Bugs and Such

A wasp rode on the outside of my windshield this morning the eight miles from my home to my office. It was above the steering wheel at eye level. As I drove off, I wondered how long the wasp would stay on. I wondered if it would be able to find its way back home when it did fall off. Or, that failing, whether it would be able to take up with some other wasps in the vicinity of its abandoning my vehicle. Or would it wander homeless, alone and destitute, and die before its time.

I watched the wasp as I eased down my driveway. It didn't move much. When it did move, its legs moved in a jerky fashion. The right rear leg massaged the right wing. I wondered why. As I turned onto the road and began to pick up speed, the wasp was facing up the windshield with its back to the wind. Its wings caught the wind and fluttered into a vertical position. I thought the wasp would be swept off. But it wasn't. It slowly, jointily, eased around to a head down and facing the wind position. Its wings were streamlined against its body. How did it know to do this? I thought about turning on the windshield wipers to see how the wasp would fare. But I thought better of it. I was impressed that it could handle 50 mph.

As I slowed to a stop at a red light, the wasp rotated around, taking a tentative step or two. But as I picked up speed after the light turned green, the wasp returned to its wind resistance minimizing posture. That wasp really seemed to want to stay on the windshield. I would have liked to examine the ends of its legs to see, perhaps, what enabled it to cling to a smooth glass windshield.

As I pulled into a parking space in the Queen Street lot up the hill from my office, the wasp still adhered to the windshield. I wonder if it will be there this afternoon....