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So like a long time ago I had a professor that I absolutely adored. She happened to be Japanese American. She grew up speaking Japanese at home but never really spent a lot of time in Japan. She mostly spoke with other Japanese Americans and read books.

So one day early in her teaching career there’s an exchange student from Japan who’s having a hard time understanding a concept so she explained it to him in Japanese and then he looked absolutely rattled. Like in shock. Pale.

This is how she learned that the way she speaks Japanese makes her sound like a gang member.

Bonus:

Capt. Jack Aubrey - For Anon

CAPTAIN JACK “GOLDILOCKS” AUBREY

Jack took the wheel, and as he did so a last gust from the island staggered the sloop…plucking Jack’s hat from his head and streaming bright yellow hair away to the south-south-west. • ‘We call him Goldilocks in the service, you know, in much the same way as they call me Hellfire Davy, or Thundering Richards…’ ⎈ Patrick O’Brien, Master and Commander

bonus:

Each lacewing spends about 5 days maturing inside its cacoon, and then it cuts an opening in the top and emerges as a fully-developed adult.

Above: a common green lacewing emerging from its cocoon

Green lacewing larvae (genus Chrysopidae) are also known as "aphid lions," because they're voracious predators that often feed on aphids. They've also been known to prey upon caterpillars, leafhoppers, planthoppers, thrips, spiders, mites, and insect eggs, which is why they're widely used to help eradicate pests in agricultural contexts.

Once the lacewing nears the end of its larval stage, it builds a small cacoon out of silk and then tucks itself inside, allowing the pupal phase to begin. Its tiny green body is often partially visible through the thin, loosely-woven walls of the cacoon.

Above: a lacewing developing within its cocoon

These breathtaking photos of a lacewing climbing out of its cacoon were taken by a Danish photographer named Frederik Leck Fischer.

Above: the lacewing preparing to emerge

When the insect initially emerges, its wings and antennae are still compactly folded down against its body, and the wings have a dark, shriveled appearance that makes them almost unrecognizable.

Above: the fully-developed lacewing waiting for its wings to expand

The wings then gradually expand until they have reached their full size, which usually takes about an hour or two.

Above: the same lacewing just a few hours later

Fischer's photographs provide a stunning account of the entire process.

Above: close-up of a common green lacewing

This is a rewritten version of a post that I originally published three years ago.

Sources & More Info:

iNaturalist: Common Green Lacewing

University of California: Family Chrysopidae

Texas A&M: The Green Lacewing

Washington State University: Lacewings

Tennessee State University: Insect Predators: Green Lacewings (PDF)