Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The Story continues

The story does not come to an end when the wheel has unraveled fully. The tip of the fern leaf is now pointing to eternity, a beginning of the future and an end of the past.

This slender rice bug, or Leptocorisa chinensis, has somehow mistakenly thought it is hiding right in the middle of the path to the future, but I rather prefer it is standing at the end of the past.

According to Kathleen Phillips, "Americans eat about 20.5 pounds of rice a year, while globally people annually eat about 126 pounds each. Yet a big bite is also taken by insects in the field every year". Both the adults and nymphs of rice bugs feed on endosperm of rice grains at the milking stage.

While cultural measures and biological control agents are used to control the rice bug population, the meadow grasshoppers, spiders and dragonflies prey on them.

And the flow of food chain continues. The same to the story.

22 comments:

George said...

Thanks for an interesting post about the food chain and the path to the future.

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

Rainnie... like a launching pad for awesome aerial fighting machine!! ~bangchik

cherie said...

as long as they save some rice for me, i can live with them, heheh! i love my rice!

Salitype said...

wow! the unravelled fern looks like a bridge from here to there, wherever that maybe.

lovely shots!

yeah! the food chain flows cintinue..

•°°• IcyBC •°°• said...

Wow..Rainfield, this is an interesting post, with beautiful photos..I love rice!

Joanne Olivieri said...

Very informative and interesting Rainfield. I love rice so I can put up with mini creatures :D

Willie a.k.a Reptoz said...

excellent photo

Sharkbytes said...

Wow, those are beautiful. The symmetry is awesome.

Kirigalpoththa said...

Those rice bugs can be found in Sri Lanka too.. in big number.
They have a very characterisitc uinpleasant smell..right?
They destroy quite a lot of crops here too.

BTW, nice close ups!!

Redzlan aka Tabib said...

Beautiful bugs pictures.
"Pucuk Paku" or fiddlehead fern tips used to a food for poor/underprivileged.
Now one small bunch cost RM2.00 and consumed by towkey.

rainfield61 said...

George/Bangchik and Kakdah: The path to the future, where everything starts here.
Sounds very fantastic. lol.

cherie: You better negotiate with them. One for you, and one for me. One for you and one for me....

Salitype: You got it!! We are then in the same requency, at least for this time.

Icy BC: I love rice too. I can't live without it.

rainfield61 said...

Poetic Shutterbug: They are pests to us. We need the help of dragonflies, spiders...... the Nature creates that to control this.

Willie: These are my another pieces of experiment works. I continue to experiment.

Sharkbytes: The symmetry is really awesome, if you followed my earlier post.

Kirigalpoththa: Practically I do not know, but researches tell they have a very characterisitc uinpleasant smell.

Tabib: Is it really cost RM2.00 per small bunch? You give me a clue for an extra earning. Hehehe...

Sharodindu said...

Nice shots with informative lines about!

WiseAcre said...

Nice perspective on the first photo.

Thanks for the bug ID. Now I know where Uncle Ben gets brown rice from.

Rick (Ratty) said...

Very interesting story! I never knew about these rice bugs before. Your pictures are, of course, great.

Tes said...

I have never seen a rice bug before. Interesting post. Lovely photos!

Anonymous said...

I like the last photo. Shows a nice little bug atop a curling leaf.

Have never seen this kind of bug though.

Heather Dugan ( said...

Excellent photos. Insects can be rather fascinating, and I'm intrigued by your fern species. Different than we have here...

rainfield61 said...

Sharodindu: The informative lines make me growing more white hairs. Sigh...

WiseAcre: Can I ask for reward from your Uncle Ben?

Ratty: The story lets me know more on rice bug as you. Is't it funny?

Tes: This is the first time, same as me. I have my first time on many thing after I pay more attention to the nature. Yes, more to come.

Heather Dugan: I have a few fern species over here, but having problem to identify them.

Amila Salgado said...

Very interesting. I vote for more entomological posts like this, Rainfield.

Ayie said...

that's a food cycle for eveybody...not only for humans but insects and other beings as well.

Harshi said...

Wow.. thanks for sharing this interesting piece of knowledge Rain!

And great pics as always.