We met in the cool and slightly damp, 19 souls of the Kinda Elder Tribe, brimming
with knowledge of our invertebrate world.
We lunched on Kalli’s Grandmas favourite soup- sweet potato and ginger and lime–Yummy! With sweet strawberry and liquorice to entice our contributions, we sailed through the world of the small creatures…
Ladybirds- did you know there were 25 species? Their cloaks of 7 spots representing
the 7 joys and 7 sorrows of Mary. Laid as eggs, they emerge as beetles, and don’t
taste very good! The yellow substance they produce is known as Reflex blood- its an
early warning system. They ladybirds are abroad and about to mate this time of year!
The Common fruit fly caused a commotion due to its bad reputation for depositing
eggs inside of fruits and represent a global food threat… there are strict measures in
place for imports of fruit to protect us.. as 1 larva can destroy a whole shipment of
fruit. However, they are a star in biomedical research and contribute to Nobel prizes!
They are instrumental in research into ageing, neurodivergence, drug addiction and
alcoholism… so we should be thankful to the humble, polyphagous, drosophilae fruit
flies!
I know a sorry tale about a worm- I dissected and mounted a worm at school- poor
things… then to be discarded…and moved onto dogfish, kept in formaldehyde, ooh
the smell, I had to use hand cream after that .. frogs too…
A favourite book from 1954- butterflies and moths…inspired me to keep caterpillars
safe until they pupated, eggs laid underneath leaves…
The ichneumon flies
Cadis’ flies – make a tube in the pond out of whatever is around, maybe pearls?
Lives inside then hatches into lacewings…
In my job there was a silk factory, I used to collect Mulberry leaves for the silk
worms… I remember them boiling— smelled horrible.
A plague of variegated ladybirds in 1976 we think, blown over from the continent,
causing red at the edge of the sea.
Mosquitoes, they bite you better is your blood group is O! They go for those who
breathe ( or breed ) more as they are attracted by carbon dioxide , and love it!
Hang on, I’m A negative… and I get bitten to pieces! It might be that they don’t like
marmite— you get less bites if you take vitamin B tablets and garlic capsules…
I did a biology degree and my partner had to do all the dissection did all the
dissection as I didn’t like it.
I remember the wooden windows, full of hibernating ladybirds, how they love the
corners!
My daughter calling out “Look ladybird”!
A childhood memory, hawthorn bushes covered in moths- you don’t see so much
nowadays.
The ermine moth on the cherry
I hate ladybirds…. loads in the windows and I had to move my B & B guests because
of them! Not my favourite subject at all!
Roman snails in the garden.
I haven’t done much homework but I have done a drawing ( see the Elder books for
beautiful contribution!)
I read up on bumblebees – 250 varieties in the world. The giant golden bumble bee
flying in the Andes.
A slug or snails trail on the roof of the car, munching their way around, their
mouthparts have lots of teeth, they can take your paint off as well as leaving their
trail.. Radiculae, like aliens.
I got bitten once on the Bittern trail 70 on each leg AND I was on the news!
Hornet story- I went one night to bed and heard a humming, couldn’t find the source
until it stung me 4x , it was under my pillow… excruciating pain…
Love them or hate them, insects are essential to the planet and our survival. The
paradigm of the invertebrates
Is there a Halesworth mosquito?
After sharing our stories and memories and invertebrate wisdom, we trialled insect
yoga to keep us warm, tendrils moving in the wind, preying mantis pose, water
boatmen, and bee stretching, followed by caterpillar tapping in a line!
Earwig- Oh (oh noooo!)
Into flower making with Kalli, beautiful creations emerged to attract our bees with
fragrant pollen! The Oak leaf wine making continued with clearing the must and
heating on the fire to dissolve sugar, added lemons and a ceremonial adding of 3
teaspoons of yeast… adding the airlock and hubbling and bubbling commenced!
There were new stakes formed to reinforce the fire pit.
Our playlist of Bug Ball tunes grew form humble Ugly Bug Ball beginnings to Kissing
Bug, Ant Music, Love is like a Butterfly, Fly me to the Moon, Don’t worry Bee happy
and we danced happily waving our flowers at the fireside … contributions to the
playlist still accepted!
Ivy washed up from the inside of the washing up bowl and Kalli drew us together for
closing circle words…Friendship, love, laughter, chat, Wine, Insect yoga, creativity,
warmth, talking sticks, companionship, Bugtastic, Robins, Fe Fi Fo Fum, Whey-hey,
fire food, friends and Folk!
Next week – it’s the Birds and the Bees!
Kinda Forest School 