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October 4, 2007

A Little Bug


7 comments:

Alison said...

Thats an awesome pic, I love his colourings and its amazing how they cling on like that , so lightweight that blade of grass isnt even bending ,
thanks for posting it, I remember catching so many of those things in a jar when I was small, always loved the ladybugs ...excuse my ignorance but is that a ladybird ( uk name ) as I always thought of them as being red with black spots but I am so dim on these things ! well whatever he is he is handsome !

Mike said...

Hope you clicked on the smaller pic to view the larger one; they're not the best...I really need a better camera for that sort of macro shot.

Yes, I think it's a ladybug, but green. When I was in school, we had to catch 20 diff. species of bug and I found one with some number of spots and other differences between the regular ones. Come to find out, it was hundreds and hundreds of miles from its normal territory.

Researching that, I found out there are quite a few different types of these bugs; as I said, they might look the same, but they have diff. numbers of spots.

I saw that as I was taking some pics of the tiny flowers. I was lucky to get the two that were even that good as it kept flitting around from one blade of grass to the next.

When I was a child and playing outside, sometimes one would alight on me. It was considered bad luck to kill one (and they're beneficial for the most part, I think) and as you would gently blow it off, you'd say:

"Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home.
Your house is on fire and your children will burn!"

Alison said...

' Ladybird Ladybird where have you been.
Ive been to London to visit the Queen '.....

oh I know there is another line to this little schoolyard rhyme but my old brain cant remember the rest of the lines !!! ( :

Barb said...

Love the macro shots you've been sharing.

I remember a childhood version of Alison's Rhyme but it was about pussycat not a ladybird.

Pussy cat, pussy cat,
Where have you been?
I've been to London to visit the Queen.
Pussy cat, pussy cat,
What did you do there?
I frightened a little mouse under the chair.


By the by, I beleive the bug in the picture is a stripped cucumber beetle.

Mike said...

I do believe you are correct about the species of bug, come to think of it. I bet it's in the same classification, kin to ladybugs, like pirahnas (spelling?) are kin to Oscars, both cichlids.

I want a new camera.

Alison said...

LOL...
Hi Barb
not only are you right about the species of the bug , but I have to admit your got the rhyme correct to....now I am on the way to the doc to get something to help my memory out !! oh how could I confuse a cat and a bug......its all coming back to me now :o)
well thanks for reminding me anyhow !

Barb said...

I'm such a know it all :-S