🪲 jay

my pet millipede’s name is Millipede Vanillipede :)

i managed to get a male BDFB in september!

i have no trouble in getting the beetles to breed, it’s trying to get the conditions right for egg laying and incubation that’s hard and i haven’t gotten any eggs yet.
i won’t give up hope though!

yeah, i got Jujube in September!
he’s a little more shy than her, so he’s been slowly gaining his confidence as he settled in. now he’s exploring the enclosure outside the hides a lot more often!

[Alt: A video of two blue death feigning beetles in their enclosure. The larger beetle, Blueberry, is scavenging through sphagnum moss for scattered food.

The smaller beetle, Jujube, attempts to climb over Blueberry, but falls over due to her moving. He quickly rights himself.]

Jujube the little klutz
Death feigning beetles have got to be the clumsiest animals i’ve ever seen

A photo of two blue death feigning beetles in their enclosure. The larger female beetle is standing on the off white sand substrate. There is a small 3D printed duck figurine laying on its side just behind her. The smaller male beetle is climbing up the other beetle’s thorax and resting on top of her. A cork bark log and some pieces of food are visible in the background.

Blueberry and Jujube have been getting along well!

simple pixel art of a luna moth. it's a green moth with yellow antennae and a maroon rim on the leading edge of its forewings.

pixel luna moth!
#pixelart #pixelartist #sciart #insects #entomology

A brown piece of handmade paper with a watercolor illustration of a large black beetle

I got some fun handmade paper and tried out painting a darkling beetle on it.

#TradArt #SciArt #Invertebrates

A photo of a blue death feigning beetle in his enclosure. He is climbing the side of a blue 3d printed hide shaped like a blueberry. The enclosure is filled with off-white sand substrate. As well as the blueberry-shaped hide, the enclosure contains items of decor such as a fake plant, a small plastic red and white mushroom, and a mini pool lounger.

now Jujube has also learned to climb to the top of the blueberry house! good job little guy!

as she’s had her final moult, she can now safely live with dairy cows.
they make for a really nice display enclosure because they’re both rather surface active

A photo of an adult millipede (Spirostreptus species 1) in her enclosure. A shallow red food bowl is visible in the background. The millipede is climbing along a piece of cork bark. She is peachy orange in colour with olive green bands along her body. A black and white dairy cow isopod (Porcellio laevis) is walking past the millipede.

Vanilli is fully grown now, and a very pretty peachy colour!

(to be clear, he was missing the end of his leg before the supplier got him)

Absolutely nobody asked for this but I reformatted my animal yeetability thread into printable poster & zine files.

Introducing, the "Pocket Guide to Responsible & Sustainable Animal YEETING" featuring a revamped rating system. Download links below.

he’s missing the end of one of his legs, my partner calls it his lucky leg :)

he gets around just fine despite this, and Blueberry doesn’t bully him thankfully!

they actually hang out near each other a lot, it’s very sweet

A photo of a blue death feigning beetle in his enclosure. He is resting on a miniature cola bottle. A mini soda can is visible in front of the beetle. Pieces of cork bark are visible in the background. Some dried edible flower petals are scattered across the sand substrate.

Jujube has gotten so much more blue!

also he’s noticeably smaller than my female beetle Blueberry, it’s very cute

i’ll be moving them in together in a while, but i tend to quarantine new pets temporarily before cohabitating

A photo of a blue death feigning beetle resting on my hand. He is dark blue in colour, due to some of his waxy coating being worn off during transit.

meet Jujube!
some of his waxy coating got worn off in transit, but he’ll be pale blue again soon :)

i’ve just ordered my second blue death feigning beetle! he’ll be arriving next week, i’m very excited

Book cover showing a nudibranch, a crab, and a sea star. The text says "the art of InverteFest August 2024"

inside spread showing two paintings of fossil invertebrates, the wormlike Kerygmachela kierkegaardi by Rebecca Gelernter and a golden trilobite by Glendon Mellow

inside spread showing a comic about an ant and a grasshopper by Rosemary Mosco and a black and white drawing of a beetle by Rinaldo Hartanto

inside spread showing a pair of 3D-printed beetles by Blue Appaloosa and a pencil drawing of several ants attacking a spider by Martin Gregorič-Quiñones (Age 8)

We proudly present:
The Art of #InverteFest – a digital art book showcasing the work of 66 artists from around the world, in celebration of overlooked invertebrate fauna.

Thank you to the human artists of bluesky who contributed to our first art book!

Download here drive.google.com/file/d/1WYvI...

Cambrian invertebrate pattern for #InverteFest!

my jumping spider Phoenix has moulted! i’m excited to see them when they emerge from the web after their exoskeleton has hardened back up

also, it’ll be interesting to see if i can tell their sex yet. it can be tricky (or near impossible) with younger Phidippus ardens

This spider uses trapped fireflies to lure in more prey Male fireflies trapped in the spider’s web flash femalelike lights, possibly luring in other flying males and allowing the arachnid to stock up on food.

Really loved this article on an orb weaver spider that uses fireflies as lures to catch more bugs - every time I think I've seen the coolest spider behaviour a new one turns up that's even more neat!

#Invertebrates #spiders

A top-view photo of a small yellow sunflower. The flower has an abnormal growth pattern (fasciation) which has caused it to grow in a clover-leaf shape.

A top-view photo of another small yellow sunflower. This sunflower is of a typical round shape, in contrast to the fasciated sunflower.

a fasciated sunflower from my mum’s garden! (and one of her regular sunflowers for comparison)

yeah, this one’s female! it’s such a subtle little difference

yeah i told the sex of this beetle by her antennae! the males have tiny reddish bristles on their antennae, and the females don’t

Macro photo close up of a large black click beetle with about 50% deep orange scales. they are laying on a white porch railing. they are in profile facing right and the camera is at their eye level.

Back to the "Orange" photo folder for this ab fab Short-horned Click Beetle (Danosoma brevicorne)

Clearly they were ready for their close up (and they're always ready for Halloween!)

#FromTheArchives #inverts #becurious 🌿

A close-up photo of a blue death feigning beetle on a piece of cork bark in her enclosure. A fake plant is visible from behind the cork bark.

she’s on an adventure!

A photo of a juvenile Tanzanian millipede (Spirostreptus species 1) feeding from a yellow 3D printed food dish. The millipede is peachy orange in colour. The dish rests on the damp substrate and contains fish food pellets and dried shrimp. Leaf litter can be seen in the background.

i can’t sleep but at least i now get to watch a millipede enjoy some food!

A photo of a small cream and brown moth resting on blades of grass.

A photo of a small brown and orange orb weaver spider resting on wooden panelling.

A photo of a medium-sized brown orb weaver spider. The spider has spun a web on the side of a garden shed.

A photo of a white, almost bluish arachnid resting on blades of grass.

various animals living in my garden

A photo of a blue death feigning beetle enclosure. It is filled with sand substrate and various pieces of equipment including a blue hide shaped like a blueberry, a mini cream coloured pool lounger, and a shallow grey food dish. The beetle is resting on the pool lounger.

A closeup photo of the same blue death feigning beetle. She is pushing a mini soda can along the substrate. It resembles a tiny Pepsi. A mini soda bottle, a cork bark tube, and edible flower petals are visible in the background.

curious little Blueberry