Normally, I would have simply stepped over her, because, you know, she's a bug. She's a big and ugly one at that. (Hissy, cover your little bug ears). Tuesday morning was different however, because on Thursday, MasterSeven was due to give a talk on an insect, and in traditional procrastinating mum fashion, we still hadn't really decided on a bug to present in class. The praying mantis was a contender, but the female's propensity for eating her mate kind of made me squeamish about that choice. Serendipity tipped the scale in favour of the Rhinoceros Beetle as our first choice.
So here was Hissy. I picked her up with a large dry leaf, with my fingers placed as far away from the bug as possible. Every time I took a step, she hissed evilly at me, almost forcing me to drop her and the leaf and run very fast in the other direction. I persevered though and eventually happened upon a white paper bag that probably held a Chiko roll not so long before. Whew! That was better, now I could walk with free movement and not worry that she would, heaven forbid, touch me or worse yet, fly into my ear and suck my brains out.
The boys were fascinated with Hissy. We transferred her from her takeaway bag to a takeaway container with holes poked in the lid. I was sure that she would die any minute, and then we would be taking a bug corpse into class on Thursday. She spent a lot of time on her back with legs in the air.
At one point, I had visions of the ever-present ants coming into her container and swarming around her. It gave me the heebie jeebies, so I put her in a sealed container. She started waving her legs in the air frantically, and I suspected that she wasn't dead yet, and that I was suffocating her. Gack! I quickly tipped her back into her ventilated container.
OK, so she was still alive. I dripped a couple of drips of water into her lid skylights. There. She wouldn't die of thirst. If this bug was going to die, it wasn't going to be because of my neglect.
The next day she started to perk up a bit. By the time it was time to do our report she was spending more time upright and less time doing her death throes. During our research for our report (Wikipedia is our friend), we found out the following:
- Rhinoceros Beetles like to eat nectar, plant sap and fruit.
- They are kept as pets in some Asian countries and males are used for gambling, like cock fights, but with Rhino Beetles.
- Their larvae have more protein than chicken or beef and might one day become a good source of people food.
- They are pests and destroy the coconut palm.
- They are nocturnal.
- Only the males have horns, so our little specimen is definitely a girl.
- They are harmless; they can't bite or sting...or suck your brains out.
- When disturbed, they make hissing sounds by rubbing their abdomen against the tips of their wings.
- They can fly, but are not very good at it. Maybe Hissy was just having a bad day at flying when I found her?
So, we started to feed her bits of grape. She loves grapes. I have gone to her container to find only the skins left. She also loves to burrow in the grass that the boys had put in her container, intended as food. Isn't that what all kids think, that any creature they find half dead likes to eat grass? Bird or bug, it doesn't matter, just feed it some grass. Anyway, our bug likes grapes, but I am diligent in cleaning out her container everyday, because I don't want her to get drunk on grapes that have fermented. She would be on her back with her legs in the air for an entirely different reason if that were to happen*.
When it seemed like the bug was going to stick around a while, we decided to give her a name. The boys decided on Hissy; original that is.
So why am I grateful for a bug? Well, it's for two reasons:
When it seemed like the bug was going to stick around a while, we decided to give her a name. The boys decided on Hissy; original that is.
So why am I grateful for a bug? Well, it's for two reasons:
- Thanks to Hissy, we managed to pull a report on an insect out of our proverbial bottoms--I think I am teaching my son my own appalling study habits.
and
- This has shut the boys up about getting a pet, because for now, they are happy with Hissy. Just don't tell our landlord OK? There is a strictly no pets policy on our lease agreement. If they catch us, Rhino Beetles are a good source of protein, so we can just tell them she's lunch (Trinity Bay Bugs with Salad...appetising, no?). All together now: Ewwwww!!
I'm taking part in another Grateful Saturday with Maxabella Loves. Head on over to follow her rules and link up!
*I mean drunk, not promiscuous, people!
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