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June 1: Aggregation of red and black bugs
Jun. 1st, 2010 06:14 pmHappy June!
I returned to my apartment yesterday and went right out to check my plants, which were doing fine after the dry three-day weekend. I have a pot with two kinds of lavender, and when I went to water it, I discovered a congregation (or aggregation, I think) of little red, black-legged bugs on a leaf. A single leaf; there were no bugs on any other leaf or, in fact, anywhere else on the balcony.
Closeup here
I can imagine them gathering to shoot the evening breeze just as well as I can imagine them mustering for an attack. They're not quite charming, but they did give me a thrill. Since I didn't know them though, couldn't ask them about their intentions, and my primary responsibility is to my plants, I snipped off their leaf and dropped it over the edge of the balcony. I doubt that it hurt them, and for all I know they'll be back today.
I've submitted a query on What's That Bug?, a wonderful site for bug lovers, or amateur entomology nerds if you prefer. (It also seems to be used quite a bit by gardeners concerned about infestations.)
I returned to my apartment yesterday and went right out to check my plants, which were doing fine after the dry three-day weekend. I have a pot with two kinds of lavender, and when I went to water it, I discovered a congregation (or aggregation, I think) of little red, black-legged bugs on a leaf. A single leaf; there were no bugs on any other leaf or, in fact, anywhere else on the balcony.
Closeup here
I can imagine them gathering to shoot the evening breeze just as well as I can imagine them mustering for an attack. They're not quite charming, but they did give me a thrill. Since I didn't know them though, couldn't ask them about their intentions, and my primary responsibility is to my plants, I snipped off their leaf and dropped it over the edge of the balcony. I doubt that it hurt them, and for all I know they'll be back today.
I've submitted a query on What's That Bug?, a wonderful site for bug lovers, or amateur entomology nerds if you prefer. (It also seems to be used quite a bit by gardeners concerned about infestations.)