Adorabubble

When I first came across a pair of Oxystoma pomonae roosting like this, I thought it was sweet but probably aberrant behaviour, but now I know that this is how these tiny weevils prefer to settle down for the winter. Today I photographed at least half a dozen pairs in the same position, always with the male covering the female. The couples I recorded were, of course, just the ones I could see and reach with the camera: my searches tell me that they choose leaves that are at least two metres above the ground, but I have no idea how high up our numerous tall trees they will go. Given that I was shooting above my own head height here, I’m pretty pleased with this capture, and I’d love you to look at it full-screen, if you have the time.

Aside from a bug* safari around the garden, I had a fairly quiet day. I did a little domestic accounting, some cooking for the freezer, and spent a while researching possible replacements for my second camera and for the MX-5 (the camera absorbing far more of my emotional energy than the car, naturally), but the rest of the day somehow slipped away from me. This evening R and I began watching the third series of The Sinner on Netflix, which is horrible. I may give it the benefit of the doubt for a third episode, but it needs to start pulling me in soon, or I’ll be walking away from it without looking back.

*Weevils are beetles (Coleoptera), not bugs (Hemiptera), but let’s try not to be too pedantic about our terminology.