A fuzzy-winged thrips rests (briefly) on the petal of a flower.

Does that sum up my current malaise? I’m not sure, but the sound of “thrips” reminds me of an airless exclamation, e.g. oh…the part where you (read: I) step in it.

A little name fun with these very little creatures: there is no “thrip” — as I first assumed, when I learned of them — it’s always thrips with an “s,” whether singular or multiple insects are under discussion. BugGuide.net also tells us that Order Thysanoptera (i.e. the thrips) is from the Greek, thysanos meaning “fringe” and ptera meaning “wing” which refers to the (relatively) long hairs on the wings of thrips. (At least the ones that have wings.) You may be able to make out this feature in the shot above, though my selective sharpening didn’t do that great on the very fine hairs.

Speaking of the shot, I cropped this one much more than typically: these tiny creatures who often move quickly erratically are not easy to fill a frame just by releasing the shutter.