Adorably tiny organisms

I think those may be six Chalcidoid wasps on the beetle rather than flies but am not an expert.

Thy’re for sure Cyclorrhapha, not wasps, one of those feeding on hemolymph, don’t remember the family.

No worries, you have forgotten more than I will ever know, which is why I stick to my little garden.

(And also why more than once I have left it at Hymenoptera and then asked an expert, “Do you think this is a chubby fly or a fat stubby wasp?” or some variation thereof.)

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These are certainly hymenoptera, not flies. Im the two other pictures those are Diptera, but here with the beetle you were correct

Sorry, I reread, on a beetle they’re definitely wasps, so you shouldn’t stick to your garden (no matter how much you know) and go out.)

The more I reach into extending my macro range, the more I realize just how important relative visual scale is to the perception of adorability.

Something can look cute at one scale, and quite horrifying to the adorers when you really zoom in.

I think too that coverings make all the difference. Fur, feathers, scale, hair – the fluffier, the more adorable. And of course, the relative size of the eyes to the body. Most of the time. Are owls more adorable for their eyes size (which includes the huge audio bowls that they lie in the bottom of)? Have you ever seen a plucked owl? Or any bird for that matter. Then there’s movements – are bumble bees cuter than other bees because they, well, bumble a lot?

I know that when we perceive cuteness or adorability, we rely on a lot of these internal almost instinctive factors. Sometimes I wonder how universal each one is and what the effort of cultural conditioning has on this measurement.

I’m guessing quite a bit when I hear so many naturalists describe their attractions to things that they once found a little scary.

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So many micromollusks.









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I don’t know about adorable, but there’s this little guy. No scale, but this is zoomed in a lot. It’s so tiny it’s almost transparent. It would easily fit on the nail of my pinky finger.

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I like this little mayfly with its big spherical eyes. I had to smile when I found it:

Unfortunately, I still don’t know which genus or species it is.

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I love getting my face deep into all the tiny things around where I am, but because I only use an iPhone to take all my pictures, a lot of my little guys don’t show up super well. There, are, thankfully, a few exceptions.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/146842012 (Red-stemmed Feather Moss Pleurozium schreberi)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/146841648 (Probably an Ulota moss)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143657475 (Cryptops centipede)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142945754 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141277842 (little millipedes)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141818689 (Arion slug)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/140434573 (New World Fuzzy Ant Lasius nearcticus)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139552549 (a little Diatom under microscope)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/133628700 (Ramaria Coral Fungus)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/128610555 (a little Mantis)

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I found inexpensive clip on lenses for iPhone opened up a whole new world for me.

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Springtails! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105217456 - yellow!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142304042 - zebra-striped

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The yellow one looks like a teeny cob, so sweet. :yellow_heart: :corn:

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What a wonderful topic! My favorite organisms of all time are the adorable, tiny Springtails, so this is perfect for me.
They come in all shapes and colors, from the iridescent Lepidocyrtus


to the chubby Neanuridae

to the absolutely darling, round, Sminthurinus.

For a size reference, here’s a small, striped Sminthurinus elegans next to my finger:

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So cute!! I love the tuberculate poduromorphs so much, they look like little gummies or fruits.

Second one looks like the fairly cosmopolitan, but unfortunately still undescribed Seira sp. 13. They are absolutely beautiful, a very lucky find.

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As an observer I am totally in love with Membracoidea. What an amazing parallel world… they are almost everywhere but also almost always overlooked, despute their amazing colours, patterns, forma and even behaviour (e.g. broodcare)… as they are so often ignored, it’s actually also a group where it is easy to observe species that rarely have been uploaded before… I had several first among them.

However, there are not a lot of people actively IDing them, so species ID might take a while

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?page=3&place_id=any&taxon_id=49025&user_id=ajott&verifiable=any&view=species

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Those flies on the beetle are actually parasitoid wasps in superfamily Chalcidoidea

I feel the same way with Cicadellidae. Plethora of colours and patterns that are often overlooked due to their small size.

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Yeah, the thing is nobody ids them, at least cicadellids. One major ider from NA and I don’t know anybody else really.

There are a few that I know of, at least who identify mine.