Bug Night #3: Of all of the gin petri dishes in all of the laboratories…

Even in denatured alcohol, her appearance had not lost its stunning impact.

“Once I was a a fresh and supple pupa; a dewy ingénue with my entire life—a staggering fifteen days—ahead of me,” she said, “Now, it ends like this with a frustrated volunteer trying in vain to identify me.”

“But, I, um,” the volunteer started, “I’m bad with head capsules, ma’am, I, umm…”

“Ma’am?,” she hissed indignantly, “Stop your blubbering and look at tab nine in Macroinvertebrates of the Upper Merrimack. I used to be famous throughout the watershed and now you, a mere volunteer, don’t even recognize me?”

The volunteer looked up from his stereo microscope and frantically tried to get the attention of one of the white-coated Bug Night proctors swishing through the laboratory. Amazingly, everyone else’s heads were down, seemingly content with their own identifications, which did not seem nearly as demanding as his own.

“It’s as plain as the forceps in your trembling hand,” the bug continued, “I am…”

Just then, one of the white-coats startled him by shouting the one-hour warning. He had only looked away for a second and when he tried to find her—whoever she was—again in his petri dish, she was gone.

As time goes by, you realize that all that you really want to do is identify macroinvertebrates. Remember, we’ll always have Bug Nights.

Bug Night begins at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, February 8, 2017. If you arrive a little late, knock on the door or laboratory windows with your pedipalps. A white-coat or one of your peers will assist you with your entry.