The rose bug rescue

Just a quick post tonight, as I’m fighting off a bug and need to put my head on the pillow earlier than the usual midnight.

Speaking of bugs… The roses are in full bloom in the garden. Arranging some in a vase this morning, I discovered that one flower in particular appeared to be occupied by small insects. I’m new to gardening, so I have no idea what kind of insects they were (still are, I hope) although I do know they’re not aphids.

I was apologetic to the first few that crawled out of the petals, but when the whole family appeared, I was mortified. An entire extended family of bugs, senior and junior, shot out of rose.

What should have been 5 minutes of gathering a few roses from the garden turned into a half hour rescue mission. I placed them carefully, or in some cases shook them off the Telecom bill which served as the rescue vehicle, back onto the same rose bush.

As I’ve said, I can’t identify them for you (they certainly didn’t stop for introductions), perhaps they’ve been eating the few aphids I did spot on the beautiful pale pink rose. Whatever service they perform in this eco-system, I’m sure they do a fine job and I hope they’re settling into their new home.

If anyone can identify this insect, please let me know!

8 thoughts on “The rose bug rescue

  1. Yes you do take amazing photographs and you write beautifully. looking forward to the first Nourisher event tomorrow night

  2. Lovely to hear from you Sarah and thank you so much for reading this blog. I am sure that your little ones keep your life full of excitement! Besides which, I can assure you, we all have days of trudging.

  3. Thank you lovely Stefania. They are indeed earwigs. And thank you to Massey University’s guide to soil bugs for the following information…

    Earwigs – Order Dermaptera (Maori hiore kakati)

    Earwigs are elongate, slender, flattened insects with a dark body and prominent forceps-like cerci at the end of the abdomen. Some earwigs have short, leathery front wings under which transparent hind wings are hidden, other are wingless. There are over 20 species in New Zealand, most of them native (Crowe, 2002). Earwigs are nocturnal and omnivorous, feeding on all sorts of dead plant and animal matter, as well as on small invertebrates. Female earwigs show parental care, guarding their eggs in an underground nest. Earwigs have incomplete metamorphosis, so the juvenile earwigs look like miniature adults. Earwigs do not bite, and do not enter people’s ears, but may pinch the finger with their cerci.

  4. Hi lovely Tink, it looks like an earwig to me. But I’m not so sure they’re are on the side of your roses – they used to live in our fuschia bush at home and sup on the nectar of the flowers. They also bite. Not sure whether they’ll be eating the aphids who are supping on the sap.

    Speaking of bugs, I hope you are feeling better soon. Much love,

    Stefania

  5. Pretty sure that is a weevil. We get them all the time in the herbs. Loving the Blog Tink, you are a great writer and I am living vicariously through your various projects as I trudge through life!

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