As recalled, it all started as an after-rain-shower photo session with the intent being images captured inside raindrops.
Angelkeep often slipped into the macro-mode to stalk the perfect picture from the world of all things miniature. It may have all begun as a turn of the century fascination with miniature paintings being sold on eBay. It certainly had much to do with being gifted a first-ever digital camera from a pair of sons over two decades ago. The number of attempted photos no longer had a financial consideration connected to a session. Shoot 100, keep one. Worked for digital, but terribly expensive with film and prints.
Images flipped upside-down in a raindrop hanging by its watery thread soon became abandoned when a sparklingly tiny insect appeared on a garden bloom. Deep in the throat of an orange daylily hid what looked like the tiniest cricket ever observed. Antenna tip to hind-leg toes, if those were actually called toes, measured half the length of one of the anthers protruding from the center of the daylily. Rounded off, about one inch. However, the antenna (more about that later) had a longer length than the body. Each of two of the hind leg segments also measured more than the insect’s body. Do the math. The body was less than a quarter of an inch, a fifth at best, 4-5 mm, for anyone who mastered metric.
The black antennae (see, I told you I’d get back to an antenna) had white banding. Angelkeep’s research revealed the banded antennae were a dead give-away to an entomologist. Angelkeep confessed as a bug enthusiast but certainly no entomologist. Angelkeep continued in the learning stage. Also enlightened upon was the plural of antenna. Plural spelling antennae referred to bugs, antennas denoted a multiple of an electrical device antenna. Plenty can yet be learned, even at age 75.
Angelkeep will no longer keep you guessing, that’s cruel (not to be confused with the word crewel which refers to beautiful embroidery rather than meanness).
Scudder’s bush katydid nymph.
Angelkeep knew a katydid when spotted. This bug looked more cricket-like than katydid-flavored. Research confirmed this nymph did not look like the adult stage it would evolve to. Katydid’s lived up until a severe frost. Was Angelkeep’s daylily-eating nymph yet alive and kicking three months after its discovery? A macro photo caught it eating a pollen-laden anther. Had it grown to an adult and laid eggs in a row on a leaf edge for overwintering to conclude with a spring hatched new generation?
No doubt this Scudder’s bush katydid nymph had grown up and lost its beautiful attraction. It needed to dull-down, turn fully to misty-green as camouflage among leaves, its survival means. Gone would be the color brilliance of youth. Its marking had to fade, much like a fawn’s spots. What glorious features had the macro photo captured (I thought you’d never ask)?
Primarily the bug, sans antennae, came in bright neon greens of various shades. Some copper highlights appeared on the eyes, thorax shoulders, copper banding on leg joints, and down the spine of the abdomen. The varieties of neon greens (who knew Hooker’s green could exist in neon) appeared on every part of this insect among defined shapes. Segments created the look of a quilter’s masterpiece. Black sometimes outlined the quilt-like pieces, or dotted their centers.
Without the macro photo none of this would have been appreciated. To Angelkeep’s old man naked eye it looked more like an oval emerald gemstone that had been lost from a ring. It certainly would have been elegant enough for Emerald City’s Great Oz. Emerald received mention in Biblical Revelations as one wall’s foundation for the Holy City. Native American mythology, using their earlier word later corrupted to emerald, had a meaning of “the green of growing things.” That certainly described Scudder’s bush katydid nymph to a T.
The thigh of its hind legs grew thicker and bulbous. Each appeared to bear a tattoo. The lime green color, neon of course, held a feather-shaped area with a black background. Inside the black a row of fourteen green shapes looked like dog bones. Angelkeep personally sided a bit anti-tattoo, but nymph thighs looked great. Skeleton-like for Halloween.
To conclude, t’was a good bit said for such a tiny bug being a little bit of nothing.
Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident who, along with his wife Gwen, enjoy their backyard and have named it “Angelkeep.”
