"Desperately Seeking:
Hackberry Nipplegall Makers"
(c) constance lee menefee
The flying nipplegall makers
are tiny psyllids -
which are True Bugs with piercing,
sucking mouthparts -
not merely generic y'all "Buqs"
that could be anything our lazy
fear-marinated brains
call clinging, crawling, burrowing,
multi-legged, stinging, flying,
biting (especially biting)
offending annoyances ...
anything is "Bug" when it scares us
or offends primal human aesthetics
by being grubby, smooshy, voiceless,
and chompy (especially chompy) ...
the gally hackberry leaves
are full of warty yurts, each
caused by sap-sucking nymphs
that quite discombobulate
leaf structures
into little bug nest lumps -
growing, swelling, finally hatching
into more bugs that lay eggs
which beget nymphs,
sending nature's Ferris wheel
spinning again!
Collage of three photographs of hackberry nipplegalls - on left is top of leaf and two right photos are underside of leaf
Poem, "Desperately Seeking: Hackberry Nipplegall Makers"
(c) constance lee menefee
... "that quite discombobulate leaf structures into little bug nest lumps -" ...
#Galls
#Inverts
#TrueBugs