Author Koh Lin â—¦

It started like any other day at work.. although I was feeling a little low. I actually felt heavy in the heart, possibly all that bad news on the television and the internet and thinking of the future and my loved ones… these feelings brought back memories from many decades ago…

Tending to my morning duties, I started on the swimming pool in the garden, skimming the surface with the net. It had become a ritual, that I would always keep an eye out for any wildlife that had got trapped in the swimming pool, such as native bees and other insects. These insects would get trapped by the tension of the water surface, and would eventually drown. Yet the number of insects that I had thought were deceased, actually revived, once they were rescued.

I then spied an insect floating in the pool. It looked black and very deceased. Fishing it out, I saw that it was a small beetle, about 5 mm in length and was pleasantly surprised by the flash of irridescent blue/black and orange/red banding… and then there was the slightest of movement… as it slowly came back to life…

Then joy of joy, a “heart” on the rear end of the abdomen… now that made my day!

Dicranolaius bellulus (Red and Blue Beetle), Alice Springs NT
Dicranolaius bellulus (Red and Blue Beetle), Alice Springs NT
Dicranolaius bellulus (Red and Blue Beetle), Alice Springs NT
Dicranolaius bellulus (Red and Blue Beetle), Alice Springs NT

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