⚡ 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 🐊✨

AWW gosh do u know what species? I never get to see beetles that look like that, they're so cute

the way I want to d*e when I step on a snail :( I remove them from the sidewalks whenever it rains, same with slugs

I LOVEEE VINAGAROONS. They're also very fragile and shy, and I think once people understand that it endears them to 'em. You keep them? I've always wanted to myself, I held one at a reptile expo and augh they're so precious to me

exactly! & its good to develop tolerance to things that creep you out, too. for whatever reason, ants are the 1 insect that makes my skin crawl a bit but then you watch videos on ant colonies & its mindblowing how sophisticated they are as a unit, which in turn allows me to not be bothered by them

omg!! that was when I lived in ontario canada in a basement for a while, I'm so glad to hear that! That genuinely warms my heart ;v; we had them in our house all the time (same with silverfish) and left 'em alone and I grew to like seeing them, never once was bit or anything, but waww aw ;w;

fr, I once had an (accidental) psychedelic experience where a god that was an enormous beetle grub told me I was still in my larval state, and that I didn't yet have the understanding to foresee my life past pupating, but that it would be incredible beyond words, it was really powerful/cool?

my nose has been to the grindstone wrapping up a really big, demanding project and I've basically been doing only that and watching true crime so it was nice to take a little insect mind vacation for a moment

shit I didn't time stamp it, here's the mosquito emerging. Anyway watch microcosmos it rules youtu.be/CYHY4H4ttVc?...

exactly u get it. I am so amazed by the skills/traits they just. posses. by nature of what they are. like damn wish I was born with weapons and armor and could fly or dig or get food without needing tools wtf

I still jolt sometimes (was picking blackberries and a bee flew close to my head) but I just took some deep breaths and reassured myself they were focused on their bee tasks and wanted nothing to do w/ me and recovered, and it was easier when it happened again

OKAY LAST THING but this film is amazing (beautiful macro footage of insects (and snails) sans narration, but not even kidding that this scene in particular changed so much of my outlook on things when I saw it youtu.be/CYHY4H4ttVc?...

I had 1 shot of whiskey and started going off about bugs oops

and for whatever reason hover flies would not stop following me on a big hike and circling my head, I think they were memorized by my UV reactive hair (must look crazy to a bug), it was very annoying but I learned to just accept it and nothing bad happened lol

and trust me I have sympathy, if something buzzes in my ear in particular I can have a reaction, but after a camping trip where I realized me being so jumpy about it worsened my experience I'm trying to just be calm and breathe when it happens and consciously take steps to relax and not b reactive

aside from taking the time to learn more about them, such as how many species are essential pollinators or a food source for animals you love, I have seen this work for ppl with phobias or anxiety esp when it comes to physical contact or proximity to insects.

100%!!! I think folks just learning about how many insects than they realize are essential pollinators even is a good step, but education and exposure is like the number one prevention for fears/phobias imho

imagine pupating and having your whole life figured out 😔 my soft bumbling baby ass was born not knowing shit while an insect buzzes by thinking (in bug thoughts) "skill issue"

please be nice to the spider and put it outside ;w; or just be like me and leave it alone although admittedly I do not care when I find a spider crawling on me, but I prefer spiders living in my house to dealing with gnats or flies

but I recommend them because they do not have the quick movements that can be startling, as I think that's part of why they scare ppl; unpredictable, fast movement. I swear on this and have seen it work for ppl to start to unlearn some of that fear gut reaction

I fully believe that reaction is possible to unlearn, I know it can be very hard when it's so instinctual, but something I recommend to ppl is going to a zoo or reptile expo to handle large slow-moving and docile insects (like stick bugs) exposure therapy does work! large insects can b intimidating

I think about this all the time :( aaalll the time. There's so many skills that would be beneficial to society to learn early on as a part of a balanced education that are undervalued or just not taught at all in western society as culturally we're taught we're "above" and separate from it

FR! Also way more diverse than ppl realize. I understand why cohabitation with them in the home isn't possible but folks don't realize there's more than just the "pest" species,some are undeniably very beautiful! regardless they have interesting social behavior

jumping spiders are a rly good segue into helping ppl who are afraid of (or hate) spiders to be more charmed by them, they're so charismatic and cute and non-threatening. I love how you can watch them problem solve/think because of how expressive they are!

yes!!! that's kind of why I saw "perfect" because of the analogy you can make towards mechs, but this was a natural process, they inherently have everything they need readily equipped (defense, weapons, flight, complex organization etc) and that's amazing!!! and the sheer diversity is insurmountable

way more people should be deeply deeply dismayed about the increasingly collapsing population of insects, because they are so widely reviled (TAUGHT behavior, pls challenge this shit) its not commonly understood what a frightening harbinger of death that is

I developed this view after seeing footage of a mosquito, of all things, emerging from a pupa, with this ethereal perfect symmetry playing out. Even things u personally hate that cause human inconvenience are still marvels of hundreds of millions of yrs of evolution; most successful animals to exist

genuinely think insects should be revered as perfect beings of evolution instead of the revulsion and disgust way too many ppl have towards them.

ok I'm normal now I've decided

Oh,, I am diagnosed with OCD actually LOL. I keep it more private tho cuz... idk having OCD sometimes feels like the most irrational, hard to explain thing to ppl who don't suffer from it cuz it's inherently paradoxical in nature

this crisis brought to you by rendering colored lines for hours just to realize I hated how it looked and scrapped it completely