but asleep in a daffodil blossom, the lady beetle seems more ladylike (think Titania or one of her companions) and less beetlish than the hundreds of his/her kind I dispatched at The Lemon Fair earlier today.
May she slumber soundly.
Showing posts with label multicolored Asian Lady beetle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label multicolored Asian Lady beetle. Show all posts
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Step 1
I hereby admit that I am powerless to control my affection for bugs.
This one has been living in my kitchen since the fall.
Seriously.
It is the only one of its kind still left (at least still visible) in my house.
I know. I have looked.
I have saved it from drowning -- twice.
I have saved it from the dreaded stuck-on-the-back position -- three times.
I have helped it find warm spots, helped it out of the metal slickery sink, and photographed it in various winsome positions.
When multicolored Asian lady beetles arrived in hordes (truly a plague), I scooped and removed them, heartlessly. (I blogged about them, here and here and here.)
But I grew weary of the killing and finally sealed the front door surround with painter's tape. For weeks, I simply used the back door.
Today, at the shop where I work part-time, I collected 57 of this bug's relatives and escorted them outside. I confess they were not all dead, then. I am certain they are now. It is cold today. Very cold. I do not like this duty, but I do it, as they do not add charm to the goods for sale.
I would like to say I know why this one particular beetle is special, but I am not entirely sure. I do know this: it has a strong "will" to live (I do not think it can will in the sense humans believe they can) and I have no stomach for intentional homicide in light of its instincts.
Besides, I enjoy watching it. This morning, as I have done every morning since its arrival, I made my tea and then played search-for-the-lady-beetle. It took me three different trips into the kitchen over an hour and a half before I discovered her tucked right smartly into the top of a small vase.
I hope good things for her, and for me, too, in this joint venture of survival.
This one has been living in my kitchen since the fall.
Seriously.
It is the only one of its kind still left (at least still visible) in my house.
I know. I have looked.
I have saved it from drowning -- twice.
I have saved it from the dreaded stuck-on-the-back position -- three times.
I have helped it find warm spots, helped it out of the metal slickery sink, and photographed it in various winsome positions.
When multicolored Asian lady beetles arrived in hordes (truly a plague), I scooped and removed them, heartlessly. (I blogged about them, here and here and here.)
But I grew weary of the killing and finally sealed the front door surround with painter's tape. For weeks, I simply used the back door.
Today, at the shop where I work part-time, I collected 57 of this bug's relatives and escorted them outside. I confess they were not all dead, then. I am certain they are now. It is cold today. Very cold. I do not like this duty, but I do it, as they do not add charm to the goods for sale.
I would like to say I know why this one particular beetle is special, but I am not entirely sure. I do know this: it has a strong "will" to live (I do not think it can will in the sense humans believe they can) and I have no stomach for intentional homicide in light of its instincts.
Besides, I enjoy watching it. This morning, as I have done every morning since its arrival, I made my tea and then played search-for-the-lady-beetle. It took me three different trips into the kitchen over an hour and a half before I discovered her tucked right smartly into the top of a small vase.
I hope good things for her, and for me, too, in this joint venture of survival.
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