#horrors of the fruitfly

[the-thing-of-worms]

I'm totally normal and sane actually.

[hackernewsrobot]

Managing Kitchen Fruit Flies with a Little Shop of Horrors

https://blog.zaccohn.com/Fruitflies-and-the-Little-Shop-of-Horrors/

[radio-charlie]

I will tag stuff like this as horror cw just in case there are ppl in a fragile mental state (no shame). but yea one time, i felt such a presence very strongly near my bed in the morning. it did not feel malevolent just extremely urgent. i was lolling about looking at things on my phone probably. that was the day i went to check my bin and found out i had a fruitfly maggot infestation. anyway. thank u strange presence of that day

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

Oh MAN(tis)!

by Catherine Giles

Picture it: A crisp, early evening in late spring. The virtually cloudless sky cascades in a brilliant azure backdrop against your humble abode.

You’ve just arrived home from a long, exhausting day of work, yet your mind is still racing:

I need to remember that meeting on Tuesday, answer those important emails, what even is Windows 10?, did I put gas in the car?, what was that notification from my mother in law?

You are definitely ready to unwind and relax for the day!

You sling your bags over a shoulder and balance your keys in one hand. You sigh wearily as you slide the key into the lock and, glancing over at the front window, notice a tiny, greenish-brown praying mantis staring back at you inquisitively, like the one pictured below.

A young praying mantis stalks her prey.

Huh. That’s funny.

You, entomologist that you are, had found an ootheca, the foamy pouch in which mantises lay their eggs, last week, and decided to try and rear them on your own, giving them a better chance of survival for eventual release into the wild. Early this morning, you’d taken the ootheca out of a humid jar, and arranged it carefully into a brand new aerated container, mimicking seasonal outdoor changes.

An ootheca, found outdoors. Photo credit: Jim Fetzner.

How weird that you should see a singular mantis on your window, let alone one this tiny. It probably got in through an open screen or something. You make a mental note to send your landlord a work order.

You unlock and open the door to find another tiny praying mantis on your end table. Whoa! Definitely need to check the screens.

But there’s another mantis on your ceiling. And another on the couch. Two by the sink. Three all over the Taco Bell wrappers in the trash.

Slowly, with growing horror (and excitement!) you realize the mesh on your brand new aerated container is too large to contain minute mantises, and they’ve escaped to the refuge of your apartment.

You spend the next hour and 45 minutes frantically running around, grabbing handfuls of jumping mantises, throwing them into a (sealed) container, using a broom to pick the ones off the ceiling and praying to the old gods and the new, you can catch them all.

It’s a full-on Pokehunt, and you’re all out of potions and revives.

Nearly 200 thumb-nail sized, jumping, running, scuttling, adorable baby mantises play havoc on your heart strings (and your apartment) and you just have to take care of them. Knowing that mantises like to eat live food, and knowing they’ve gone a full day without it, you decide it’s time to get them some grub.

With all rambunctious insects fully secured, you race to Petco to grab their last container of crickets before closing, pulling Indie 500 stunts (you didn’t get gas earlier, by the way) along Route 8 to make sure your precious mantises have enough food for the day.

Two praying mantises practice The Titanic for their peers.

You bought about 30 Acheta domesticus, a common house cricket, in a small container. They’re nearly three times the size of your mantises! What a hearty snack these will be. Trying to be a good mantis Momma, you empty the crickets into the enclosure.

But you’re new at this. Caterpillars you can rear easily, with the right host plant. You’ve had a dog before for goodness sake, this should be easy.

A. domesticus, though, will eat meat. Meat the approximate size and shape of a baby praying mantis.

Oh no.

You wrangle the crickets away from their mantis midnight snack and call it a day. The next day, you’ll get some flightless fruit flies and rear the mantises with less tragic incidents for several more weeks.

A praying mantis enjoying a refreshing flightless fruitfly.

Eventually, the spring chill warms to light summer breezes, and you’re able to release the mantises into the wilds of your home garden. All in all, you’ve learned a tremendous lesson, and earned a great campfire story, when it comes to rearing and caring for praying mantises.

Catherine Giles is the Curatorial Assistant of Invertebrate Zoology at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences working at the museum. 

[happycoincidences]

about me!

I was tagged by @youngmutants Dank je! ♥

Nicknames: /

Zodiac: Aquarius

Last movie I saw: Some horror movie, forgot the name.

Height: 170 cm

Last thing I googled: “ Traumatic insemination “ (I was reading about the mating rituals of the fruitfly)

Favorite Musicians: Good god, so many!

Björk, Kate Bush, Mylène Farmer, The Cure, Garbage, Type o Negative, No Doubt, Falco, Gorki, Max Barskih, Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Pink, Nine Inch Nails, Laibach, Hooverphonic, Lords of Acid, Praga Khan, Trevor Something, Oscar and the Wolf, Wumpscut, Sisters of Mercy, Dio, and so much more... Also last but certainly not least Rammstein.

kpop: Highlight (formerly known as Beast), B.A.P, Big Bang, TVXQ, JYJ, Wonder Girls, 2ne1, f(x), Brown Eyed Girls, H.O.T, SHINee, Vixx, iKON, Lee Junghyun, N.Flying, Super Junior, Orange Caramel, Monsta X etc...

Song stuck in my head:  К черту любовь by Loboda

Do I get asks?: No

Following:  1600+

Amount of sleep: 6h - 7.5h

Lucky number: I don’t have one but I like the thought of the number 4 for some reason I cannot explain lol

What I’m wearing: Sport attire (I’m planning to do some stretching/ballet exercises and go for a jog after this is done and posted)

Dream trip: Exploring the entire world, but my top 5 destinations since I was a child that I still haven’t visited are New Zealand, Iceland, Ireland, Hong Kong and North Korea (yes, North. I also want to go to South Korea, but I was extremely fascinated by North Korea as a 12-13yo, how can a country like that still exist??)

Dream job: I prefer something like taking care of little children or something where I can be ‘on the road’ a lot, preferably travelling abroad. So either like day care / kindergarten, a flight attendant, or something that involves the deceased... I actually am doing that last one already (funeral directing).

Do I play any instruments?: No, but I’ve always wanted to play the harp.

Languages: From native to well enough: (Belgian) Dutch, English, German, French and Swedish. I also have basic knowledge of many other languages 

Favorite songs: uh so difficult! Most of the songs of my favourite artists that I listed but I want to go for some other favourite songs, in this moment I’m feeling these songs:

Bloodsport - Sneaker Pimps (electronic/trip hoppy song)

Honey Vanity - Közi (He was inspired by one of my absolute favourite artists, Mylène Farmer. It’s in Japanese @youngmutants maybe you know the song already)

Colonial Discharge - A Split Second (I LOVE 80s & 90s Belgian industrial/EBM, this one is from 1988 and still fresh imo)

Timekiller - Project Pitchfork (dark wave/industrial/electronic rock song  from Germany)

와 (Wa)  - Lee JungHyun (Ok, I listed her as one of my favourite artists, but I just want to include this one, it is one of my absolute favourite kpop songs, the link leads to my favourite performance of the song; I love her style, I love her dancing, I love that she uses her little finger as her mic and I love the angry rap at the end)

Random fact about me: My mother is Belgian, my father is Dutch, and I was conceived in a tent in Luxembourg lol (BeNeLux), but I was born and raised in Belgium so I really only consider myself Belgian. 

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: macabre iconoclasm, man and machine, life and death, brutalist architecture, neon lights, nail polish, distortion, velvet, sweet perfume, gold, red, black tea with milk no sugar, walking everywhere, public transportation, futuristic dystopian worlds, hearts, observing people, dreamy music, ballet, etc. I have a tag “mijn esthetiek” for it.

I’m going to tag a few new(ish) mutuals who I like to know better: @kritsanaratree @punkranger @fantasyworldbb @larktrash ♥

[the-thing-of-worms]

Horrors of the Fruitfly master post

This is where I'll be putting the links for every comic when it comes out

[the-thing-of-worms]

Horrors of the Fruitfly, Part 1: Don't think about it

I accidentally DELETED the original post AGHHH

Master post | Part 2

[the-thing-of-worms]

UPDATE: I NOW HAVE TO GO IN AND UPDATE ALL THE LINKS TO THE MASTER POST FUCK

[the-thing-of-worms]

Horrors of The Fruitfly, part 9: Land of 1000 Suns

I think I'm starting to get back into a rhythm with these! Will see!

Master post | Part 8 | Part 10

[the-thing-of-worms]

Horrors of the Fruitfly, pt 5: Her Brown Eyes

Stay tuned for what's next!

Master post | part 4 | part 6

[the-thing-of-worms]

Horrors of the Fruitfly, pt 4: Goodnight All Ye Cannibals

Master post | Part 3 | Part 5

[the-thing-of-worms]

After a brief hiatus we're back! Sorry to anyone who's actually interested:

Horrors of the Fruitfly, part 8: I'll miss you

Master Post | Part 7 | Part 9

[the-thing-of-worms]

Horrors of the Fruitfly, part 7: Scared Together

Master post | part 6 | part 8

[the-thing-of-worms]

Horrors of the Fruitfly, part 6: The Monster

I'm working on getting them all sorted sorry guys

Master Post | part 5 | part 7

[the-thing-of-worms]

Horrors of the Fruitfly, part 3: Nightmare

Master post | Part 2 | Part 4

[the-thing-of-worms]

COMIC UPDATE AGAIN: IVE GOTTEN THINGS HALF WAY SORTED BUT FOR SOME SHITTY REASON THEY ONLY LET YOU DO TEN LINKS A POST- AHHHH