Flowers for a Bug

Oleo’s story continues

It’s been 36 hours and Oleo is still alive.

If you missed the first part of this story, you can read it here:

That story ended about this time last night, 10:00 pm. Oleo spent the night in a plant that I can’t name in my office/guest room. He was still alive in the morning.

Now what??

Well, there wasn’t much I could do other than find an oleander, the mainstay of a polka-dot wasp moth’s diet, for him to consume. Turns out there aren’t many of them for sale here.

You see, oleanders are highly poisonous. We have some locally, ones planted years ago, but now few nurseries carry them due to their toxicity. And, I am working 11-hour days and don’t have time to go in search of a highly toxic plant. Not to mention, I read that if a bug dines on an oleander and a cat or dog ingests that bug, said cat or dog might die.

Yeah, no oleanders in my house, thank you very much!

Now what??

I read online — and you know it’s true if you read it online — that polka-dot wasp moths will also eat roses (petals, buds, leaves, stems???) if oleanders are not available.

I called home from work at 7 pm and asked Ben if Oleo was still alive. Ben said he was, but Oleo had flown from the plant I gave him as a home to the glass on the office/bedroom door that leads outside.

Oh, no! I thought, It’s going to get into the 20s tonight. He’ll freeze on the glass!

I left work right then — 7 pm — and drove to a local grocery store and bought my bug a vase of roses.

Let me write that again — I bought my bug a vase of roses!

As soon as I arrived home, I rushed into the office/guest room and held the roses up to the door glass where Oleo was perched. At first, he was indifferent, as many are when offered roses. Then, he climbed upon a rose, accepting the gift with a certain nonchalance that may be indicative of bugs — I really don’t know.

I am unsure, despite what I read on the internet, if Oleo, the polka-dotted wasp moth, will eat the roses or not, but he looks lovely against the white petals! And, he seems content.

And, here I am, a 65-year-old woman, who left work at 7 pm in 40-degree weather that felt like 35 degrees, and drove to a supermarket to buy a vase of roses for a bug.

Yes, I did that and I’m damn proud!

I can’t help the fires in Australia or the earthquake in Puerto Rico. I can’t do a damn thing about our horrendous president who cares nothing about the environment or the sustainability of the earth or the preservation of wildlife.

But, maybe, I can do something for this one little creature. If Oleo lives or dies won’t matter to the world, but it matters to me. Maybe, his life expectancy under the best of circumstances is only 72 hours. Okay, then, I want to make sure he gets his 72 hours.

It’s the least I can do.

The story of my bug had a total of four installments. The one you just finished reading is the second. Here are the others:

Number 1:

Number 3:

Number 4: