Op is literally a shell-less terrestrial gastropod

Snootfly! 😍 I was very sad that no mourning scorpionflies (panorpa lugubris) appeared for me last year, but this boy chilled on my finger for a bit today, and that makes up for it. Thanks boo. 🖤

Great Diving Beetle (Dytiscus marginalis), male, family Dytiscidae, eastern Europe

photograph by Jan Hamrsky

Little velvet ant man! Phidippus cardinalis male, looking and behaving very much like the ubiquitous "cow-killer" velvet ants. ❤️🖤

Female Lesser green lynx spider / Peucetia longipalpis

This lovely pearlescent friend decided I was not salty enough and contained no nectar, so I put them on a flower instead 🦋🌼

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Edit - yes, this is a box-tree moth. I've posted a few of these friends before, they're so familiar I forgot to mention the name. Ooops! 😂

I'm also aware some people consider them 'invasive' here in Europe. That to me is a bullshit descriptor. This moth was brought here *by us*... By humans indulging their habit of taking species (eg plants and all the bugs that come with) outside their original range, dumping them somewhere new, then whinging about what they do there. Those species are not the ones doing the invading, we are responsible.

This moth mainly appears to be a problem for people who love faffy plastic-looking box tree topiary, or who have unfortunately inherited box hedging. I'm gonna call it a sign from the universe to plant more environmentally useful mixed hedging that feeds a lot more bugs n birds, but doesn't generally get wiped out by them. I'm gonna keep enjoying the occasional presence of this moth, thank you from the Moth Promotional Board, I'll stop ranting now.

The Buff-Tip Moth: the resting posture, shape, and color/pattern of the buff-tip moth allows it to mimic a broken birch twig; the moth's buff-colored head and the patches on its hindwings even resemble freshly-snapped wood

It also definitely tends to look like there's a weird little smiley face in the setae surrounding the moth's head, which is arguably even more striking but for some reason none of the sources I dug up on this species seem to mention that weirdness.

The buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala) can be found throughout the British Isles, mainland Europe, and Asia, with its range extending into Eastern Siberia.

An elephant hawkmoth warming up it's wings. May we forever have moths like this in the world 🦋💖

yeah yeah yeah yeah

Paraglider and black vulture chilling

(via)

I NEVER get tired of this video. It would be fantastic if the bird was just flying near him, but the fact it feels safe and comfortable enough to land ON his paraglider, isn't startled when he pets it, and is NIBBLING HIS SHOES... blessed moment, absolutely fabulous, 10/10 gold stars.

A white-lined sphinx! Very beautiful indeed :)

Chinese giant salamander (娃娃鱼) a.k.a ‘baby fish’ due to the sound they make that sounds like a baby crying.

The Chinese giant salamander is one of the largest salamanders and one of the largest amphibians in the world. It is fully aquatic and is endemic to rocky mountain streams and lakes in the Yangtze river basin of central China.

The Chinese giant salamander is considered to be a "living fossil". Although protected under Chinese laws, its population has faced severe declined over the last 70 years and is currently (2022) listed as threatened. There are evidence indicating that the Chinese giant salamander may be composed of at least five cryptic species, further compounding each individual species' endangerment.

Here is a video of a 200-year-old Chinese giant salamander that was found in a cave.

The insane beast takes to the sky with gusto

Asian jewel bug, Scutellera perplexa, Scutelleridae

Photographed in India: 1-5 by karthik_83, 6 by john_cree, and 7 (for scale) by catarina_lobato

Weevils! 🪲✨

These cape lappet caterpillars responding to sound, a defence mechanism against parasitic wasps.🔊📣

Source

@onenicebugperday

if you live in northern North America, the fuzzy bicolored larvae of Pyrrharctia isabella are probably well known to you as a staple autumn insect. I think the adult form is much less well known, but equally adorable! here’s one I found this past spring: