Earth Day musing, a few days late: I like this photo because it presents the essence of sexual reproduction of plants and animals in a very small, undramatic way. The process of genetic combination via fertilization that results in an egg (here a green lacewing) or a seed (unidentified grass flowering here) provides for the preservation and continuity of species and the potential for change and development of new species via natural selection or mutation all in one neat package. Now, that is value.
At this point in time, grass flowers rely on the wind for pollination. That's why grass inflorescences wave so prettily above the foliage. Lacewings stick their eggs atop a stalk as protection from predators; they don't wave in the wind (at least not from my gross perspective!) but they still look kinda pretty.
Meanwhile, the process takes place all around us in very small ways, but hard to notice since we are like the needle on a turntable and can generally only catch the vibe of the groove we have our head into.
1 comment:
Love your blog - thank you! I think that people think of the food chain the wrong way around - we should be at the bottom of the myriad miracles that result in feeding us. Things we can't even see but are totally dependent on. We should not be so arrogant as to put ourselves at the top, when we are actually so dependent.
Post a Comment