A dent shows in my arm. It almost looks like bite. Would you like to know who took a chomp?
Perhaps it was the shiny black beetle who crawled in my hair? I watched as two plaits of antennae bobbed gently on the breeze. It was an alder leaf beetle who finds alder and plum tree leaves are a tasty snack. Not the culprit.
Was it the stink bug who plodded up my arm, tickling my tiny hairs? I studied it closely. It had a dark leaf-like splotch on the back of its bottom. Its wings were folded and tucked into a veined body. When stink bugs are scared, they let out a stench. Mine didn’t smell, so it must have been comfortable. They eat plant sap, tree leaves and shrubs, not humans. The stink bug is off the hook.
How about a grasshopper? I remember one clambered across my arm. They can bite in defence of themselves. But only rarely and only when squeezed. Maybe not a grasshopper, but along the right lines.
Surely it wasn’t the innocent-looking ladybird that landed on my arm? Sometimes, when ladybirds are struggling to find food they can become desperate and have even been known to eat their siblings. At this point a ladybird might bite.
Casting a devious look around, this ladybird sank its tiny, sharp mandibles into my skin. Ouch. I never expected to be ladybird lunch!
Emily, 10
• Read today’s other YCD, by Joseph, eight: ‘A rare orchid and a big pink doughnut. What a day!’
