The patrolling shiny-toothed beetle larva moved in closer to the single, remarkably alone and vulnerable spotted plant bug nymph. The plant bug still hadn’t seen him. The larva was slow, but with the element of surprise, the also slow nymph was going to be his. Yes! He was salivating the way only a shiny-toothed beetle larva can. He had to be careful because the spotted plant bug seemed to be more alert than usual. Had he discovered his presence? No. He didn’t think so. Somehow, though, the spotted meal on legs knew something was up. He was transmitting somehow a threat in the air he was sure. But he was sure the spotted plant bug nymph had nothing on which to base his most-likely vague premonition. He continued to inch forward, closing the gap between himself and his prey.
The first of the back-row plants, had it been other than a plant, would’ve cried out in pain as the spotted plant bug nymph jammed its proboscis into her tissue. As it was, on a level mostly unknown to humankind, the plant was aware and started the processes of making herself less snack-like; her defenses. Too late. The bug had chosen this plant for himself. He decided to call in others of his kind. This plant, this whole row, he thought, would make a nice place to morph into adulthood and raise some kids. He raised his leg and emitted into the air a composition of chemicals. Slowly, heavier than air, the chemicals wafted down to ground level and began to creep and spread out in all directions. The fellow plant bug nymphs were not far away. Soon, all would sense the air, smell the chemicals and proceed to the source. The chemical message, the Dow Memo so to speak: “Found food and shelter, come quick.”
The events taking place happen everyday in some way, shape, or form. Bill and Jenny are aware such things happen, but they don’t see it or even sense it outside of the rare interactions of bugs and people at the bugs’ level. Being humans, skills abound, but some, many, most, of nature’s subtleties go unnoticed. Bill and Jenny, having placed their bug order, felt there was nothing left to do that day and decided to spend the evening in with a good meal and a video. Unbeknownst to them all hell was taking place not eighty feet from where they sat.
The spotted plant bug nymph was awaiting his kin while contentedly sucking away at the defenseless back-row plants. He noticed a particularly plump bit of new growth and headed in that direction.
A little behind and below the relocating nymph the predacious larva was closing the distance between them. Slowly and steadily he crept.
The plant being fed on was growing weaker as the feeding continued. When the spotted plant bug’s family showed up, the entire back-row of plants would succumb. The rest of the row knew something was up-at least on some level they knew.
Bill and Jenny ate, watched their movie and turned in in preparation of another glorious day toiling in their special space.
The spotted plant bug nymph, stabbing and sucking as he went, moved closer to the tender new growth. He was very close now. He pulled himself ahead, the one final lunge that would bring him to dinner’s door. He couldn’t reach it, though. He was stuck somehow. He looked down towards the offending , uncooperative foot. It wasn’t stuck, per se, as he had thought, but rather it was being held by a fierce looking creature. He was not the biggest baddest bug on the block that much was now obvious. The little larva with a death grip on his foot was badder; this was a given. The spotted plant bug nymph was scared. In a last-ditch effort he released another burst of chemicals. This one, unlike the last, didn’t shout that dinner was served. Rather, this chemical release was an alert saying “save me.” This composition, like the last, made its way to the approaching clan of bugs. Alerted, they stepped up their pace.
The larva tugged and strained against the plant bug’s efforts to run. He pulled himself closer to the foot to which he had a death grip. Close enough, in fact, to take that first indescribable bite. The nymph’s exoskeleton was tough and tasteless, but when he broke it, he was rewarded with a flood of nutty-tasting meat.
The plant on which this life and death struggle continued was unaware of the immediacy of the issue. It looked like she would get to grow old enough to sow her seeds, but she didn’t realize all this; not that she could. Her neighbors couldn’t care less.
The Robinson’s slept peacefully.
The spotted plant bug was growing weaker as the larva sucked out its life blood. The chemicals were no longer being aerosolized into the air and the following bug clan was losing its way. Soon they’d turn back unsure of a direction to pursue. He tried to scream, like in the horror movies (which would look pretty mild compared to this scene), but without a vocalization ability, it was useless to try.
The shiny-toothed beetle larva stuffed the last spotted plant bug’s remains into his greedy mandibles. Mmmm. The nymph was delicious. He, himself, would have chemically called to the others to share the feast, but there was no feast, and the others were busy stuffing potato fly eggs into their own mandibles. Anyway, so far there was only one bug on which to feed, and it was nothing but a crumpled sack of nothingness at this point.
Bill and Jenny awoke and prepared breakfast before heading out to their garden. The spotted plant bug was history and his kin had returned to the woods, for now. The very satisfied shiny-toothed beetle larva finished his meal and went back to his scouting duties. The back-row plant that almost fell victim first is feeling lucky today, even though she doesn’t know why exactly. The other back-row plants are just as dumb as ever, but at least they’ll begin drying out and getting healthier now that the caretakers discovered the irrigation problem.
The Robinsons never knew how close they came to losing their back-row plants. Nature wasn’t just busy growing the halitosis bacteria in Bill’s mouth as he slept, she was busy everywhere. In the Robinson’s garden a life and death struggle took place. The Robinsons had no idea. A week later they got another batch of the larvae. The timing was good, too, as the spotted plant bug’s kin, as adults, finally did notice the garden and were making their way towards it. They weren’t following chemicals this time, but it didn’t matter anymore. They were not going to get lost this time. The back-row plants were not as tempting as they used to be now that they were drying out a bit, but they knew they were there. An unmistakable destination. It wouldn’t be as easy, but the plants would provide food, shelter, and a place to raise their kids. Or that’s what they thought. They made it to the back-row’s edge just as a new batch of shiny-toothed beetle larvae were being released.
Looks like it’s going to be another restless night in the garden wilds.
Author’s Closing Note: Please note that a ton of liberties were taken during the composition of this story. Names were changed to protect the guilty and innocent alike. I wanted you to see the depth of nature — 1) our interaction with it and; 2) its interaction with us.
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