Dirty

We went camping.

My kids (all of them) kicked the dirt, threw dirt in the air, rolled around in the dirt, inspected the dirt, and wiggled around in the dirt on their tummies. The little Bean got tired, put her head down and plowed through it like a bulldozer hard at work.

They were dusty, dirty, happy, smiling kids. It was such a fun novelty, because as you know, we don't have dirt at home.

I was photographing them, but then...

Then I saw this, on some milkweed which I was innocently checking for Monarch caterpillars.



I swear the only reason I took a photo was because, for the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of those red beetles.

Then I saw more pairs of them. I did not find it comical, and I did not get as close as the minimum focus distance of my almighty telephoto lens would allow, and I did not then zoom in on them because I don't yet have a macro lens (although there is one that I dream of).

A single pretty red beetle caught my eye, as she was sitting on the milkweed. All alone. I did not watch as a boy beetle scrambled up the milkweed plant toward her as she waited, and I certainly did not take yet another photo after he climbed on top of her.

Oh admit it! You would have watched too!

It was bizarre, red beetles were getting busy all over the milkweed.



If you look closely at the picture in the upper left corner of that collage, you can even see their parts!

(and I know you looked)

But that isn't the kind of thing I put on my blog. I always keep it clean. I never write about animals mating, and absolutely never ever talk about chicken sex. Nope, you'll never catch me doing that!

Ummm... nevermind.

Is this better?



After I wrote this up, I got out my Simon and Schuster's Guide to Insects. It's not the best insect identification book in the world, but it will usually do the trick. My heart did not start beating faster as I got to the section on beetles, because I am not a complete nerd. And there it was, in all it's wondrous beauty, the Milkweed Longhorn (Tetraopes basalis). I am also now certain that I have lost my mind, because how in the world could I not remember that!?


Linking up with Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos, and MckMama's Not Me Monday.