The Pale Green Insect

 

The insect I pulled from the water bucket this morning

Even with all the rain we had last night, the water bucket that the donkeys and sheep drink from was only half full.  Yellow and brown leaves from the apple tree and an apple floated on the surface. Water makes for a soft landing so the apple was unbruised.  I plucked it out to add to my applesauce collection.

But before I did that, I gently put one finger just below the surface of the water and under the belly of a pale green insect that was floating there.  The bug gripped its needle-tip thin legs onto my fingertip, lifting its body up and giving the tiniest shake.

I’m not sure what the bug is, but I do this for any of the insects in need.  Even the flies that I would squish with a flyswatter if they were on my kitchen counter.

For the bees and wasps, I use a leaf instead of my finger.  I don’t want to scare them into stinging me.

If the sun is out, I make sure to place the insect in its light so the bug can dry quickly.  This cloudy morning I let the almost translucent bug walk off my finger onto the fence post to dry off.

By the time I finished mucking out the barn, it was gone.

A portrait of the pale green insect that I took with my macro lens.

 

6 thoughts on “The Pale Green Insect

  1. Susan: thank you for the ID. I have not killed any of the daily appearance of slugs, and houseplants I took outside for the summer do not have a single unmarred leaf. I have mixed feelings about that. Flies are being swatted, but spiders get taken outside.

    1. It’s an interesting thing Sharon. I usually leave a few plants to be eaten and hope the insects leave the rest alone. There’s a balance, but I’m not sure what it is exactly or how to achieve it.

  2. I have read farmers keep rows of weeds between fields for the insects to have a food source other than their crops. The endless slugs are because this summer was so wet, see more slugs in a week than I have seen in my whole life. Was going to transplant milkweed but they are filled with aphids.

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