Those Insects

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Written November 2020

These have been days of bright sunshine, even as the dawn chorus has diminuendoed. The birds are still at the feeder, but other creatures have attracted my attention this week. Yes, there's been the occasional spider spinning a long, long thread in the hopes of trapping one, and some of the birds have tried snapping them up mid-air. They're tiny midges. I've seen them in a way I've not noticed before. The early morning light seems to have given them a greenish tinge, almost luminous. Anyone know exactly what they are? Whether it's those green ones or some other, I'm not sure but one thing I do know is that they can nip. Then the bite itches! But as far as I know these are otherwise harmless. Not like some of the other insects I've known: ants and flies, bed-bugs, the scabies mite and lice among them.
 
Of course there's the ever-present mosquito of tropical Africa and elsewhere - they do exist in these islands too. This reminds me of sleeping under nets well tucked in during both Zambian and Indian days. We took malaria prophylactics for years. Donald Trump has just started his, though for a different reason.
 
Spraying with insecticides is one way to reduce the mosquito population. But with a sudden invasion at Chikankata I decided to start a competition. Bring me mosquito larvae in a jam tin, tell me where you found them and I'll pay you the equivalent of 10p. It worked miracles. Student nurses, laboratory staff, cleaners and many others were out and about. I soon ran out of cash, and they soon ran out of larvae, so it only lasted a week. But it was well worth it. For one thing, I slept better without the buzz of the 'mossies' around.
 
Another kind of mosquito transmits dengue. I should have known better, working at my desk late at night in our first year in India and without protection from the mosquitoes around my legs. I paid dearly for that with my first dose of what is rightly named 'break-bone fever'. And, as if I hadn't learnt my lesson, another attack a year later. 
 
Another insect and another disease – it’s the tsetse fly transmitting sleeping sickness. I remember the excitement of diagnosing this for the first time in Zambia. The patient was literally falling asleep over a meal. (I didn't see any of you do that over our Saturday morning breakfasts, mind you!) What a joy to see him recover on treatment. He came from a sleeping sickness endemic area where cattle can also be infected. O, these diseases that go between animals and humans! Covid-19 is not the first. But I'm glad they've given up culling badgers because of bovine tuberculosis. Fortunately they have BCG vaccine for badgers and cattle instead. I hope the coronavirus vaccine will soon be there for us. And the great plague was all about fleas and rats. Face masks didn't help. The great fire of London did.
 
Well, there are quite a few more disease-transmitting insects I could bore you with, like black flies and filariasis or another black fly and river blindness. At least it's very unlikely we'll have to face up to these nasties where we are.
We face another challenge just now. We've been told what to do: so stay alert to the possibility of its presence; do what you can to control the virus (for instance washing hands and we may need a face-mask); this may all help save lives. And when it's all over we may even be able to meet up again for breakfast. Who knows?
 
No, not all things are bright and beautiful. But keep looking. They are there. I mustn't forget my green midge. There are others. Okay then guys, I'm going to stay cheerful, live in hope, cultivate respect for my fellow-citizens on planet earth. And I will keep you in mind, holding onto the past as new patterns of living emerge. 
 
May 2020