thombadil

[thombadil]

Wait, which animals raise livestock?

Several species of ants will 'herd' aphids around (a type of plant lice)- even picking them up and putting them back with the group if they wander off. The ants will attack anything that approaches their aphid herds, defending them. The aphids produce a sugary excretion called honeydew, which the ants harvest and eat.

Some ants will even 'milk' the aphids, stroking the aphids with their antennae, to stimulate them to release honeydew. Some aphids have become 'domesticated' by the ants, and depend entirely on their caretaker ants to milk them.

When the host plant is depleted of resources and dies, the ants will pick up their herd of aphids and carry them to a new plant to feed on - a new 'pasture' if you will.

Some ants continue to care for aphids overwinter, when otherwise they'd die. The ants carry aphid eggs into their own nests, and will even go out of their way to destroy the eggs of aphid-predators, like ladybugs.

--

Microhylids – or narrow-mouthed frogs - have an interesting symbiosis with Tarantulas.

While the spiders could very easily kill and eat the much-tinier frogs, and DO normally prey on small frogs, young spiders instead will use their mouthparts to pick up the microhylid frogs, bring them back to their burrow, and release them unharmed.

The frog benefits from hanging out in/around the burrow of the tarantula, because the tarantula can scare away or eat predators that normally prey on tiny frogs, like snakes, geckos, and mantids. The tarantula gets a babysitter.

Microhylid frogs specialize in eating ants, and ants are one of the major predators of spider eggs. By eating ants, the frogs protect the spider's eggs. The frogs can also lay their eggs in the burrow, and won't be eaten by the spider.

So it's less 'livestock' and more like a housepet - a dog or a cat. You stop coyotes/eagles from hurting your little dog/cat, and in return the dog/cat keeps rats away from your baby.

--

Damselfish grow algae on rocks and corals. They defend these gardens ferociously, and will attack anything that comes too close - even humans. They spend much of their time weeding the gardens, removing unwanted algaes that might overtake their crop.

The species of algae that they cultivate is weak and and sensitive to growing conditions, and can easily be overgrazed by other herbivores. That particular algae tends to grow poorly in areas where damselfish aren't around to protect and farm it.

Damselfish will ALSO actively protect Mysidium integrum (little shrimp-like crustacians) in their reef farms, despite eating other similarly sized invertebrates. The mysids are filter feeders, who feed on zooplankton and free-floating algae, and their waste fertilizes the algae farms. Many types of zooplankton can feed on the algae crop, and the mysids prevent that.

While Mysids can be found around the world, the only place you'll find swarms of Musidium integrum is on the algae farms that Damselfish cultivate.

Damselfish treat the little mysids like some homesteaders treat ducks. Ducks eat snails and other insect pests on our crops, and their poop fertilizes the land. The ducks can be eaten, but aren't often, since they're more useful for their services than their meat.

--

There are SEVERAL species of insect and animal which actively farm. They perform fungiculture and horticulture: deliberately growing and harvesting fungus and plants at a large-scale to feed their population.

Leaf-cutter ants and Termites both chew up plant material and then seed it with a specific type of fungus. The fungus grows, and the termites/ants harvest the mushroom as a food source.

Ambrosia beetles burrow into decaying trees, hollow out little farming rooms, and introduce a specific fungii (the ambrosia fungi), which both adults and larval beetles feed on.

Marsh Periwinkles (a type of snail) cultivates fungus on cordgrass. They wound the plant with their scraping tongue, then defecate into the wound so their preferred fungus will infect it and grow there. They let the fungus grow in the wound a bit, and come back later to eat.

#you had me at tarantulas keeping frogs like cats #i am OBSESSED #nature

[thombadil]

🌳🌲🌳🌳🌲🌳🌳🌳🌲

Tiny forest for your dash

#yes thank you i WILL reblog that

[thombadil]

I see it’s time to introduce everybody to a lil guy my 5th grade history teacher called Chef Louis:

His hat is Minne-SODA—you can draw a little Pepsi logo on it to remember that one.

His face is EYE-owa because that’s where his eye would be.

His torso is MISSOURI—because his stomach is in misery from eating too much chicken.

His pelvis is Ar-CAN-sas because that’s how he uses the can (slang for bathroom).

He keeps his laces tight so his boots don’t get LOOSE-iana (ok ok I know that one is a stretch but go with it).

And what is he cooking? KENTUCKY fried chicken, of course. Tennessee is his frying pan but I can’t remember if there was a pun for that one.

For the rest of your life, any time you see a map of the US, I defy you not to see Chef Louis immediately.

[thombadil]

OK I drew Little Bird in her weird sleeping position she loves! Good night!

#there is so much love in these squiggles #animals #art

[thombadil]

I'd like to introduce everyone to this horrid thing I created about a year ago but haven't shown many people yet (probably for the best).

This is Baby. AKA The Monster. AKA Sight Tremendous and Abhorred, AKA Vile Insect, AKA A Thing Such As Even Dante Could Not Have Conceived, etc, etc. It's made from bits of scrap fabric I scrounged from various sources and is roughly the size of a human toddler. Its design is based on Mary Shelly's original descriptions of Frankenstein's creature.

But that's not all! Behold!

You can dissect this little abomination to reveal a full set of crocheted, knitted, and scrap fabric organs, all hand-stitched by yours truly!

It has a heart, stomach, lungs, liver, small and large intestine, kidneys, bladder, and, of course, a brain! So it can ponder the horrors of its own existence!

I used this pattern by Less Than Three for the heart. I ended up felting it because I screwed up most of the stitches (I was relatively new to crochet at the time). The result was a bit of a blobby mess, but oh well.

So yeah. This thing lives in my house now (my family hates it). I have yet to reap the full consequences of my hubris.

#literally such a cool thing to do #frankenstein #mary shelley #dolls #dollmaking #crafts #art

[thombadil]

Neon signs from French Village Drive-In

Part of the collection at the National Building Arts Center in Sauget, IL

#if you’re anywhere near STL you absolutely must visit this place #National Building Arts Center #i’ll be posting more photos from my visit today #they have so much cool stuff that would have otherwise just wound up recycled or in a dumpster somewhere #like 200 years of architectural history #neon sign #vintage neon #french village drive-in #st louis #STL #architecture #20th century #drive in

[thombadil]

#wait is this the set of the cabin in the woods? #that’s the portrait of the zombie girl isn’t it? #movies #cabin in the woods came out when i was in college #and it was the first horror movie i was brave enough to see in theaters #which set off a decade-long romance with the horror genre #so it’s pretty much seared into my memory for better or for worse

[thombadil]

I'm gonna be a theatre nerd on main here. Okay, the original recording of Christopher Plummer singing Edelweiss was released yesterday and honestly, I just want them to re-release the film with his vocals, not the dub. It feels much more natural and organic to him as a performer. What do I mean by that? Well, the man who dubbed Plummer sounded lovely, absolutely nothing wrong. But with Plummer's voice back in, I noticed subtle shifts in his acting that I hadn't before. The original dub is "Hello I am here and I am singing a pretty song, the end." Plummer's version is "I love my country, I love my family...and I think I love this woman who came into my home." And the tiny shifts in his voice match the expressions on his face and the way his eyes suddenly glint in a different way as the Captain. In conclusion, by God that man could act and he shouldn't have been dubbed in the first place. Maybe that's why he was always reticent to sing it in public.

#national treasure christopher plummer #this is gorgeous #the true pleasure of the sound of music is when you grow up and realize how good the romance is #truly some darcy-and-lizzie-ass shit

[thombadil]

Snowy Morning -  Andrew Wyeth  c. 1947

American 1917-2009

tempera on panel 21¾ x 16 in. (53.3 x40.6 cm.)

#lighthouses my beloved #architecture

[thombadil]

If you see this you’re legally obligated to reblog and tag with the book you’re currently reading

#romantic outlaws: the extraordinary lives of mary wollstonecraft and mary shelley by charlotte gordon #it is a banger and i HIGHLY recommend it #it flips back and forth between them chapter by chapter—so you get both their births then childhoods etc #it’s such an interesting way to process the lives of a mother and daugher who never really knew each other #the PARALLELS #also i had no idea what a badass mary wollstonecraft was and we should really be talking about it more

[thombadil]

St. Virgin Mary, Queen of families Church by jrej www.gregoirec.com Via Flickr: Website | Facebook | Tumblr | Zenfolio

#architecture

[thombadil]

Source details and larger version.

#girl i love it #art

[thombadil]

so here’s what i’ve been thinking about

if i thought oppenheimer was kind of dumb, but a lot of people genuinely got something out of it

and if a lot of people thought saltburn was kind of dumb (and it is), but i genuinely feel that i got something out of it

is the lesson here that most movies are essentially kind of dumb? and that what you get from movies has as much to do with what you bring to them yourself? asking for a friend

#i should probably go to bed #thomas rambles #movies #not gonna tag the specific movies i’m not trying to start discourse about either film referenced here

[thombadil]

Buffy, Spike, Faith, and Angel are all massive dorks that people initially often mistake for being cool. The main difference is that Faith and Spike trick people on purpose by having carefully manufactured "cool" personas that cover up their deep-seated insecurities, while Buffy and Angel trick people on accident by being hot.

#op you’re literally so correct #buffy the vampire slayer

[thombadil]

i am once again begging my neighbors to get a divorce

#fighting hours are between 11 and 2 #they just sound so unhappy #i miss the lovely single older woman who lived in their unit when i first got here #i think she lives with her daughter now #anyway i slept between 7 and 12 and i’m having a normal one hbu #thomas rambles

[thombadil]

Threads in time, Natalie Ciccoricco (because)

#absolutely obsessed with this #art #crafts

[thombadil]

Florals embroidered onto random objects by: Severija Incirauskaite-Kriauneviciene

#the impulse is strong #art #crafts