It being the approach to the season when reason goes out of the window for a few weeks, we purchased 2.5 kilos of Moroccan Clementines... sorry, I bought... Pauline said "Alright then, go on!"
Now you might be thinking that this should be on "de la Bonne Bouffe"... but no it belongs here... my precious Clemmies have had a '49er at work.
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| There's something crawling on my box! |
Winter is the season when all species hibernate to one extent or the other... some like us 'oomans' just changing our way of life for cosy armchairs, radio, records and books... some, like the Cranes, Swallows and Turtle Doves seek warmer climes... but some like bats and moths shut themselves down and wait for warmth... as do Shield Bugs.
So now is the time when Shield Bugs come into our lives... and if you have uplighters with halogen bulbs in they rapidly live up to their American name of Stink Bug as they suicidally fry themselves.
But back to the '49er... it had found its goldmine... one of my clementines.
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| You can see his "beak" piercing the skin... |
Cheeky b'stard!
I thought that he had probably struck oil rather than gold... orange oil.
That's all okay then...
I don't eat the skin...
let it tank up before hibernating.
Or kill itself on 'cleaning fluid'...
we seem to have the new Sloe-Wino Bug [Dolycoris minesashotus] Punaise d'alchool...
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| Sunk right in... drinking Kia-Ora... |
He was still there in the morning... but it was immediately obvious that he wasn't drink oil any more... his 'beak' was sunk much deeper into the clementine... was he still alive?
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| A side shot of him taking a short shot!! |
I stroked an antenna with the tip of a biro... and the wino waved a rear leg at me as if to say "G'way!Cntyoushee I'mbisshy"...
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| Just before he left... |
"No, little fellow, you are now drinking MY clementine... " was my response as I touched his nose with the same biro... it was fascinating to watch the beak retract and then fold under the head.
With all the dignity he could muster he slowly and carefully marched off the fruit!
For those interested, he was in fact a Sloe Bug [Dolycoris baccarum]... there is no French name for him... he's just another punaise... but at least the Latin name points toward his love of a drink!!
2 comments:
Great pics. Now, well tanked up, if he fries himself it should smell of orange!!!!
And you do come over our way tomorrow, call in for a spot of lunch if you've time. Just let us know..
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