Friday, August 14, 2009

June beetles

The June bugs are out and about. More accurately, Cotinis nitida, the Green June beetle. Today is the first day I've seen them and it's the middle of August. The sight of June bugs takes me back to childhood. I recall seeing them as a boy, catching them, feeling their prickly feet stabbing at my palm, examining them, watching them buzz away - clumsy, near-sighted fliers thudding into houses and cars. They're supposed to crawl out of their underground homes in June. Hence the name. Why haven't they appeared before now? Is it a global warming thing? Is it climate change? Is Obama behind it? Is the CIA screwing with the June bugs? Or is the CIA screwing with the calendar? Perhaps the June bugs are on time, and it's us who are two months late.

Wikipedia says "Junebug is a common nickname for men who are juniors born in the southern United States." I don't think I've ever met anyone nicknamed "Junebug". Maybe it's a local thing.

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