An Epic on Childhood - 21 - Kuzhiyaana
you are called an elephant
and also an ant!
and a hole-elephant!
you burrow into sand
your house is a great world's architectural wonder and marvel
for me, a poor mite
poring over it
watching your grey body
and your tail or fin like appurtenances
so soft to the hand
tiny, furry, miniscule
you vanish inside
i love you, little critter
you do not ever harm
you are called an elephant
and also an ant!
and a hole-elephant!
you burrow into sand
your house is a great world's architectural wonder and marvel
for me, a poor mite
poring over it
watching your grey body
and your tail or fin like appurtenances
so soft to the hand
tiny, furry, miniscule
you vanish inside
i love you, little critter
you do not ever harm
"Kuzhiyaana" seems to be Koshy's punning self-reference. But the insects (or at least the larvae) are called ant lions in most European and Middle Eastern languages, and have been so designated for thousands of years. The scientific name (Myrmeleo) is derived from the Greek "myrmex" (ant) and "leon" (lion). In North America, the larvae are called "doodlebugs" because the odd winding, spiraling trails they leave in the sand resemble doodlings. In many places, people recite poems or chants to lure them out of their hole.
ReplyDeleteDoodlebug, doodlebug,
Come out of your hole
Your house is on fire,
And your children will burn.
They are mostly known for the fiercely predatory habits of their larvae. When they hatch, the larvae consume small insects, and as they grow they catch larger prey, sometimes much larger than themselves. They dig pits, about 2 in (5 cm) deep and 3 in (7.5 cm) wide at the edge. After marking a chosen site with a circular groove, the larvae crawl backwards, using their abdomen as a plow. They use one front leg to put heaps of loosened particles on their head and jerk each little pile away. As they move slowly around, the pit becomes deeper, until the slope reaches the critical angle of repose (the steepest angle the sand can maintain). When the pit is completed, the larvae bury themselves at the bottom, with only the jaws protruding above the surface, often in a wide-open position on either side of the cone's tip. As an insect moves across the ground, it causes low-frequency vibrations, and the receptors (tufts of hair) on the sides of the 2 hindmost thoracic segments allow the larvae to locate the source by timing the differences of sound waves. The sides of the pit consist of loose sand at the angle of repose, thus affording an insecure foothold for an insect that ventures over the edge; slipping to the bottom, it is immediately seized by the ant lion; if it tries to scramble up the walls of the pit, the larva throws showers of loose sand to undermines the sides of the pit, causing them to collapse and bring the prey down with them. Within a few moments of seizing the prey with its jaws and injecting it with venom and enzymes, the larva begins to suck out the digestion products through hollow projections in its jaws. After it consumes the fluids, it flicks the dry carcass out of the pit, throws out any collapsed material from the center, and restores the angle of repose. Some larvae hide under debris or ambush their prey among leaf litter.
In Japan, Dendroleon jezoensis larvae may lurk on the surface of rocks for years awaiting prey, often becoming coated with lichen.