I've decided this week is Special Interest Week.

CW: Many pictures of beetles!

I found this series of prompts while reading Umasking Autism by Devon Price and I've been excited to do it. So I've decided that this week is Special Interest Week. I don't think there's ever been an official week for it. So if you're interested maybe it could be special interest week for you too. The prompts are designed to give you some space to explore and share any special interest you may have had, old or new. And perhaps think of some of them in a new light. You can find the prompts here Special Interest Week Prompts.

Day One: What is your oldest Special Interest?

Drawing of a beetle I saw in my garden one day. To this day I could not get a positive ID. It's limbs glinted as if plated in beads of gold and it's carapice looked mottled like the bark of a grey birch tree. It sat on my leg for a while and I got a good look at it enough to make this drawing. The blues here were more muted as a gray in reality.

Beetles!!!

It took me a bit to think this one over but I would have to say that it would have to be beetles! I spent a lot of my younger years growing up in a southern sunny state here in the states that was just full of them. I would spend a lot of my time outside watching the beetles and marveling at how varied they were. Their shiny carapaces reflecting back an array of beautiful and stunning colors. The various armorments and mandibles, and don't get me started about their elytra!

Lovely photo of a stag beetle with it's head up high by Pablo Baeyens published under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

Stag beetles were my first love, I was mystifyed at a creature that looked so defensible and so well equipped for battle. One of my favorite activites was to watch when these would get in fights with other beetles, particularly going up against the well armoured Eastern Hercules

The Eastern Hercules, photo by Judy Gallagher and shared under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0. I love their spots. :3

I don't care much for watching bugs fight it out these days but it was a fascination as a child. I guess I share more in common with pokemon creator Satoshi Taijri than I would have thought.

I always forget that ladybugs are beetles. And that their full name is actually the Ladybird Beetle. I think I'm going to call them that from now on. Have you seen glow worms?

A glowworm beetle, photo by Geoff Gallice and shared under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0. Might possibly be the coolest beetle I have ever seen. Look at those feathery antennae!!! :3

Perhaps my favorite beetle however is the weevil. I forget these lil guys are beetles sometimes too. But every time I see one I am delighted. Seriously, go look at some weevils. They have such interesting faces and I cannot get enough of them!

An Acorn weevil sitting on a leaf, photo by Mathias Krumbholz and shared under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.. I just looove their long snouts!

I could spend all of the remaining space on my sites storage sharing pictures of beetles with you. Instead I would like to point your attention to Lichnanthe vulpina. Otherwise known as the Bumblebee Scarab Beetle. I wasn't able to find a creative commons photo of this so I'm just going to have to point you to a site for you to see yourself. It's well worth the look!

Photo of a Bumblebee Scarab Beetle on insectidentification.com

Did you know the elytra from Minecraft are based off of the beetles wings? Beetles and bugs in general still interest me a lot! It was fun to look back through some of my favorites.

I hope you run into some interesting bugs soon (as long as you're not scared of them, but if you are you probably aren't reading this!

-Clareon The Critter