Is This Important? No!

Mathieu Rivrin • Fotógrafo de Bretaña.

enjoying the variation in these handsome Graphocephala versuta, including the last poor hopper who has a mite sucking on its head

[Image IDs: all images are close-ups of pill millipedes, which are small arthropods (bugs) with a similar appearance to roly polies. They are pill-shaped and segmented with shiny scale-like plating that goes to the ground and covers up all their lil legs.

ID1: a rusty red pill millipede with a black head and mottled black spots on its segments. It’s segments are edged with a pale, slightly translucent yellowish color. It’s photographed from the side. It’s standing on light grayish tree bark.

ID2: another photo of the same or a similar millipede. This one is photographed from a higher angle, making it easier to see black backwards-pointing triangles running down its back. In this image it’s standing on bark covered in moss.

ID3: another photo of the same or a similar millipede on a similar background. This one is photographed from directly above.

ID4: another photo of the same or a similar millipede on a similar background. This one is on its back and half-curled up so its head is right-side up. Its belly and legs are a tan-ish; and its little legs stick up like it’s reaching out.

ID5: two of the red/black millipedes completely curled up on their sides, completely hiding their heads and legs in their plates. These ones are sitting on grey granite. One is slightly smaller than the other.

ID6: a similar millipede to the others, but this one is a much darker maroon red and less shiny. This one has a bright copper stripe behind its head. It’s on leaf litter.

ID7: another darker millipede on leaf litter and coniferous twigs (fir, I think). This one is curled up, but is upright like a wheel.

ID8: a collection of four millipedes on rough grey bark. There is one to the left, two in a vertical row to the right, and one in the center. All of them are curled up except for the center one. The one on the left is orange with black mottled spots and black diamonds running down the center of its back. The one in the center is an ochre color with darker orange edges on the bottom of its segments. It is sparsely mottled with black, with a black head. Behind its head is a yellow stripe, then a black stripe, then no more stripes. It has tall backwards-facing triangles along its back that get smaller and smaller until they disappear, after which there is one big black triangle at the end of the millipede’s body. The top right millipede is a blue-green-grey, similar to the color of lichen. Its segments are edged with thick orange-grey, and it has connected black diamonds running down its back. The bottom millipede is mostly covered in black spots, with orange stripes peeking through at the edge of its segments. There are black diamonds running down its back, which are separated from most of the other mottling by grey.

ID9: a photo of a pill millipede from above and a bit further away than the others. The millipede in this one is almost entirely black, with a bit of gold peeking through. This one is on a pale-skinned person’s hand, and is just a bit shorter than the width of their fingers.

/End IDs]

Pill millipede (not an isopod/roly poly), Glomeris klugii, Glomeridae

Found in Europe and northern Africa

Photos 1-4 by ingridaltmann, 5 by vytautas_tamutis, 6-7 by amujcinovic, 8 by phtevendrews, and 9 (for scale) by bianca_t

just found out about this cute little birdy and i am in love

i hate my vegetable #myvegetable

(source)

I gave the beebs a jelly cup as a treat and pyramidhead stepped in it and got SO upset

an appreciation post for pigeons, please? <3

Let me give some of my fav (and underappreciated) pigeons!

Philippine Green Pigeon (Treron axillaris), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, Zambales, Philippines

photograph by Gid Ferrer

Ashy Wood Pigeon (Columba pulchricollis), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, Nepal

photograph by Rita Rossi

Pheasant Pigeon (Otidiphaps nobilis), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, found in New Guinea and nearby islands

photograph by Jindřich Pavelka (500px)

Scaled Pigeon (Patagioenas speciosa), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, Costa Rica

photograph by Memix Photography

Cinnamon-headed Green Pigeon (Treron fulvicollis), male, family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, Singapore

photograph by Hong Yijun

Rob Garren posted a beautiful cockerel from his purple poultry project the other day, though i think this bird is from his general iridescent breeding pen. The bird is beautiful and looks like an oil slick. There isnt a "gene" that causes this, this is Rob selecting for more and more iridescence over time.

He also got some up close pictures of the feathers and they are breathtaking

You can follow Rob's project at the purple poultry facebook group but none of these birds (or eggs) are for sale yet so do not bother him.

I do wonder how workplace safety would be different in a world that has people with stuff like long ears and horns