In need of another Bug-Fix

The other day, as my children ate their breakfast at the dining room table and I stood at the window looking out onto a snow covered garden, I said out loud "oh I can't wait for Spring - I'm missing the bugs".

I spoke too soon... that morning as I combed through Holly's hair I found... a nit egg... and then we had a tummy bug. That was really not what I meant.

However, since then I have seen - a caterpillar and a Lacewing - that's more like it! I reckon the caterpillar came into the house courtesy of my gardener husband's work clothes. I first noticed it at around 9:30am, crawling across the ceiling from the corner of the room. I wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't put it outside - that was just a death sentence in the middle of winter, so I let it crawl aimlessly and it caught my eye every time I walked under it.

At around 5pm we sat down to eat dinner and I looked up and saw that it was heading straight for the smoke alarm. By the time we'd finished eating, it had disappeared, presumably into the smoke alarm! Not sure if that's a good thing or not...

Lacewings are beautiful creatures, like little fairies - their wings are so delicate, just like lace or net. The females have a very nifty way of protecting their eggs from being predated by crawling insects, such as ants. An egg laid directly on a leaf is asking for trouble, so a female lacewing produces a drop of silk which then hardens as it is stretched to make a long thin stalk. Then an individual egg is laid on the end, suspended in mid air, safely away from predators! Genius.

Roll on Summer!