dry cliffs in rock crevices. Phonetic Spelling ar-ji-RAN-the-mum fen-ick-yoo-lah-KEE-um Description

[kyahcomic]

Fungal nymph basking in the moonlight 🌙

[thelibraryofthacey]

[As I was uploading these, I was thinking about a cool encounter to use them in. An evil nymph's lake surrounded by a couple of spores plus their sporelings. The nymph's song lures people in, the spores kill and eat them, the nymph gets their stuff. Except apparently nymphs aren't IN fifth edition! I mean, I can hazard a few guesses as to why, but dude. I'm sure someone else (several someones probably) has made a version, but it's stuck in my head now so y'all will see my take pretty soon.]

Swamp Spore (CR 5)

Huge Plant

Space 15 ft. Reach 0 ft.

Initiative -4

HP 102 (12d10+36)

AC 17 (Natural armor)

Proficiency Bonus +3

Str 18 (+4) Dex 2 (-4) Con 17 (+3) Int 14 (+2) Wis 15 (+2) Cha 8 (-1)

Saves Con +6

Skills Nature +5, Perception +5

Condition Immunities Blinded, Charmed, Frightened, Prone, Stunned

Damage Resistances Poison

Damage Vulnerabilities Psychic

Senses Blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius); Passive Perception 15

Languages Understands Sylvan but cannot speak.

Speed 0 ft.

- - -

Rooted: A swamp spore is a sessile creature, rooted to the spot it grew in. It cannot be moved from the spot it is rooted to except via teleportation. Its speed cannot be increased by any means.

- - -

Actions

Spore +7 ranged weapon attack, range 60 ft., 12 (2d8+3) Bludgeoning damage plus 17 (5d6) poison damage.

Dominating Spores [Recharge 5-6]: The swamp spore launches a cloud of spores at a single creature within 60 ft. That creature must make a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. A creature poisoned in this way is charmed. A creature charmed in this way can take no actions unless the swamp spore commands it to. At the end of each of the poisoned creature’s turns, it can make a new saving throw to end the poisoned condition.

The swamp spore can communicate telepathically with any creature poisoned by this action.

Bonus Actions

Command: The swamp spore telepathically commands a creature charmed by it to attack another creature of its choice. On the charmed creature’s next turn, the charmed creature moves up to its speed toward the target and uses its action to either make a single weapon attack against it, or cast a cantrip that deals damage or sphere effect that deals damage and doesn’t cost a spell point targeting it.

- - -

Tactics

A swamp spore’s sessile nature combined with their limited vision range makes them very susceptible to characters than outrange them, which should be basically anyone with a decent ranged option. It is, therefore, a bad idea to place these monsters out in the open. They much prefer enclosed spaces, such that there is no line of sight to a space out of their vision range.

They almost always have a brood of their sporeling offspring patrolling the area nearby, and it's not uncommon for a dank spore or two to be nearby as well. The sporelings’ Numbing Spores ability makes the swamp spore’s Dominating Spores action more likely to succeed, so target characters who’ve been hit by the little guys.

- - -

Lore

Swamp spores are large, parasitic fungal creatures. They grow from dank spores which grow in turn from sporelings. Their sporeling brood roams nearby and hunts for food, eating some and laying the rest under their parent’s roots. The area surrounding it is laced with its spores, causing small creatures to wander towards the swamp spore, making them easier prey.

Swamp spores can speak to creatures affected by their Dominating Spores attack, but they rarely have reason to do so. Certain fey creatures use them and their broods as sentinels, as they can generally induce them not to attack.

Swamp Spores will continue to feed and grow until their nutritional requirements exceed what their domain can provide, and they wither and die. A few dwarven and drow explorers have reported massive, highly intelligent spores growing around deposits of akashic crystal deep underground, suggesting that the fungi can feed on soul essence as well as flesh, which has disturbing implications for their victims’ fates.

[normal-horoscopes]

More Zero Context Amber Skies Lore:

Feral clown extermination teams

Ennui is deadly to angels

Power armor that's also a full body bong

Enslaved to the fungal hive mind but it's chill bc the boys are all here too

Anti-aircraft cult

Marsupial Furry Judaism

Shinto-Azteca Wood Nymph Communism

Undead Jock Mermaids

Fruit that screams when you eat it

[pop-goes-the-sneasel]

Parasect? It's my all time favorite pokemon!

Parasect!!!!

Parasect is a Bug/Grass-type pokemon whose primary draw is its underlying concept: it’s a cicada nymph that’s been subjected to a near-complete hostile takeover by a Cordyceps fungus, with Parasect functionally being a zombie piloted by mushroom. As a Paras, the fungus’s presence was benign, simply manifesting as two small mushrooms on its back, but evolution resulted in the fungus’s expansion to become the dominant organism of the two.

The real-life Cordyceps fungus’s ability to hijack insects’ behaviour wasn’t always as widely known in pop culture as it is now, but the success of The Last of Us has since cemented the concept in the public consciousness with its own twist on the idea of a zombie virus, a mutated Cordyceps fungus that infects humans being its core premise. Parasect obviously predated that by quite a bit, with the concept once so unknown that people would assume Parasect to be a crab of all things, though its actual basis is fortunately now much more recognised.

Parasect’s fungal abilities are most represented by the attack Spore, which puts opponents to sleep with 100% accuracy. In Japan the attack is known as Mushroom Spore, and it’s learned exclusively by mushroom pokemon like Parasect along with the Shroomish, Foongus, and Morelull lines. That the spores of a parasitic mushroom would cause other things to fall asleep is interesting, and is a pretty unsettling thing for a brain parasite to do! Like it’s TRYING to take over your brain and it can’t so your brain just shuts down in response.

As a design, Parasect is excellent. Its blank white eyes communicate the fact that Parasect’s insect half is literally near-dead according to the dex, and the way the mushroom often looms over the face in some portrayals (its GSC sprites in particular) makes an excellently creepy visage – an aesthetic I wish it utilised more frequently. I also kinda wish the mushroom colour went better with the body colour, but given it’s literally a different organism it almost makes sense they wouldn’t aesthetically go great together. It’s actually quite inconsistent, the mushroom sometimes being portrayed as bright red and sometimes as a soft, pinkish burgundy (which I prefer).  Regardless, the warm colour scheme does feel wonderfully autumnal overall, in this card art especially. It’s also got a dopey smile that’s sometimes visible, which is kinda cutely silly for a zombie but clashes with the more grisly creepiness Parasect implies.

Parasect’s got a yellow shiny with an orange mushroom, which keeps the autumn vibes whilst still being clearly distinct from the base colours. I’m not sure which I prefer, but it’s a respectable shiny.

Parasect is a marvellous pokemon, one of my favourite Kanto pokes, favourite Grass-types, and favourite Bug-types. It’s definitely held up mainly by its incredibly strong concept and basis, though; were it simply a bug with a mushroom on its back, I feel I wouldn’t like it anywhere near as much as I do, and outside of certain portrayals like the aforementioned GSC sprites, its aesthetic is actually often on the weaker side when you don’t have strong lighting emphasising the spoop factor.

Overhead lighting only pls/10

[bugsandburners]

So my sibling Jay has some questions abt the mushroom Kingdom:

Are they little mushroom people or do they live in mushrooms? What type of technology do they have/how advanced are they technology wise? What type of food they eat and how do they prepare it?

Drumwood has a few mushroom people, though I've elected to call them fungal fairies, the feral counter part to the floral fairies. They are little, usually only 10 centameters tall, winged, and they dress up like mushrooms, wearing skirts that match mushroom caps, or hats. That sorta thing. They are only a small race compared to the densely populated others and live in tight knit neighborhoods, usually in hollowed out trees and rotting logs.

Drumwood is void of technology. It is as wild as the childhood imaginations, on account that all creatures are at heart children. There's very little order. The most complicated thing that they have is a see-saw catapult that they use to hurley eachother into, well, eachother.

The creatures of Drumwood eat plants that they find or food that they've stolen. The fairy folk are partial to creams, often they will drink enough to get drunk off of it. Pixies prefer salted meats. The trolls, gnomes, and kobolds will eat what ever they can steal, including crumbs, table scraps, and the occasional sock or shoe. The Nymphs can cook but only one dish. They steal the socks with holes in them and boil them in a pot of water. After a day, the boiled socks are turned into a stew, but only if the nymph cooking it has poured as much love into the craft as they can.

[mossymandibles]

Meant to share a Heidi ref along with some outfits I made for clothing practice.

She’s a dock worker for Marrowtide! Check out them PPEs✨ I promise I have more for her to come within my wips, I’m a bit scattered.

[atamascolily]

psa: cicadas are coming, if they’re not already here, and it’s fine, I promise

Just so everyone knows, it’s periodical cicada season on the US East Coast (or will be, shortly, depending on where you live). This is from a screenshot of the Cicada Safari App on June 1, 2020, as posted by CicadaMania.com:

You know how oaks and beeches and other trees have mast years to increase the likelihood some seeds will survive? Periodical cicadas employ the exact same strategy. Unlike the annual cicadas, which emerge every year later in the summer, periodical cicada species spend 13 or 17 years as underground nymphs before emerging en masse to party.

(Unless, of course, they miss the boat, and emerge late--as you can see from the app above, many of the current cicada sightings are wayyyy off from where they should be. Awkward.) 

Fun fact: their scientific name is Magicicada, as if they were a freakin’ Pokemon because Carolus Linnaeus had a sense of humor.

I’m resigned to seeing a lot of freaked-out people posting about all the creepy bugs and how this is proof of the end times, but although there are lots of awful things about 2020 to date, I don’t consider this to be one of them. Although they can be creepy if you’re not expecting them--and loud--cicadas are harmless, and just here to have a good time for a few weeks before they die, even if their idea of a good time differs from yours. 

Just don’t try to pick one up. They won’t bite, but they will shake and rattle like an out-of-control windup toy at the slightest contact, and it is unnerving if they’re in your hand at the time.

Also, sometimes they are infected with Massospora cicadina fungal spores that literally explode from their abdomens and chop the cicadas in half while they’re   still alive, and it’s traumatic for everyone.

[bogleech]

It's been a while since we had any updates on your vertebrate pets. How are they doing? For that matter, how are the invertebrates doing?

Pipa frog died of a fungal infection even with treatment :(But my giant leeches are producing VIABLE cocoons! That means babies!! I can already see them moving inside when I hold them up to light.I’ve also finally mastered keeping banana slugs happy, or a banana slug anyway. Seems like they actually don’t enjoy being around each other in too close quarters for long. My current has a huge 35 gallon tank with multiple layers of substrate, actually the same setup recommended for dart frogs and other tropical forest-floor animals, with a light so ferns and mosses actually grow.My death’s head roaches are growing slow, though, I guess because I keep my room too cold. They should have a life cycle of only a year or two, but I’ve had them almost two years and they’re still wingless nymphs! At least it means I’ll have them all a lot longer than normal.I’ve also gotten heavily into keeping very tiny aquatic creatures. I have jars of hydra, water fleas and seed shrimp going!

[teatreeoil1-blog]

Tea tree oil for hair: Beneficial things that tea tree oil for hair can do for you

Tea tree oil for hair is an excellent option for effective dandruff control. It is perfect in treating ailments like seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. Such ailments are the most common reasons for causing flaky and dry scalp. It can often lead to inflammation, rashes, greasy patches, and redness in more severe cases. Tea tree oil works effectively in treating such issues associated with your scalp. The antiseptic and antibiotic properties present in tea tree oil help fight the fungus that causes dandruff. If you want, you can even apply tea tree oil directly onto your scalp to give your hair a more healthy texture.

If you have an itchy scalp, then tea tree oil for hair is a great option. Dandruff is not the only cause of an itching scalp. Many other reasons cause an itchy scalp. Certain skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, and even allergies can leave you with an itchy scalp. In more severe cases, it can even lead to hives, rashes, or inflammation. With tea tree oil, you can get rid of all these problems since it contains anti-fungal and antimicrobial properties. Tea tree oil clears the clogged pores on your scalp by hydrating, replenishing, and cleansing it. Cleansing of the scalp also allows it to soak up nutrients more efficiently. Tea Tree Oil For Hair is an excellent option for those having problems with head lice. Tea tree oil contains 1, 8-cineole, and terpinene-4-ol, both of which have insecticidal properties. You can apply tea tree oil on your scalp to kill lice in the adult life and nymph stage. Using tea tree oil is also an effective way to prevent lice eggs from hatching on your scalp. The two components present in tea tree oil help loosen up the existing eggs by dissolving the gummy texture. Once the eggs have been loosened up, you can easily comb the lice out from your hair.

Tea tree oil for hair is also an excellent way to clean your scalp and hair from harmful chemicals. Nowadays, many people use different hair products like shampoo, hairsprays, conditioners, and various other hair styling products. The use of such hair products often exposes the hair to a lot of chemicals. Such chemicals often build up on your scalp and hair and become difficult to wash out with regular shampoo. So it leads to such chemicals accumulating on your scalp and air over time, causing damage. In such cases, adding a few drops of tea tree oil to your shampoo can increase its cleansing power and leave you with shinier, healthier, and bouncier hair.

[sciencespies]

Cicadas Are Delightful Weirdos You Should Learn to Love

https://sciencespies.com/nature/cicadas-are-delightful-weirdos-you-should-learn-to-love/

Cicadas Are Delightful Weirdos You Should Learn to Love

Around this time of year, Marianne Alleyne hosts dozens of houseguests in her basement. Far from using camping equipment or cots, they sleep upside-down, clinging to a curtain. The entomologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has collected cicadas, those bizarre and misunderstood cyclical insects, for four years.

“In Illinois, we have 20 species, and hardly anything is known about them,” Alleyne says. “We know very little about what they’re doing underground.”

Cicadas have a longstanding reputation as loud, swarming pests that keep obnoxiously particular schedules. In the United States, they got a bad rap from the beginning, as early colonists misidentified these clouds of emerging cicadas as locusts. “They were thought of as a biblical plague,” says John Cooley, an assistant professor in residence at the University of Connecticut. That impression has been a lasting one: a group of cicadas is still referred to as a plague or a cloud. “The question I get the most is ‘How do I kill them?’” Cooley says.

Chris Simon, an entomologist with more than 40 years of experience working with cicadas, says that feeling has changed—somewhat. “Some people freak out,” she says. “But the other half…they take their kids out, they go watch [periodical cicadas] come out of their shells. They think it’s amazing.” As another group of cicadas awakens in some U.S. states this spring, experts still have much to learn about them. What we do know, however, is that they are delightfully weird, and researchers across the sciences are studying these creatures to answer big human challenges.

Cicada moulting while attached to a curtain in Marianne Alleyne’s basement.

(Marianne Alleyne)

Prime weirdness

Cicadas spend the majority of their lives underground. They spend years developing into adults before they can emerge to sing, mate and lay eggs. For a majority of the nearly 3,400 cicada species, that emergence happens every two to five years and can vary from cycle to cycle. The strange periodical cicadas, on the other hand, are very different.

Periodical cicadas like Magicicicada spend 13 or 17 years underground, and millions of them surface together. To make sense of it all, biologists classify the periodicals into one of 15 existing “broods” based on their species, location, and—importantly—which years they emerge. This year, for example, Brood IX is emerging in North Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia for the first time since 2003.

Once cicadas do emerge, the sheer volume can be overwhelming. Some people wake up to find millions of cicadas blanketing nearby cars, trees, and houses. According to Cooley, when male cicadas sing in a full chorus on a hot sunny day, they immerse you in sound from every direction. “It’s the most unusual sensation,” he says. Many species sound pleasant, but the periodical cicadas “are like a jet engine or a buzz-saw.” Only a handful of weeks after emerging, the chorus fades away with the cicadas. They leave behind only calories for their predators, nutrients for the soil, and eggs destined to repeat their multi-year cycle.

But why do cicadas emerge in 13- and 17-year cycles, anyway? One hypothesis with much buzz among mathematicians is that it’s because both numbers are prime; the theory goes that the cycles prevent specialized predators from springing up. Cicadas are easy prey. They’re not hard to catch, Cooley says, and “anything that can catch ‘em will eat ‘em.” But predators, such as foxes or owls, whose populations cycle up and down every one to ten years can’t sync up with such irregular prey.

Cooley sees the merits of the hypothesis but is skeptical. Of the thousands of cicada species, only a handful are periodical. If pressure from predators was exceptional enough to make these species periodical, then why aren’t all cicadas periodical? He says we just don’t know.

“This work has been characterized by a hell of a lot of surprises,” Cooley says. “Every time you come up with a great idea for why [cicadas] are periodical, it’s pretty easy to just blow a hole in it. And they do have specialized predators—fungus.”

1930 illustration of a 17-year Magicicada cicada

(Robert Evans Snodgrass)

Zombie cicadas

In recent years, researchers have unearthed peculiar and sometimes horrifying relationships between cicadas and fungi. Massospora fungi infect cicadas and hijack their bodies. The fungi can even synchronize to the cicada’s life cycle, staying dormant until the cicada is ready to emerge. Once active, they take over the bottom half of the cicada’s body while somehow keeping the cicada alive. The infected cicada flies away, spreading spores that infect future generations.

“Once the host is neutralized, it’s a walking zombie,” says Cooley, who was involved in the work. “It is the walking dead.”

That’s not the only fungus to wreak havoc on cicadas. Ophiocordyceps fungi also invade the underground cicada. But rather than keep the cicada alive, this fungal parasite coaxes its host to crawl upwards towards the forest floor and die. With nothing in its way, the fungus grows to sprout a mushroom out of the soil—all from within the cicada’s body.

Despite these wild parasites, cicadas are far from doomed. Recent research suggests some cicadas have flipped the script and domesticated their fungal parasites. Rather than turning into a fungal flowerpot for the parasitic Ophiocordyceps, a few species live symbiotically with the parasite. The fungus gets a home and probably provides the cicada with essential nutrients in return. This has happened in species all over the world, but the origin of this arrangement is a mystery.

Simon says this fungal relationship is currently her lab’s major project. “Maybe it’s the fungus that decided to give up its parasitic ways and live inside a comfy cicada.”

Massaspora cicada

(Wiki Commons / TelosCricket under Creative Commons 4.0)

Endlessly adapting

While periodical cicada broods are enormous and remarkably synchronized, once in a while some “stragglers” do come out early. In 2017, for example, periodical cicadas clouded the East coast four years early. This May, Brood XIX crashed the party ahead of schedule, too, leaving scientists curious as to whether climate change has played a role. “We’ve predicted that the warmer it is, the more we’re going to see these four-year accelerations,” Simon says. If these 17-year stragglers keep emerging early, they may permanently synchronize to a 13-year cycle.

Or perhaps they will change in more unexpected ways. Because 17-year cicadas are so abundant, their fussiness makes them living, breathing gauges for the environment. “They’re sitting down there integrating 17 years’ worth of data on what the forest is doing,” Cooley says. “And if the forest is screwed up or broken, that’s going to show up.”

Cicadas develop differently in cities, too. In 2018, a group led by DeAnna Beasley at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga showed that urban cicadas grow larger. Urban areas use more fertilizer, and their concrete and population density turn them into “heat islands” that can be 5 degrees warmer than rural areas—stimulating conditions for these insects. (Cicadas develop faster with more warmth and nutrients.)

But it’s not yet possible to conclude how (or if) climate change threatens cicadas. Since historical data isn’t as reliable as current data—Cooley says that scientists are essentially still establishing the starting point. “So if we want to be able to consider these to be indicators of forest health, we’ve got to do the legwork to figure out what normal is.”

Learning from cicadas

Scientists have been looking to cicadas to solve human-sized problems. That’s because cicadas’ late-life wings are covered in a natural engineering marvel: minuscule uniform nanopillars that repel water, kill bacteria and self-clean. The germ-killing wings inspire chemists and engineers who want to harness these properties.

Some try to design these nanopillars as glare-free, self-cleaning surfaces for solar panels. Others, like Susan Kelleher, a chemist at University College Dublin, were captivated by the antibacterial surfaces. “Controlling cell behavior is not only so interesting but essential for biomedical science,” Kelleher says. “The next step is to translate what we learn from the natural world, into a scalable and manufacturable material.”

For years, engineers have focused only on the dimensions of the wing patterns. Recently, though, Marianne Alleyne’s team of biologists, chemists and engineers looked deeper. They published evidence that specific chemical compounds secreted by cicadas are essential to building and maintaining those ingenious nanopillars. The work shows that for those seeking to design technology with cicada-inspired antibacterial traits, it’s not enough to mimic what the cicadas look like—the secrets lay deeper. Revealing those secrets, Alleyne says, means working with biologists to actually learn how these mysterious cicadas build what they build.

“Sometimes the engineers can go like, ‘we can make this better, we can do it in a clean room’,” Alleyne says. “But insects can make this material out of nothing, right? Maybe we can be inspired to do it that way.”

When she goes out to collect cicadas, Alleyne makes a point to bring the engineering students along. All the collected nymphs wind up in Alleyne’s basement. Overnight, they inch their way up the curtain and spread their wings. “Now and then, one of them mysteriously disappears, and that’s when my family is not happy with me. ” Alleyne says. “But it’s all for science.”

#Nature

[thenixkat]

Taxxon: thoughts & theories

Biology/Culture

- Adults average 10 ft long and have a diameter of about 35 ins (the size of a couch in width)

- Have crops as well as multiple stomachs. Can store things in their crops that they either plan to digest or just want to hold onto and have all their hands free.

- Are eusocial and hermaphrodites. Generally the only breeding taxxons are the hive founders who tend to grow much larger than their children and do not leave the hive once there are enough workers to care for them.

-Hatch from eggs. Have nymph stages, the nymphs resemble the adults but with fewer body segments and proportionally fewer limbs.

Spawning taxxons lay hundreds of thousands of eggs. The young then feed mostly on each other and what rations the adults bring them as they mature enough to leave the brood chambers. Generally only a few hundred make it to this stage. Afterwards they are educated by nannies.

Young taxxons generally avoid nonrelated adults who might eat them.

-Mostly subterranean and semiaquatic, and have better night vision than day vision.

Red is a color associated with safety.

-New hives are started by individuals who decide to leave their homes and meet up with a handful of unrelated taxxons all carrying pieces of their living hives with them to plant in their new home. 

- Have tissues that are resistant to acid burns and a hydrophobic exoskeleton.

- Easily regenerate lost limbs in hours.

-Have no sense of personal space

- Teeth are metallic and easily replaced through out the taxxon's life

-Taxxon have an incredible sense of smell. Able to track wounded prey from miles away. Taxxon hunting parties will pursue something for days or weeks on end.

 Taxxon bites very easily and very quickly fester if left untreated.

- Taxxon langues comprises of both scent (long term public messages) and sound (short term immediate messages)

Taxxon speech comprises of mostly hissing and the clicking of teeth and claws.

Taxxon have two names, a personal scent (everyone knows who they are and where they've been) and a sound identifiers (something for them to be called by others).

The Living Hive

-Is a sapient psychic fungus that lives in a generally mutualistic relationship with taxon hives.

In times of drought and famine the relationship can become parasitic with the living hive consuming eggs and living taxxons. Some taxxons decide that they are better off abandoning their hives when this happens.

- By working with the taxxons the living hive gets food in the form of taxon waste products, shed exoskeletons, and what dead the taxxons themselves don't wish to eat; the living hives are no longer able to produce nonclone offspring without taxon intervention; taxxons protect the living hives from things that would eat it.

- what taxxons get out of the deal is: a place to lay their eggs that stays clean and prevents bacterial infections; food in the form of fruits and fungal secretions that contain vitamins that they cannot produce themselves or get out of their diet, whout these they go through something very close to 'rabbit starvation' and their exoskeletons become thin and easily ruptured; reduces the energy cost of long distance travel; early warning system; a comforting outside presence that makes living with several thousands of your siblings easier.

Food

- Taxxons are carnivores who either scavenge large prey or actively hunt small prey. Their diets are supplemented by fruit and secretions (lets call it milk) from the living hive.

- Taxxons eat their dead and badly wounded (nonstarving taxxons will kill whoever they are going to eat before going to town on them). Baby taxxons eat eachother until their large enough to do their own hunting (also helps reduce potential overcrowding and over hunting problems). Taxxons eat enemy taxxons trying to steal their prey and territory.

Cannibalism is normal. Eating the dead is respectful. Eating brood siblings is a rite of passage and just plain practical. Eating those too badly wounded to recover is an act of mercy. Eating enemies is common sense.

-Autocannibalism is only seen in starving taxxons as is the phenomenon of eating themselves to death. Healthy taxxons are unlikely to consume so much that they cause their organs to rupture nor would they consider themselves food.

Homeworld

-The dominant forms of life are arthropod and worm like.

-Landmasses on the taxxon homeworld are dominated by deserts and mountains and arid scrubland. Towards the equator there are some dry forests.

Preferred prey of large herbivores travel in herds following the rainy season and fresh vegetation. 

- Water on the taxxon homeworld is all acid. Most of the drinkable stuff is either in inland underground aquifers or falling from the sky. The ocean is dangerous and to be avoided.

-The acid in the air corrodes metals over time, making metal tools other than loose teeth an exercise in wasting time.

The Yeerk Empire

- Starving bands of desert taxxons who abandoned their hungry living hives agreed to work for the strange alien invaders promising food for everyone.

- better fed taxxons from other areas see this and understand that it is a terrible idea and fight the aliens.

- Turns out having a mind control slug doesn't stop the feeling of starving b/c the food provided by the aliens lacks the vatamins that they need. Is even worse that the yeerks tend to work themselves to starvation so towards the end of a cycle things are compounding for the worse.

- The living hives refuse to cooperate with the yeerks leading to the taxxon hosts not really being able to breed properly or receive the nutrients that they need without theft and raiding.

- rebellious sentiment spreads through taxxon hosts who plan to revolt against the yeerks. Some, who have tremendous levels of fortitude and self control,  smuggle pieces of living hive in their crops to seed future rebel bases.

[the-growers-depot]

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