Two years ago I got hold of a decent stereoscopic microscope. Ex lab stock that cost a couple of hundred pounds. No good for looking at blood cells or wriggling sperm, but fantastic for examining mini beasts, insect eyes, the details of tiny flowers etc.
Rose and I walked Kate the Dog together this morning, and Rose found a thin stem of plant that had some purple stuff on it. Looked like a kind of mould. Brought it home for a (much) closer look.
Glad we did, because under the microscope the fabulous reality was revealed. What looked like purple mould was in fact hundreds of tiny eggs, and the microscopic caterpillars coiled inside them were busy hatching.
Fantastic.
I've just witnessed an explosion of caterpillar birth, including the pauses as they rested for a while from the effort of chewing through the egg.
Life, eh? Good, innit?
God, I love YouTube!
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Now that is cool. Too bad you couldn't have taken a picture of it to post. :-)
ReplyDeleteSee the YouTube vid, Mel. That's what they look like.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing, but I hope your caterpillars were a little cuter. There are caterpillars, and there are caterpillars.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid my caterpillars were just as ugly as their brothers and sisters in the video, E. I feel a bit paternal towards 'em, though - I did after all watch them being born. So to me, they're little, munching beauties!
ReplyDeleteOK, I can understand that. I apologize for insulting your babies.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting to see the black and brown woolly bears around here that tell us how hard of a winter that we are supposed to have.