Nezara confronts Reggie; will he get respect?

Editor’s note: This is the final chapter in
The Daily’s original serial story “The Bug
Campaign: Just a little respect!”

Chapter 8

The story so far: Nezara, L.W., Owlet Moth, Cockroach and a vast crowd of other insects have gathered to elect a leader who will try to boost respect from humans. They are debating when, suddenly, hungry birds gather overhead. The fearful insects are trying to escape.

The insect friends scatter frantically. Within seconds, hardly a creature is in sight. The birds swoop down, peck around in the grass for a few moments and then take wing to look for food elsewhere.

The would-be insect leaders peek out from a piece of landscape timber. Termite has burrowed deep inside and refuses to come out.

“I guess it’s hopeless,” Cockroach says. “We can never get so many of us together again. There’s too much danger. First humans kill two of my buddies. Then some insects want to eat their neighbors. And birds want to eat the rest of us. We might as well forget about organizing.”

Cockroach and the others start to leave.

Watching them run, fly and hop, Nezara suddenly knows how to get humans’ attention.

“Everyone come back!” he calls. “I’ve got an idea.”

Nezara puts his head together with Cockroach, Owlet Moth, L.W., the Pleasing Fungus Beetles and Camel Cricket, at least as close as their antennae will let them. Finally, the insect friends believe they are ready. They creep close to the house and sneak inside. They spot the boy lying in front of a TV.

“Go!” Nezara yells.

Camel Cricket hops repeatedly, catching Reggie’s eye. Then Cockroach, with the Pleasing Fungus Beetles standing like motorcycle stunt performers on his back, crawls quickly back and forth. Reggie looks surprised. The insects keep up their acts, and Reggie gets up for a closer look. Then L.W. takes to the air, dipping and diving, drawing the boy’s attention. L.W. holds the leaf banner with the words “Follow pleaze!”

Reggie is amazed. He follows cautiously. They lead him outside to a patch of dry dirt where they join Owlet Moth and Nezara. Suddenly, hidden doodlebugs begin to form letters in the dirt.

A message slowly appears: I-n-z-e-c-z nezezzary Rezpect uz! Nod if you underzand.

Reggie is speechless. Then he nods slowly.

Another message comes: Do not zay bug Be kind.

“I-I am very sorry,” the boy says, stammering. He looks around and sees the insects glaring at him. Nezara steps forward bravely.

Reggie stutters, “Y-You heard me say ‘bug off’? You understand what I say?”

Nezara nods yes.

Reggie explains that he wasn’t really telling Nezara to bug off — he was telling his sister to leave him alone.

“I guess I brushed you off my arm. I remember something tickled me.”

The boy bends down to look more closely at the insects. They try to stand their ground as the boy’s big face draws nearer.

“You bugs — uh, insects — there are so many of you, and you have weapons, too! You,” Reggie says, pointing to Nezara, “are a stink bug. You smell terrible! Do you understand?”

Nezara looks offended and tells the others what the boy has said.

“So, am I a stink bug?” he asks his friends.

The other insects look embarrassed.

“You didn’t know?” L.W. finally asks. “You, uh, just naturally have this odor ...”

Nezara slowly nods in understanding.

Reggie continues, “Look, you are the one who crawled on me.”

Humbled again, Nezara nods once more.

He has the doodlebugs to spell out, “Humanz hurt uz all time.”

Reggie nods and scratches his head.

“What can we do? You hurt us, we hurt you ...”

“We juzt want rezpect,” Nezara has the doodlebugs to write.

The boy sits down. “Well, in school I learned that some farmers and scientists try to be wiser about dealing with you guys. So, what if I learn more about you and not hurt you, as much as possible? And I’ll tell others to have a little respect. What about you?”

At Nezara’s instruction, the doodlebugs write, “We try leaf humanz alone, az much az pozzible.”

Reggie nods and reaches out his hand that looks like a big swatter to Nezara. He gulps, forces himself to stretch his tiny leg for a shake.

The insects give a collective sigh of relief.

“Let’s go tell everyone! And get some lunch!” L.W. says, and they quickly separate. Nezara looks back and gives the boy a little wave.

“I guess those are doodlebugs writing for you.” Reggie says.

Nezara nods yes.

“My name is Reggie. Tell them to write your name.”

Nezara passes the request to the doodlebugs, who eventually spell out: N-e-z-a-r-a v-i-r-i-d-u-l-a.

Stink Bug

Reggie tries to pronounce the Latin words. “I hope it won’t offend you if I call you Stink Bug,” he says to Nezara.

Nezara smiles as much as his mouth parts will let him. He dips his antennae and then disappears into the big green world.

Reggie runs to tell his family all that has happened. They somehow don’t believe him.

“Reggie, it’s true that bugs are necessary for pollination and soil decomposition. And they are an important part of the food chain,” his mother says.

Reggie’s parents also remind him about the vast numbers of insects and the diseases and damage they can cause.

“And you know the fresh corn you like so much? Did you know that some Owlet Moth caterpillars are known as ‘corn earworms’ and eat the kernels? They are a big pest for farmers. And stink bugs? They suck sap from vegetables.”

Reggie tries to describe the doodlebug messages, but his father only smiles.

“We do need to respect them. And that stink bug you say doesn’t like being called a bug? I remember from biology class that he’s from the order Hemiptera, which is the order of true bugs. True bugs have sucking mouthparts. We just call other insects bugs,” his father says. “Now you need to figure out what’s causing you to have such strange dreams.”

‘True bug’

Reggie smiles as he thinks about Nezara being unaware that he is a “true bug.”

Meanwhile, the insects spread the word about the truce in Reggie’s yard. “Carry on but try to leave humans alone” echoes inside ant hills, under leaf piles, beneath tree bark and in hives, fields, nests and soil. The faintest voices and vibrations echo, “Carry on!”

Reggie can’t get to sleep that night. He pulls a book about insect life cycles from a shelf and starts reading: “Insects are the most numerous and successful creatures on Earth. ... If you look closely you will uncover their incredible variety and learn something about their extraordinary lives.”

In a nearby garden, Nezara finds a juicy bean for dinner. He pauses to wonder if there is some way he could learn about the life cycle of a boy.

Bug Chapter 8: Learning activity

Parents — (Note: If your child is able to read the story independently, modify these activities to reinforce your child’s reading skills.) Read the chapter aloud. Copy the messages the doodlebugs wrote in the dirt. With your child correct spelling and grammar errors. Talk about the insects’ messages and why is it difficult to respect all forms of life. (Alabama Course of Study: Corrects errors in sentence structure. Responds with understanding and empathy to information read, viewed and heard.)

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