I’ve already shared photos of my pet doves in another post, but today I stumbled upon a picture of an old pet that I wanted to honour: the one who served as the model for my profile icon!
He doesn’t really have a name, as I was keeping about a dozen identical beetles at the time and I could never tell them apart. But they were all special to me 
He had only just emerged from his pupa and become an adult when I took this shot, and I was fascinated by his colours. He was still all soft and looked like a tiny Siamese cat (with a hilariously angry face). His wings can even be seen folded up under the translucent elytra!
Very soon after, he was already hardening up and getting more pigmentation:
And it only takes a few days for that brown to turn to black:
Although there’s still some debate in the scientific world over the sentience of insects, the available evidence was more than enough for me to err on the side of caution and treat these darkling beetles as I would any other animal. I found them to be very gentle and goofy bugs, and they still have a special place in my heart — and somehow they ended up becoming the face and name of several of my online accounts.
Photos of other life stages, for my fellow bug-lovers or anyone curious
Big babies! They love hiding in these cardboard structures. They feel hard and smooth to the touch, like a caterpillar wearing a tiny suit of armor
Brand-new pupa!
Starting to get darker at the tips… (and those little peepers)
Siamese cat mode activated! Emerging soon!