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Look a little closer

21/1/2015

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Picture
PictureBalaustium mite adult
Greetings fellow Foxies, 
Alan Kerrigan sent me an intriguing image (above) of a native grasshopper that had a tiny red spot 
near its head that he thought may be a tick. It reminded me of a poem fragment from my youth. 
“Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite ‘em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.“ 

A young friend of the Facebook-twit-tweet generation was flabbergasted to see poetry in Foxypress. I'm grateful that she recognised a poem given the orful speling and gramma I see on some Facebook posts. E.g. ‘for sale portable gym to build up your mussels’. Oops old fart moment. 
Anyway, back to the beastie on the grasshopper; it's an immature balaustium mite, an African immigrant, a vegetarian, and a pest of crops and pastures. Initially they have 6 legs, then 8 later.
 
There are many wonderful things that we don’t look closely enough at to appreciate. 
Consider the blue speck I photographed last week in Foxes Lair (see below). A closer view reveals the exquisite Tall lobelia Lobelia gibbosa that has adapted to flowering in summer by using its fleshy stem to sustain the flowering process. 

Picture
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    Doug Sawkins is a friend of Foxes Lair 

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