The Cricket in Times Square

...or my pants, whichever is closer.

During our daily staff meeting this morning, I felt something brushing my arm. I shooed away a fly - or so I thought. A bit later, it was back. A rather pesky fly, no? No. It was a camel cricket that had crawled up my pants (the outside of my pants). A minute later, I looked down and saw the same cricket attempting its second ascent of Mount Chlorophyll. As I am a gentle, benevolent soul, and crickets are generally not considered to be "bad" bugs, I brushed it to the floor again and let it crawl away.

Did I somehow pick up some cricket pheromones? Is the color of my slacks just the right shade of tan that is irresistible to camel crickets? And why are these things crawling all over our shop and office floors this summer? The link above says that camel crickets can become a nuisance in "extended periods of hot, dry weather". Where am I going to find hot, dry weather from June through August in the Chihuahuan Desert?

Side note: I now have a song stuck in my head. "Bad bugs, bad bugs, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?" Here are the original lyrics. I wonder if I can write a parody of them.

New on Animal Planet this fall: Insect Cops. Fly along with Officers Gryllidae and Lepidoptera as they patrol the back alleys and basements of society, keeping their hundreds of eyes peeled for any insects that attempt to flaunt justice. In the first episode, the officers break up a swarm of yellow jackets loitering by a garbage can filled with half-full soda cans, and a man pulled over for driving erratically tries to explain why a roach was found in his pocket. Also this season, special episodes on army ants of Bolivia and how to safely use mace, pepper spray, or insecticide. Warning: this series contains scenes of fly swatters, and may be unsuitable for small larvae.

On second thought, maybe I should parody a song by The Beatles.