Once upon a time I was absorbed in a world of bugs, or insects, if I am in any form attempting to appear technical. Witt, Alan and I scrounged hills, trees, logs, meadows, and back stoops to find any sort of bug we could find in order to identify and add to our specimen boxes. An ongoing treasure hunt that brought hours of successful fun at certain times of the year.
Today, and remember this is my fourth go round, Charlotte began her own insect collection. With a find like this dragonfly we could hardly wait to preserve him for bug posterity's sake. So I I pulled out a Riker box and moth ball flakes to begin the process.
I found a few of Witt's old insect collection boxes to show Charlotte and she was suitably impressed. I thought since I had the moth flakes out I might as well refresh them since I could see obvious signs of insect infestation. The moth balls will aid in the prevention of live insects eating your collection of dead bugs for awhile.
Who would not be suitably impressed upon seeing an Eastern Hercules Beetle, even a dead one, I might ask? I still recall when this bug was found on our back stoop one spring morning in 1997. A beautiful thing that remains as a wrinkle in the gray matter only to emerge 13 years later.Now that is a treasure.
