WARNINGThe images here may be disturbing for some viewers. Unsanitary imagery, insects and pests, unsettling environments, and dream related content are included. Viewer’s discretion advised.
I saw a poll for "Tumblr's Second Annual Bug Race" that had six bug emoji options, but all of the bugs were stuff like lady bugs and caterpillars and it didn't have any of the bugs that I like, so I'm holding my own bug competition.
when observing hissing cockroaches, you might have noticed a few brown specks scrambling over their backs or gathered in the seams of their exoskeleton. they are Androlaelaps schaeferi, a species of mite that lives its whole lifespan onboard a giant cockroach host! the commensal A. schaeferi isn’t a parasite, though, and takes its meals from its hosts’ own. if the mite’s mooching helps clean where the roach itself can’t, the relationship might even be considered mutualism, where both species benefit.
on the white of a freshly molted roach, the mites are particularly conspicuous, and even the pale juveniles stand out.