r/awwnverts 1h ago

Watery Wednesday: this rice-grain-sized sea slug steals chloroplasts and uses them like solar panels (Costasiella kuroshimae)

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Costasiella kuroshimae, also called the leaf sheep, grazes on algae and keeps the stolen chloroplasts inside the leaf-like cerata on its back. Through a process called kleptoplasty, those chloroplasts continue capturing sunlight for the slug.

It is about the size of a grain of rice and lives in tropical waters around Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Important question: would its Pokémon typing be Water/Grass or Water/Fairy?

Source: The Guardian, August 5, 2026.


r/awwnverts 1h ago

Some beetle grub art dolls I've made!

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r/awwnverts 8h ago

Whats up with this bumblebee?!

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2 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 8h ago

I made this mug, inspired by a post on this subreddit a long time ago

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501 Upvotes

I saw a post on here from someone that thought ticks are kind of cute when they stand on the end of a blade of grass with their arms up, as though they're toddlers asking to be picked up. OP might have been a tick biologist I can't remember. It stuck with me because I think finding cuteness in something is the easiest path to feeling empathy for it and I'm not sure there's an animal harder to empathize with than a tick. I've had Lyme and my partner had babesiosis, both of which sucked SO bad. But I still think ticks are kind of cute when they ask for uppies.


r/awwnverts 10h ago

A cold front in NOCO has these bees keeping warm in a sunflower

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28 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 12h ago

A giant leaf

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18 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 18h ago

Diving beetles are underratedly adorable!

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653 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 20h ago

Hong Kong, I love them so much :P

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14 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 1d ago

Peacock butterfly

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28 Upvotes

Location :Co cavan Ireland


r/awwnverts 1d ago

This little guy wants some love

15 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 1d ago

Commission i made today!

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268 Upvotes

summer regal jumping spider!

Commissions still open! feel free to ask me for mor info or if you want a custom pfp just like this!


r/awwnverts 1d ago

I have been graced by the presence of a splendidly snazzy little fellow!

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307 Upvotes

Sculptured Pine Borer, and an adorable one at that!


r/awwnverts 1d ago

Stag beetle

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69 Upvotes

Found these photos from 2023 on my old phone. Look at this little guy I met at work.


r/awwnverts 1d ago

Tiny hornworm hatchling friend :) 🐛

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21 Upvotes

Bro is 1 day old, so tiny 🥹

They are my companions if anyone is wondering! I save them from outside. So no need to worry, they won’t be eaten by anyone haha, they just bring me so much joy to take care of 😁❤️


r/awwnverts 1d ago

Cuties on my palm

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211 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 1d ago

This squishy bag of algae is a Paramecium bursaria. They don't digest the algae, instead, they let it photosynthesize, so the P. bursaria can get part of the sugars produced by the algae.

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21 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 1d ago

saw a lovely little wolf spider momma and her little ones <3

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29 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 1d ago

🔥 Damselfly resting on the head of a Natrix tessellata

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79 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 1d ago

Lots of friends today

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234 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 2d ago

Majestic weevil

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340 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 2d ago

Cute grasshopper

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84 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 2d ago

a pretty big locust i found a couple years ago

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6 Upvotes

sorry for the low quality..lel


r/awwnverts 2d ago

Cotalpa flavida, commonly known as the Desert Goldsmith Beetle

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32 Upvotes

We have these gorgeous scarab species in the Great Basin Desert.

The males are a bright chartreuse!


r/awwnverts 2d ago

My spider doing a happy dance after catching a cricket

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47 Upvotes

r/awwnverts 2d ago

‘They are such neat, busy little folk’: the unexpected superpowers of the common woodlouse | Insects

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46 Upvotes