In Which Ants Show Their Colors And We Are Most Pleased

The insect world is full of wonders, true,
And beauty, and of things so passing strange
As make us wonder who is fooling who
(I know that should be "whom" but I must change
The case to fit the rhyme scheme sometimes). Take
These ants, who show we all are what we eat.
Three cheers to Dr. Babu (I can't make
A name like that up!), for his passing sweet
Idea to show their abdomens take on
The colors of their food, and also bring
Some loveliness to all of us. I'll fawn
O'er these great images until something
As pretty catches my attention - though
'Twill have to be a marvel, even so!

Of Slime, Zappa, Ants And Worms

Frank Zappa wrote a song about the slime

That comes through one's own television set.

The Simpsons had Kent Brockman, that one time

Proclaiming our ant overlords no threat.

Comes now the news that down in fair Raleigh

(That's Raleigh, not R'lyeh) there dwells a blob

Down in the sewer, pulsating. Call me

A sucker for a creature tale, but it's my job

To celebrate the weird and to explain

Here that it's really just some worms without

Ought to coil 'round but one another. Fain

Am I, too, in faith to point this out:

We've known of Argentine ants' teeming spread

All 'round the world since '02. Use your head!

In Which I Celebrate A Certain Member of the Lycaenidae Family

It makes me glad when insects hit the news,
No matter if that news is good or bad.
This week a caterpillar chased my blues
Away when it became the latest fad.
It lies in wait for an ant hunting group,
And dabs itself with just the tricksy scent
To cause the ants to scream a frightened whoop
(A metaphor) and say "THAT's where you went,
You silly queen, we'd better get you home
And feed you up and keep you safe and sound!"
Henceforce, not only does this cuckoo roam
At will within the anthill underground,
And dine on choicest ant-food as it likes,
But it's fed larvae when disaster strikes.