Wee beasties # 47 – Earwig

Q.  What did the earwig say as it fell down the stairs?

A.  Earwig go!!

That was one of the few childhood jokes I remember.  Strange how most of the jokes I recall seemed to involve some poor creature falling down stairs, but anyway …

I also remember seeing lots of earwigs as a child, and I don’t think I’ve seen any for years until walking (yes, you’ve guessed it) in the woods yesterday.

As for the story we all learned as children that earwigs crawl into your ear and lay eggs in your brain, that is an urban myth. Earwigs are harmless! And, in my opinion, a beautiful shade of brown. In fact, they remind me of the colour of a conker (horse chestnut / buckeye).

Also, I found, as you can see, earwigs are very shy and prefer to hide during daylight hours. I had to mess with Nature again for this one, and coax one of them away from their hiding place just long enough to get a picture. Apparently, you can tell the sex of an earwig by its pincers at the end of its tail. Males’ are rounder, and females’ are longer and … well, not so round. That said, in my humble opinion then – pictures 1,2 and 4 are females, and picture 2 is a male.

© Alice through the Macro Lens [2012]

Photo Challenge: 50 Steps …

This challenge is a perfect one for me, because I’m actually really in a bit of a down phase in my mood swingometer, and the furthest I want to walk is about 100 yards to the castle to allow the manic dog some freedom. So, anything that involves a maximum of 50 steps is very welcome.

Just when we thought Spring was finally here in jolly old England, Mother Nature threw in a cruel twist of frost this morning. So – I donned my thermals and ventured 47 steps before I took this:

Click on the photo to get a better resolution. For some reason, they always seem to look a bit blurred on the post page itself.

It’s the same type of Nettle I photographed for Dangerous Liaisons last week. … Those stingers aren’t so scary looking now, are they!

If you want to check out the challenge for yourself, just pop over to Print-Sense Photography and Design’s blog.

Dangerous liaison

How beautiful is this juvenile nettle in the first morning light!

But beware those stinging needles!

© Alice through the Macro Lens [2012]