Many Insects make me Happy

In that mixed period of time where one is still basking in the effects of a 4 week December holiday, but at the same time realising this is now over and so gearing up to start a new work year; and also just prior to everyone becoming cognisant of the fact that the glorious rains we were enjoying were about to literally flood us with chaos, I spent an absolutely glorious 3 days with the most fantastic bunch of people who, like myself, are true lovers of that class of creatures classified as insects.

It is the best thing to be able to spend time with people who don’t mind devoting a whole hour looking at just one little insect, who don’t mind how many photo’s of said insect you wish to take, and who while looking at the particular insect get insanely excited about finding another insect not even a ruler’s length away from the current study, which nobody had seen, and then everyone else gets excited about this as well.  And nobody thinks they’re weird, or gives them strange looks, or hints that they should hurry up because it’s time to move on.  It’s So Great!

It is not even unknown for the group to not move further than 10 meters in the space of a morning!

One of the first insects to catch my eye at the beginning of our time together, was a mealybug.  This one was really pretty with it’s candyfloss-like white hairs catching the light.  Mealybugs are a common garden pest, so it was a bit odd for me to see one outside of a garden context.  They pierce the plant tissue and then suck out the sap, eventually killing the plant.  You often know they are there if you see a number of ants running up and down a branch, as they also secrete a substance called honeydew, which is apparently a sweet substance much desired by the ants.  However, just look at how beautiful the light is, like sparkling little diamonds, at the tip of each hair of this mealybug.