Small Beings Feel the pulse of arthropod life: Captivating visuals, emotional narratives, and insights that foster a commitment to safeguarding biological diversity.
Arthropods? What’s that?
Imagine throwing a party where over 80% of all guests belong to the same family – that’s exactly the situation in the animal kingdom, where arthropods dominate the scene. This incredibly successful clan includes everything with more than four legs that struts around in a fancy chitin armor: insects, spiders, crustaceans, and millipedes. Their recipe for success: an ingenious modular system of moveable joints and an exoskeleton that’s regularly traded in for a larger size.
With over a million known species and an estimated 10 million trillion individuals worldwide, they’ve conquered practically every habitat, from the Mariana Trench to your kitchen. While we humans are still debating whether working from home actually works, arthropods long ago perfected the division of labor: some pollinate, others clean up, still others aerate the soil or keep mosquito populations in check. So it’s high time we finally give these often-overlooked neighbors the respect they deserve – even if some of them have eight eyes and occasionally give us Homo sapiens a good scare.
Tales
Here you find personal stories and articles about and from the realm of small beings, told by… the small beings themselves. We’re giving them a voice – all the fireflies, bees, beetles, spiders, and many more. New stories appear regularly, so it’s worth checking back!
What does a Silver Y feel?
Written for the Kulturbahnhof Ottensoos – a meeting place for people interested in culture in Middle Franconia. … Full post
The Arthropods' Daily
The daily Arthropod Courier brings you a new picture of a little being every day. Click here for the archive of previously published issues.
No. 881 |
Asian Lady Beetle
Harmonia axyridis, most commonly known as the harlequin, multicolored Asian, or simply Asian ladybeetle, is a large coccinellid beetle. This is one of the most variable species in the world, with an exceptionally wide range of color forms. It is native to eastern Asia, but has been artificially introduced to North America and Europe to control aphids and scale insects. It is now common, well known, and spreading in those regions, and has also established in...
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Catalog of Sightings
The useful compendium of all our sightings. Here you will find the little beings of this website, combined with valuable information.
