Wait, Which Animals Raise Livestock?

Wait, which animals raise livestock?

Several species of ants will 'herd' aphids around (a type of plant lice)- even picking them up and putting them back with the group if they wander off. The ants will attack anything that approaches their aphid herds, defending them. The aphids produce a sugary excretion called honeydew, which the ants harvest and eat.

Some ants will even 'milk' the aphids, stroking the aphids with their antennae, to stimulate them to release honeydew. Some aphids have become 'domesticated' by the ants, and depend entirely on their caretaker ants to milk them.

When the host plant is depleted of resources and dies, the ants will pick up their herd of aphids and carry them to a new plant to feed on - a new 'pasture' if you will.

Some ants continue to care for aphids overwinter, when otherwise they'd die. The ants carry aphid eggs into their own nests, and will even go out of their way to destroy the eggs of aphid-predators, like ladybugs.

Microhylids – or narrow-mouthed frogs - have an interesting symbiosis with Tarantulas.

While the spiders could very easily kill and eat the much-tinier frogs, and DO normally prey on small frogs, young spiders instead will use their mouthparts to pick up the microhylid frogs, bring them back to their burrow, and release them unharmed.

The frog benefits from hanging out in/around the burrow of the tarantula, because the tarantula can scare away or eat predators that normally prey on tiny frogs, like snakes, geckos, and mantids. The tarantula gets a babysitter.

Microhylid frogs specialize in eating ants, and ants are one of the major predators of spider eggs. By eating ants, the frogs protect the spider's eggs. The frogs can also lay their eggs in the burrow, and won't be eaten by the spider.

So it's less 'livestock' and more like a housepet - a dog or a cat. You stop coyotes/eagles from hurting your little dog/cat, and in return the dog/cat keeps rats away from your baby.

Damselfish grow algae on rocks and corals. They defend these gardens ferociously, and will attack anything that comes too close - even humans. They spend much of their time weeding the gardens, removing unwanted algaes that might overtake their crop.

The species of algae that they cultivate is weak and and sensitive to growing conditions, and can easily be overgrazed by other herbivores. That particular algae tends to grow poorly in areas where damselfish aren't around to protect and farm it.

Damselfish will ALSO actively protect Mysidium integrum (little shrimp-like crustacians) in their reef farms, despite eating other similarly sized invertebrates. The mysids are filter feeders, who feed on zooplankton and free-floating algae, and their waste fertilizes the algae farms. Many types of zooplankton can feed on the algae crop, and the mysids prevent that.

While Mysids can be found around the world, the only place you'll find swarms of Musidium integrum is on the algae farms that Damselfish cultivate.

Damselfish treat the little mysids like some homesteaders treat ducks. Ducks eat snails and other insect pests on our crops, and their poop fertilizes the land. The ducks can be eaten, but aren't often, since they're more useful for their services than their meat.

There are SEVERAL species of insect and animal which actively farm. They perform fungiculture and horticulture: deliberately growing and harvesting fungus and plants at a large-scale to feed their population.

Leaf-cutter ants and Termites both chew up plant material and then seed it with a specific type of fungus. The fungus grows, and the termites/ants harvest the mushroom as a food source.

Ambrosia beetles burrow into decaying trees, hollow out little farming rooms, and introduce a specific fungii (the ambrosia fungi), which both adults and larval beetles feed on.

Marsh Periwinkles (a type of snail) cultivates fungus on cordgrass. They wound the plant with their scraping tongue, then defecate into the wound so their preferred fungus will infect it and grow there. They let the fungus grow in the wound a bit, and come back later to eat.

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The base price (For lineart, as seen above)

Bust €15

Half Body €25

Full Body €35 The Extras (adding them over the base price)

Adding colors (plus extra rendering) + €10

Adding background (depends on complexity) + €5 - €20

Extra character + €15

NSFW? + €10

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Note that I like to take some liberties. It will NEVER be anything major; I will not change the character’s design unprompted, but I may adjust the pose slightly to ease the process or tweak the colors to suit my general style better and look. I will discuss this with you, or you may point it out when I send you the first rough sketch. If you’re looking for something specific, we can just discuss it first and then proceed with everything else. If you can't commission me, please reblog this post to support me! I would appreciate it a lot! The money gathered from these commissions will be needed to sustain me during the college year!

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thegenderlesswiththistledownhair

10 months ago

showing my blood places it's never seen before!

1. the world outside my body

2. hhopital

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thegenderlesswiththistledownhair

9 months ago

Even the Raven King - who was not a fairy but an Englishman - had a somewhat regrettable habit of abducting men and women and taking them to live with him in his castle in the Other Lands.

I am Obsessed with this sentence.

- this is one of the first real pieces of information that we are given about the Raven King. Before this, we know 1) he's a magician who lived centuries ago and 2) he's associated with Newcastle. You know, basic stuff. And now we get 'Oh yeah and he used to kidnap people sometimes.'

- it's incredibly creepy, actually. And I think it's quite significant that we get this so early on, that as you go through the book and learn more about the Raven King you've always got the knowledge in the back of your head that this is a man who randomly abducts folks when he fancies it.

- 'who was not a fairy, but an Englishman'. I mean, yeah. Nothing so far to suggest that he might be. All the magicians we've seen and heard of have been human. But the very fact that the author makes a point of telling us this plants the idea that there might *be* reason to mistake the Raven King for a fairy, that maybe he *isn't* quite human.

- he takes them not to his home in Newcastle but to Faerie (or possibly Agrace? I think that also counts as the Other Lands). That's very... well, *fairy* of him. And also ensures that it will be extremely difficult for them to escape and get home (do they want to get home?)

- the fact that we still know so little. Why does he take these people? Is it a romantic thing? Is it for their skill in magic? Something completely different? How willing are they? Does he ever let them go? The footnote ballad gives suggestions but I feel like there's still an awful lot left up to interpretation.

- 'A somewhat regrettable habit' like he tracks mud through the house or something. I'm dying this is so funny 'ah yes this is john uskglass. nice guy. Shame about the whole abduction thing, but hey, nobody's perfect.'

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thegenderlesswiththistledownhair

9 months ago

there is still time. there is still time. until your bones are in the fucking ground there is still time.

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thegenderlesswiththistledownhair

9 months ago

Geto: People say "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy" about the stupidest things I've ever heard. If you wouldn't wish one day of food poisoning on your worst enemies, you don't have enemies.

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thegenderlesswiththistledownhair

8 months ago

"I'm a top" "I'm a bottom" ok?? I'm the quiet you've been longing for??

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thegenderlesswiththistledownhair

7 months ago

Fuck. Those fuckers at the store sold me No Purpose Flour again. What the fuck do I do with this

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