Fri, Oct 11, 12:37 PM CDT

Ceti Eel

Photography Insects posted on Oct 06, 2014
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Description


Planets don’t normally explode—unless something really drastic happens—but in the Nicholas Meyer offerings to the Star Trek mythos, exploding planets are a fairly common occurrence. Even Klingon moons aren’t immune to the Meyer Effect, though the Klingon moon in question—Praxis—was the victim of over-industrialization and poor safeguards. Klingons, as we all know, aren’t too big on safety. Glorious (usually spectacular) deaths are more of their thing. This isn’t about Klingons, really. It isn’t about the Meyer Effect on various planets within the Star Trek universe, and yet one must reference the Meyer Effect in regard to…well…Ceti Alpha V, a planet driven to the brink of ecological collapse by the un-explained explosion of its companion, Ceti Alpha VI. As a writer, I suspect that the only reason for the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI was to give the bad guy, Khan, something to be miffed about. Khan was seriously miffed, because: Ceti Alpha Six, exploded…the shock shifted the orbit of this planet, and everything was laid waste. Admiral Kirk never bothered to check on our progress. It is near this bit of choice dialogue that we are introduced to a rather hearty, heart-wrenchingly nasty critter that is never named on-screen. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a brilliant piece of cinematic art, but it’s a bit scant on various details…like how planets just randomly explode, or just how a single “Genesis Torpedo” can terraform an entire planetary body. But never mind. It all looks pretty on screen, and it goes well with an early James Horner score (before he started stealing from himself.) So anyway, according to Memory Alpha, Ceti eels (never actually named on-screen) are burrowing desert creatures that also happen to be the only life form to survive the Meyer Effect inflicted upon Ceti Alpha VI. Such creatures are parasitic: they enter through the ear and wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex (through an unexplained mechanism that probably includes some biting and chewing and other forms of general pain-inducing mastication, and once they enter the brain, more chewing, biting, and tissue-damaging activity is probably required before reaching the cerebral cortex, all of which assumes that Ceti eels know their way around the inner cockles of the human head.) So anyway, they enter the ear, wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex, and—as a side effect—render the victim susceptible to suggestion, before driving them insane and killing them. And so now, we come to the point in this essay in which you learn that the image accompanying this text is not a Ceti eel. Not even close. But the resemblance is startling. This is the image of a very young ladybug. This is the image of a very active, very busy infant ladybug. The rather-pretty insect nymph photographed here is a member of the species that probably inspired the Ceti eels of Star Trek lore. And, aside from color differences, size, and ear-entering habits, the resemblance is uncanny. Ladybug nymphs are, however, a lot prettier: indeed, they’re flagrantly overdressed, in comparison to the drab, brown desert dwelling critters known to exist only in cinematic science fiction. As you can guess, I thought of Ceti eels when looking at this little beauty. I rather like this critter better than its science fictional counterpart. Ladybug nymphs don’t enter ears and aren’t interested in human brains. They wear strange appendages on their bodies, and have a really hard time standing still long enough to photograph. Ah, but they’re pretty little things, which is why I like photographing them, and that’s why this photo exists. I can’t resist pretty, predatory critters ambling across front porches. As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week.

Comments (11)


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Faemike55

8:43PM | Mon, 06 October 2014

this is a first for me in that I've never seen the nymph version of the Lady bug - though its resemblance to the critter in STII - Wrath of Kahn is pretty cool not to mention just a touch frightening (what if?....) Very cool photo and narrative

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Wolfenshire

9:10PM | Mon, 06 October 2014

I'm fairly certain this is the first time I've ever seen a Lady Bug that doesn't look like... well, a Lady Bug. Very cool stuff. As for the make-sense of the Ceti-eel, meh... gimme a hotdog and some popcorn and facts have little interest for me. Yes, suspend the laws of nature and let us 'fire up the dilethium crystals and go where no Lady Bug has gone before.'

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durleybeachbum

3:28AM | Tue, 07 October 2014

Next time I have a headache I shall console myself it is only a ladybird larva who is lost.

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gonedigital

10:55AM | Tue, 07 October 2014

Great story! It brought the whole Star Trek scene back to me. Very nice photo as well.

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jendellas

12:45PM | Tue, 07 October 2014

Very pretty critter!! x

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flavia49

6:38PM | Tue, 07 October 2014

very nice

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MrsRatbag

7:14PM | Tue, 07 October 2014

Excellent ramble and photo, Chip; close up these remind me of one of those rubbery scrubby tools with soft projections all over, which are supposed to be "better" for cleaning glassware etc. This guy is cuter than that, though!

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blinkings

1:17AM | Wed, 08 October 2014

That's DAMN creepy!

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kgb224

7:46AM | Thu, 09 October 2014

Superb capture and post work my friend. God bless.

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TranxG

1:36PM | Thu, 09 October 2014

Just to be on a safe side I'm covering my ears. Great capture.

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auntietk

11:09AM | Sun, 12 October 2014

So that turns into a ladybug, huh? That's amazing! I thought ladybug babies would be sort of round and sort of red and really ... small. But! My knowledge of entomology is woefully lacking. I trust in you and Andrea to be generally enlightening about those sorts of things. Star Trek, though! Okay. Now we're talking! :P Bill and I watched all the Trek movies again this summer (with the exception of the two newest, not because we didn't like them, but because we were reviewing old stuff) so I just watched Khan a couple months ago. And do you remember the similar critters in TNG that entered through your mouth and then their tails stuck out the back of your neck? They wanted to take over the Federation, as I recall. My memory of those creatures is that they were more earwig-like than anything else, but of course I could be remembering that incorrectly, not being an entomologist sort of person. sigh This all makes me miss you. It's been far too long since we've been in Chicago! I'll have to start thinking about ways to get there again.


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Photograph Details
F Numberf/8.0
MakeCanon
ModelCanon PowerShot A1000 IS
Shutter Speed1/60
ISO Speed80
Focal Length6

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