#insertaninvert2024

[cuttledreams-bugs]

InsertAnInvert2024

January theme: Bugs Among Us

Week 1: Firebrat! (Thermobia Domestica)

A little insect that snuggles into warm cozy spaces and munches on leaf litter, cereals, and book bindings. They have a distinctive long three tail-like appendages!

[lordsovorn]

Firebrat

A scuttly little critter for #InsertAnInvert2024 - supposed to be week 1, but better late than never

This one and three next bugs in pixel-perfect quality are already in early access for my dear members on BuyMeACoffee

[magicmetalblog]

InsertAnInvert

Motion: Diver 🤘🦠🪰

grousewinged backswimmer (notonecta undulata)

[tarantula-wizard]

Insert An Invert Week 2: Stone Centipede (Lithobius forficatus)

I used Wigglypaint

[Image ID: An animated sketch in the form of a GIF, so that it appears to jitter or wiggle. It features the head and part of the body of a Stone Centipede. Its head comes into frame in the top left corner and part of its body is visible along the right side of the piece. It has a pink body, yellow legs, and blue antennae. There is a wavy speckled pattern in the space not taken up by the centipede. End ID.]

[wizardhecker]

Invert week 1: Japanese House Centipede

Tragically I was distracted by my bird art this week to give this the attention it deserved but I still want to keep up with the weeks anyways!

The first time I saw one of these was in undergrad and I was so transfixed by how strange it looked that I chased it down a hallway to get a picture, certain it must be some rare creature. Well. Still special to me!!

[artistsforpalestine]

cuttledreams

Bluesky Artfight

OPEN [4/4 full-color fullbody; All else unlimited]

[I am an invertebrate artist with a background in concept art and creature design. Right now my main projects are #InsertAnInvert2024 and my Bug Tarot illustration series, but I also work on character art and writing for personal projects on the side. I am also very active during Artfight.]

CAN DRAW: -Human[oids] -Furry -Mech CANNOT DRAW: -Suggestive INQUIRE: -Gore

[cuttledreams-bugs]

We finally rollin, let the catch-up begin

May: Carcinization

1: True Crab: Lollipop Crab (Ixa cylindrus)

2: False Crab: Symmetrical Hermit Crab (Pylocheles mortensenii)

3: Not Crab: Lake Baikal Amphipod (Acanthogammarus victorii)

4: Three very-not-crabs (Dendrogaster antarctica, Armilifer armillatus, Lernanthropus chrysophrys)

(Rejected Brine Shrimp drawing below the read-more)

Prompt 3 had originally been the brine shrimp, however after a lot of frustration and struggle with the painting, I finally just tossed it at the last minute and replaced it with an entirely new animal prompt.

It was probably for the better, as in my sleep deprivation I laid a very poor foundation for painting + made the inexplicable decision to go with the pink-yellow look to represent the animal instead of the more grounded translucency? It's not bad, but rubs wrong against what I want to do with these.

Behold:

I spent another entire day trying to repaint them as that before finally biting the bullet.

(Another WIP)

I've actually already got 12 more animals painted and ready to share but that still leaves 16 more to fully paint before christmas!

[lordsovorn]

Garden Symphylan

Week 3 of #InsertAnInvert2024

[cuttledreams-bugs]

December theme: Motion

Scuttler: Antarctic midge (Belgica antarctica)

Jumper: Water springtail (Sminthurides aquaticus)

Flyer: Lined earwig (Doru taeniatum)

Diver: Grousewinged backswimmer (Notonecta undulata)

InsertanInvert2024 Challenge

And with that, the year challenge is complete- - all twelve months and 48 prompts illustrated! I wasn't sure if I'd be able to catch up before winter celebrations but glad to have been able to.

Stay tuned for a compilation of this year's work shortly!

[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)

[magicmetalblog]

InsertAnInvert 2024

Parasites week 4: parasitoids

long-tailed giant ichneumonid (megarhyssa macrurus)

[cuttledreams-bugs]

🪱 #InsertAnInvert2024

Worms: Long and Limbless

Shipworm

Despite the appearance, shipworms are actually a mollusc! These bivalves have evolved to use their shells not for protection, but for boring through driftwood.

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Interested in learning more about the invertebrate animals around us? Join into the year-long InsertAnInvert event organized by Franzanth, where every week a new animal is spotlighted! Draw unique animals, read up on cool facts, or just follow the tag online to see a lot of cool artwork.

Prompt List: https://bsky.app/profile/franzanth.bsky.social/post/3khyob3xn742q

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Like my work? Visit my shop, or support me on Ko-Fi!~

[cuttledreams-bugs]

September Theme: Deep Sea

Mesopelagic: Gorgon's Head (Gorgonocephalus eucnemis)

Bathyal: Ping-Pong Tree Sponge (Chondrocladia lampadiglobus)

Abyssal: Gummy Squirrel (Psychropotes longicauda)

Hadal: Headless Chicken Monster (Enypniastes)

Fun facts under the readmore:

The Gorgon's Head is a basket sea star found in very cold oceanic environments, with bifurcating arms lined with a rubbery skin that gives them a distinct fleshy appearance. They use their arms to grab prey and pull it to their mouth!

The ping-pong sea sponge is a very cool animal. Their inflatable sacs have tiny hooks across their surface which grab prey such as tiny crustaceans. Once caught, the prey are enveloped in a membrane and eaten.

(This photo cracks me up to tears every time, I love it)

The gummy squirrel is a traveling sea cucumber who's defining feature is the tail-like appendage on its backside, which can grow to nearly the animal's entire body length in of itself.

And yet another sea cucumber, the iconic headless chicken monster is known for two things- looking like uncooked poultry, and being so translucent that its strikingly colored digestive track is visible. The way they eat is fantastic, as their mouth arms look like tiny grabby hands.

[cuttledreams-bugs]

November theme: Blobfest

Danger blob: Flower hat jelly (Olindias formosus)

Disco blob: Alarm jelly (Atolla wyvillei)

Blobchain: Cristatella mucedo

Blobbageddon: Golden star tunicate (Botryllus schlosseri)

InsertanInvert2024 Challenge

[lordsovorn]

Pauropod

Week 4 of #InsertAnInvert2024

[cuttledreams-bugs]

June theme: Parasites!

1. Ectoparasite: Pocketbook Mussel (Lampsilis ovata)

2. Endoparasite: Polypodium hydriforme

3. Mesoparasite: Shark Sucker Barnacle (Anelasma squalicola

4. Parasitoid: Ladybird Fly (Gymnosoma rotundatum)

Fun facts in the read more!

The pocketbook mussel uses decorated fringes and patterns on its mantle to flicker and shimmer like a fish, drawing the attention of larger fish such as bass. Once close the mussel blasts the fish in the mouth with larva, which then attach to and feed off of the fish's gills.

Polypodium hydriforme... where do you even begin. I love them first of all. They are parasites not of sturgeon, but the sturgeon's egg cells- wikipedia describes them as one of the few animals to live inside the cell of another animal. On top of that, they actually develop inside out while inside said egg cell. Once it's time to get moving out of the host, they flip right-side in and in the process grab the host egg cell's yolk and drag it inside itself, using it to live off of once free in the ocean waters. And that's only scratching the surface.

Goose barnacles are a shark parasite! They are barnacles that embed into the skin of certain sharks, extending their root-like bottom tendrils into the flesh of the animal to extract nutrients while the top portion remains exposed.

Ladybird flies in contrast to all the above probably feel the most normal haha. They plant their eggs on shieldbugs, with the young then growing up within the host, later to re-emerge for pupation and adulthood.