For as much as I like watching life progress in the terrariums, it always wigs me out a little when I look in to find something flying around that wasn't there a day earlier.

Making a terrific buzzing noise, two of these critters were flying around the tank. One did a nose-dive straight into a millipede who reacted very negatively, thrashing about and running across the tank to escape the assault. My thoughts instantly thought I was dealing wasps, but after closer inspection, I determined the insects were simple flies.

Given their bright coloring and red eyes, I'm pretty convinced they are long-legged flies (Condylostylus {one of many potential species}). Like many insects that appear seemingly out of nowhere, I have no idea when I would have pulled in their eggs or larva. Likewise, the flies appear to have died off as quickly as they arrived, unless they have simply been hiding from me the past couple days (although I doubt the optimistic thought holds true).

As to why one dove on the millipede, and why the millipede reacted so negatively, I couldn't tell you. I don't think they could harm the thick-shelled insects; I'm guessing it was more just a random flight accident. And, at the time, perhaps the millipede was a freaked out as I was.

This is pretty nifty, I think.

A Sow Bug (or Pill Bug) was sitting on an old leaf that I had provided as food to the slugs and millipedes in the terrarium. The leaf looked dried and decayed, but it was when I zoomed in that I noticed just how interesting the remaining pattern was.

It would appear that the insects have a desirable portion of leaves they like to eat, leaving a skeletal remain that has gone undisturbed for weeks now.

Each leaf in the tank is like this now, stripped down to its bare form. I don't know why the insects and slugs won't eat the veins; perhaps it would be like eating the bone of a steak...in which case, I guess insects need pet dogs to finish the remains.

Lack of tiny leaf-eating dogs notwithstanding, this is just another remarkable find in the ever compelling terrarium for me.

I found a beetle at work a week or so ago. I brought it home and took a number of pictures before inserting the insect into Terrarium 2, but annoyingly had the aperture set poorly and got a bunch of shots of a half blurry bug.

Tonight, I found a beetle a floor away from the terrarium. Again, I took it upstairs and took some shots of it. After studying its beautiful markings, I'm now convinced it is the same beetle, especially as it seems to walk with a small limp and the second picture above seems to show an odd growth or damage to its body.

I'm under no delusion that most of the creatures in the terrariums could escape if they wanted to. With the exception of the millipedes, which seem drastically clumsy compared to most insects, they all scurry with such grace that I think the only thing that holds them in the tank is the pleasant environment.

But, apparently the above pictured beetle didn't feel the same way. And, as if knowing its eventual fate, it leaped from the table where it was getting its picture taken and easily escaped by way of the back room carpet.

I'll look for it next week downstairs again...

It was small, pale, and not moving, and I actually thought it was shed remains. On its back, the millipede played dead well, but finally it thrashed and started crawling around.

Cute, however, I found it to be, and gently put him back in the terrarium.

I'm thinking it is a juvenile house centipede. I've found quite a few in our bathroom upstairs, all of which now inhabit Terrarium 2. We'll see how they grow.

I didn't mean to kill it. In all fairness, I think it was probably pretty close to dead when I captured it to put it in Terrarium 2 (a start-up terrarium that I haven't exactly decided what to raise in it yet...Terrarium 1 seems content with millipedes and slugs (and a few hijack earthworms and other very tiny critters)).

The thing is, it did a fabulous Hollywood death, rolling on its back, kicking its legs, and giving out one final gasp of life. I've had insects do this before; they fake death, then a few minutes later (once I've stopped watching) they scurry away. And, once before, a similar crazed death was displayed for me by an insect which I totally fell for. So, I tossed this guy in Terrarium 2, thinking it was still alive and would enjoy the new digs once it gave up the charade.

The next day, it was still dead. Or still playing dead. But I'm pretty sure it didn't have a 24 hour memory for such things.

So, what does one do with a dead Silverfish. I took pictures.

But a side question: if anybody has any idea where bugs learned such dramatic ways of faking their deaths, please let me know. I'm working under the theory that there is some Tom Cruise Acting School for Insects out there; I just need to find it.

Very tiny guy crawling up the glass; it was probably no wider than the diameter than a tootsie-roll lollipop stick (yeah, guess what I just ate). I thought the macro shot was fairly decent.

Or possibly a pill bug. When it was younger, I would have said Sow Bug, but now I'm not so sure.

Sitting fees are as cheap as a finger covered in slime.

Sometimes the neatest thing about the terrarium is what I can't see.

With the macro lens, I took a shot at this little crevasse in the earth because I saw a small beetle run for shelter here. As I examined the image closely, I found the following.

That would be, I believe, a very young millipede.

I'm a little more cautious about letting slugs walk on my fingers than I am the millipedes. Where as the 'pedes feel like tanks crawling about, the slugs always give me the impression that one wrong move will turn them into a squished mess.

Well, an even bigger squished mess, I guess you could say...

Well, perhaps not, but dang tiny. I couldn't even tell it was a spider until I looked at the closeup.

Every time I look in the terrarium, I see an abundance of life.

The slugs have taken over, and signs of new ones appear every day.

Some, like this tiny one, like hovering near the top of the tank; when I remove the lid, they are right on the edge. I haven't noticed any escaped creatures, but while the lid has a snug fit, I suspect they could slide through if they really wanted to.

Speaking of life, peek to the lower-left of this shot and see the small wormish creature crawling away. I'm thinking it is a baby millipede, although I'm not positive.

It is possible he doesn't realize it is still winter. About a month ago, all of the large millipedes disappeared, burrowing underground. Recently, one guy reappeared and has been munching moss every evening.

Perhaps he missed having his picture taken.

I'm not proud of the fact that the first time I used a flash to take this guy's picture, he fell right off the tiny moss growth he was crawling up.

But, right back on the horse he went, as they say.

Lots of stuff I wasn't expecting when I put the tank together.

I've already mentioned the slugs, but it appears more babies are being born by the day.

This one seems to be somewhere between egg and born. I need to read up more on the birthing of slugs to know for sure.

Spiders, of course, are everywhere, but I'm glad to see them in the tank. Hopefully there are enough ants and small insects to keep them healthy.

It would seem that, when I collected soil for my terrarium, I must have captured some slug eggs.

I already posted a shot of one a few days ago that has grown quickly, but I've noticed at least two tiny guys. They look like little more than specs on the side of the tank's glass, but when observed closely, they are very distinctive slugs.

It would appear the terrarium is going to have a full population.