moderngargoyle: the hot must-have accessory in Goblin Fashion this week? Cicadas! wear them as rings
moderngargoyle: the hot must-have accessory in Goblin Fashion this week? Cicadas! wear them as rings, or broaches, hair accessories; you name it and these winged, singing lovelies can be it, for the Goblin in your life!jk guys let them live their Bug Life in the wildIt’s that time of the year again, they are everywhere! I went out under the waning moon last night and found them molting en masse. They crawled out of their grave-like cradles in the tree roots to emerge from their out-grown shells and spread their wings for the first time.some of the buzzing, fluttering fools mistook me for a tree and crawled up my skirt, looking for a place to safely perch. I transferred them to a true tree, after admiring them for a moment.can you make out the half-dozen empty shells on this trunk? they camouflage to protect themselves as they are very vulnerable both before and for a while after molting.the shells were everywhere I looked; the bark and leaves of trees, the rocks around my flower bed, my porch steps, the side of my house…it’s hard to imagine how they’ve managed to compress themselves into such tiny shells. as soon as they emerge their soft bodies begin to expand and harden. they need to hang to allow their wings to dry before flying for the first time.I collected all of these empty shells in a handful of minutes, I can’t imagine how many there must be throughout the woods.it’s hard to capture in a photograph, but their wings glitter and shine when they catch the light. they can change from translucent with thin gold veins to seemingly studded in purple and red gems as the light hits them at the perfect angle. I haven’t been able to convince the camera to do them justice! -- source link