So it rains. And blows. And rains. And storms. And rains some more. And I've caught a cold and don't dare go out and get myself wet and chilled. Last night, in desperation, I went out in the rain and ripped up a couple of plants of lemon balm, which grows wild beside my carport. I filled a vase with wet lemon balm; it even still had a few flowers.
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| Lemon balm flowers, Melissa oficinalis. From base to tip, 8 mm. |
I was hoping to find something alive on the plant, maybe even a spider for Arachtober. And yes, there was a slug.
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| Tiny slug, 1cm long. |
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| And a bunch of green aphids. This one fell off, but I coaxed her back onto a leaf. |
There were no spiders, but a miniature harvestman was hiding behind a leaf.
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| 5mm long, with a stripe down her back. |
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| Heading for a better hiding spot. |
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| Bye! |
I got up this morning and checked the vase. Neither the slug nor the harvestman is anywhere to be found. The aphids were still there.
(And now, do I have a tiny slug wandering around my kitchen? Or eating my house plants? When he shows up, he's going out into the rain again.)
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Pues llueve. Y sopla un viento fuerte. Y llueve. Y hay tempestad. Y llueve aun más. Y a mí me ha pegado una gripa y no me atrevo a salir a empaparme con agua fria. Anoche, ya harta de mis cuatro paredes, salí en la lluvia y arranqué unas plantas del toronjil (hoja de limón) que siempre crece cerca de la puerta.
Llené un frasco con ramas del toronjil. Todavía tenía unas cuantas flores.
Fotos:
- La flor de toronjil. De la base al punto de los pétalos mide 8 mm.
- Una babosa chiquitita, de un cm. de largo.
- Un áfido verde; había varios. Este se había caído; luego le acerqué una hoja y volvió a subir.
- Esperaba alguna araña para el grupo de Arachtober, pero en su lugar, hallé este opilón escondido tras una hoja. Mide 5 mm de cola a cabeza. No medí las patas.
- Aquí se trata de esconder de nuevo.
- —¡Adiós! — me dice.
Me levanté esta mañana y examiné el toronjil de nuevo. Ni la babosa ni el opilón se pueden ver. Pero siguen allí los áfidos.
(Y ahora, ¿tengo una babosa dando vueltas en mi cocina? ¿O se está comiendo mis plantas caseras? Cuando la encuentro, se irá afuera a la lluvia otra vez.)
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