Meditative Bug Pose – Photo: L. Weikel
Bugs
“No bugs were harmed in the writing of this post.”
I came across this striking creature as I was sweeping our porch. For some odd reason, I’ve been noticing and appreciating the peculiar beauty of insects lately. There was something about the pristine, shiny blackness of its body armor and the way its legs come together. Its zen-like posture looked meditative to me. Even as I look at this photograph again, it reminds me of something that I can’t quite articulate.
Curious, I carefully flipped this guy over and was delighted to see the striking nature of its dramatic camouflage. Clearly, from above, this insect is designed to resemble the ‘eyes’ of a much bigger creature. In a way it looks a lot like some butterflies that employ that same natural strategy.
Cool Bug – Photo: L. Weikel
I’m guessing bugs that have eyes this big must taste especially nasty to birds. Either that or they’re simply perceived to be too large a mouthful for most of the predators that might otherwise be interested in eating them.
Anyway, true to my first sentence, I think this beetle (or whatever it was) was playing opossum. Once I turned it over so I could admire its back, it quickly scurried away, making it clear to me that it had a lot of life left to live. Or at the very least, its encounter with me was not the end of the road.
Sign of Late Summer
Last night I once again had our front door open while writing my post. Unlike several evenings before, when a blanket of silence had settled over everything and it seemed like everything in my world was holding its breath, the first katydids of the season announced their presence.
I love the jaggedy zzz zzz zzz of katydids. But alas, as we are constantly and sometimes painfully reminded, time is relentless. Their scritchety noises are a harbinger of the dog days of summer that are right around the corner.
(T-120)