LL-L "Etymology" 2005.07.08 (03) [E]

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From: "Global Moose Translations" <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.07.08 (02) [E]

Ron tried his hand at entomology... should have stuck to etymology,
though... ;-)

> * Reference to * above: As opposed to the other "May bug," also known as
> "June bug" or "June beetle" (_Melolontha melolontha_, _Scarabaeidae_, Low
> Saxon _May-kever_, Dutch _meikever_, German _Maikäfer_)

Sorry, but these are two different genuses/species within the same family
(Scarabaeidae): the May bug/May beetle/May chafer, Melolontha melolontha,
and the June bug/June beetle/June chafer, Amphimallon solstitiale. Same in
German: Maikäfer and Junikäfer are somewhat alike, but by no means the
same.
I recommend looking for pictures in Google...

> I suspect that that's why they are considered lucky.  They keep plants
> healthy.  I've been told that, weirdly, they actually conduct something
> like animal husbandry with aphids, keeping them to occasionally suck plant
> juices out of them, before they kill them.  Or was that a different bug?

Whoa there! It is ants who actually herd aphids like cows in order to "milk"
them, i.e. gently slap them in order to make them drop the goodies. They
even bring them in at night, and send them back to "pasture" in the morning.
The ladybird munches on aphids, and the ants are trying to prevent just
that. Actually, the small, black larva of the ladybird is a fierce predator
who eats aphids like popcorn; it is therefore also called the "aphid lion"
("Blattlauslöwe" in German).

Gabriele Kahn

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