Sir, – Although etymology interests me more than entomology, I confess to being intrigued by one small member of the insect kingdom. I wonder if other readers have encountered him.
He’s to be found in any pub, and can be conjured up using the following procedure. Order a pint of stout and sit down with it in front of you. After a fairly short wait, a tiny fly about the size of the head of a pin will appear and only the swift deployment of a beer mat atop the glass will prevent him from taking an unwarranted interest in its contents.
I say “him”, but obviously you’d need a powerful microscope to confirm this. Curiously, he seems totally uninterested in my wife’s diet cola.
We’ve all heard of McFly, but I assume this little chap is more of an O’Fly, given his booze preferences. I wonder if I might have discovered a new species, which I could have named after me. Not as good as a comet, perhaps, but you have to start somewhere. – Yours, etc,
PAUL GRIFFIN,
St Helens,
Merseyside