What's That Bug? E.O. Wilson turns everyone into a kid again

E.O. Wilson brakes for bugs.*

So, during the leg of the tour that headed toward Yosemite Falls,

the train of folks halted completely for:

 A spider.

errrt! (brakes squeaking)

What's that bug?

Out came the field guide.

(afraid I missed the answer...)

And, while the book was out,

they looked up a beetle they'd seen earlier.

Next, en route to Yosemite Falls, they found ants on a cedar tree.

errrrt! Train stops again.

What's that bug?

Next, after the Yosemite Falls stop, there's a lunch break.

Someone noticed a bug on a woman's pant leg.

Down goes the sandwich, up goes the pant leg.

What's that bug?

(notice all the delighted smiles around him)

Gently holding the creature, chatting, folks getting a peek....

Apparently, it was a recently emerged adult stonefly.

Then, visit winding down,

we're sitting in an NPS meeting room at headquarters.

And, of course...

What's that bug?

An ant.

I think it was a house ant.

Peering at the ant, now crawling on the table.

So delightful.

Curiosity about the world around him,

delight in nature,

sharing with other people,

all contribute to E.O.-Wilson-as-Pied-Piper,

leading the adults around,

who in very short order

turn into little kids,

looking at the bugs on the ground.

Epitomizing a budding naturalist.

Kind of like when E.O. Wilson was a kid,

searching through the fields,

dropping to his knees,

looking at the bugs on the ground,

and wondering

What's that bug?

Who knows what can become of such small moments.

=)

bb

*fyi using the term "bug" super loosely. Not referring to actual bugs, members of the order hemiptera. Can I just say that looking that up, to get the link and confirm that hemiptera is the name for bugs, it MADE my DAY that I remembered that right? =) Doesn't take much.