Thrips

Ahhh...the conundrum that is thrips. Is a lone thrips still a thrips or is it a thrip? It's kind of like that whole fish/ fishes thing...thrips are always thrips.

Anyway, I digress....I got a call a couple of days ago about thrips. No, the call wasn't about someone's roses, which thrips love, it was about someone being bitten by thrips. Bitten? You thought thrips feed on plant tissue? You're right! BUT....sometimes when thrips are wandering around looking for a mate or a plant to feed on, they occassionally land on people. When this happens, they often rasp the skin with their mouthparts to see if they're on a plant. This "bite" can cause a sudden burning sensation and may, on some people, leave a red welt. Once the little bugger figures out that it's not on a plant, it usually flies away. Sometimes though, they move to another area of the skin and "bite" again- maybe they're just double checking the plant thing.

So if this is happening to you, what can you do about it? Avoiding the area would be a good idea or you could try wearing long sleeves and long pants. With the weather we've been having lately, that might be a bit hot, but it should save your skin from being bitten. You can try repellents, but they may not work all that well.

BB's update

This week BB is about 4 1/2 inches long, still tiny, but preparing to go through a growth spurt in the next few weeks, so if you see my middle expanding, you'll know why. The big thing this week is that BB can hear what we say now, so we've started reading every night. Currently we're reading Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia).

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there (including moms of the four-footed variety of children)!