I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme is open-ended. My goal is to write daily posts using each letter of the alphabet in April (Sundays off for good behavior and to make it work for the alphabet). I’ll be writing family stories, memoir or journal prompts, reviews about theatre and food, maybe a visit from my sock puppet characters Millie and Willie, and using photos I’ve taken along the way. Enjoy!

JToday, I have a guest on my blog. Parker, a piano, writing, and theatre student of mine, said she’d take care of J day for me. Last year, she took Y day and gave us some tasty facts about yogurt. Today, we have June Bugs. Take it away, Parker. 

Knocking into windows and hanging out by your porch light, with a hard dark brown, black, or reddish brown shell and six small, spiny legs, you can’t wait for these nasty, overpopulating June bugs to get out of your hair. With summer just around the corner, these little beetles will be swarming around your porch and driveway at dark.

During the day, June bugs normally hide in trees, but come out at dark to feed on the leaves of bushes. The small larvae, usually born in midsummer, live underground for the first two or three years of their lives, feasting on the roots of grasses and small plants.

A female June bug buries herself about two to five inches under the surface and lays about sixty to seventy-five eggs over a period of two weeks. It takes these little eggs approximately one and a half weeks to hatch into grubs, which are a whitish color with brown heads. Adult June bugs are less than one inch long, with long wings and a hard casing on their back. Despite their name, these insects are actually beetles, not bugs, from the Scarabaeidae family. Their subfamily name is Melolonthinae. When winter finally comes around, June bugs will bury themselves in the soil and wait until spring rolls around again.

Thanks, Parker. Sometimes, on warm June evenings when the patio door is open, but the screen door is shut, we hear a tap, tapping like someone is trying to get in. The Biker Chef says that when you’re riding motorcycle and one of those June bugs hits you in the face, it’s like, “Ow, was that a pebble?”

fairiesParker is playing a Woodland Fairie in our local production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Their costumes are much more beautiful than the shell of a June bug. I think their dancing will be much more mesmerizing, as well. If you’re in the area, check out Stage North‘s production. April 21-23. Photo from the Stage North Facebook page. 

One more word about Parker. She is an excellent musician. She often learns a song, then puts her own spin on it. She has even written some of her own music. This year, she took the song, Bittersweet Blues, added to it, changed the ending, and then the title to 7th Street Blues, which we both agreed was better. 

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt: Do you like bugs? Do you have a favorite? Are there ones that really bug you?