Scribbles

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Scribbles...

Someone or something
has been scribbling on these trees...

Not just one tree but many trees
are covered in scribbles

Lets take a closer look

It's an ancient text
that's indecipherable to me

An ancient insect text
the authors
until recently unknown

Previously thought to belong to beetles

It has now been confirmed to be
the record - the life story
of a tiny moth

The moth itself is rarely seen,
in recent years
it has been found
that this tiny moth
lays its eggs
in the autumn

between the old bark
and the new inside skin
that will become the next season's bark
of these gum trees

And if you look closely
to where the beautiful bark tutu
peels away from the trunk

You can see the scribbles
and read their story -

The egg hatches and larva life begins
the story reads from thin to thicker tunnels
as over the winter
the larva starts to feed on the tissues
just below the epidermal cells in the tree trunk
and grows until it is time to pupate

And when he is ready to escape the pupa
he will emerge from his dark and barky home
a flying moth

The eucalyptus trees that feature
this ancient story of nature
are called Scribbly Gums
the tiny 1-2mm moth
goes by the most wonderful name
of Ogmograptis Scribula

The gum-tree stands by the spring.
I peeled its splitting bark
and found the written track
of a life I could not read.

From A Human Pattern: Selected Poems by Judith Wright 1915-2000

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