Hi!I want to look fore many arthropods and other cute related animals tomorrow.I want to find around 50 of them(Mole cricket,funny face grasshopper’mantis,stick insects,owlfly,spoonwing,damsel,dragon,scorpion, and mayflies,Jumping,crab,and velvet spiders,Harvestmen,snails,millipedes,Glob springtails,June,rose,rhino,stag,bomb,tiger,click,lady,tortoise,longhorn,jewel,weevil,water and glow beetles,bugs,fuzzy aphids,big eyed bugs,wild bees(like bumbe),velvet ant,beefly,butterflies,hummingbird and fuzzy face moths)
What overlooked arthropod you suggest to I add to my list:).sorry if reading the list is hard
You could try Springtails (Collembola), these incredible and arguably quite adorable organisms can be found pretty much under any log, bark, in leaf litter, etc. Keep in mind the are quite small though, usually 1-3mm. Here’s a look at ones I’ve found, the majority of them being in my backyard or nearby parks.
Isopoda. It’s really weird to think that they are such borderline between aquatic creatures and terrestrial creatures. People often seem to forget them. I find them cute as heck. I remember searching for them (mainly Oniscus asellus) in my grand parents’ basement. I’ve only seen 3 or 4 Saduria entomon despite living my whole life on the coast. One of them was eating a herring that had been caught at the bottom row on a fishing net. It got a prompt return to the sea.
I could have missed these in your list, but I don’t recall seeing scarab beetles, lantern flies, or centipedes. I saw velvet ants, but I don’t recall seeing other ants listed. Pro tip: DON’T pet the fluffy ants!!
I find wasps are very attractive. You can get a very close look at them when a dozen come screaming in to pound you silly with their jackhammer-like stingers because you got too close to their nest. But other than that pesky little downside, they’re great!
You could try “panning” for them. This involves sliding any plastic lid or tray or whatever along vegetation. Though if you live in North America, this time of year is mostly too warm for much springtails, so there isn’t much variety until mid-to-late Autumn hits.
Cute is a bit subjective, but it’s also a function of timing. You catch them young enough before their faces reorganize (optics dictate eye to face ratios), or their bodies fill out from the smoothing effects of ‘newborn’ soft fat reserves, and just about anything will trigger a cute response in human minds.
It’s also, of course, a question of scale, which evokes the protection reflex. But it can also, with lenses, cancel that response with details.
