20 March 2013

Under the shadow, came the bug from my past


If you think this weird bug (from the photo above) comes all the way from the Black Hole to invade and take over our planet, you are off the target by a zillion year. My uncanny imagination says, this bug possess potent aphrodisiac properties that can boost some power to young-at-heart wannabes. Not that this theory has been proven by any sane human  or I recommend you to test this object of desire in the comfort of your bedroom, but in the time of uncertainty like now everything is possible.

Let me first introduce you to Cik Ru or Cik Mek (Ganu speak) or antlion (mat salleh speak). The physical form of this bug and the name Cik Ru don't strike  any resemblance to anything that will ignite puberty hormone furiously or raised  eyebrows of any kids on the street. The name Cik Mek however   doesn't do it justice to all the Cik Mek molek out there. Perhaps Mek Poghong is more appropriately named and given to this bug. But Mek Poghong after some 'tarbiah' and proper guidance by Iman muda for example, can be transformed into a Cik Mek Molek or even Cik Mek Berjuruh (a super courteous and well-mannered lady).

That bug was actually very special as  it brought back many  fond memories during my childhood time.   The fact that It had  wasted a lot of my childhood time sharpening my 'fishing' skill  under the shadow of my late grandfather's old house has never erased this bug from my memory. Fishing Cik Ru out from their sand pit which is also a trap was insanely a popular childhood pastime activity during my younger days. To see Cik Ru in person, one has to 'fish' them out from the sand pit by tickling the sand  pit by our own hair or a grass or anything that can tickle (by doing this, the antlions thought the prey has fallen into their pit). When they emerge from the pit, we scooped them out and tied them with our hair and again using this captured antlion we lured another antlion from their sandy dungeon. This process will go on and on until we were tired playing or tired of each other companion  or our mother called us for our usual ikang singgang sambal belancan lunch break. This  fishing activity could last through out the whole day.

What is more interesting, Cik Ru is actually a larvae, part of the life cycle  to another interesting insect known as lacewing. Not until last week, after 40 over years I thought this alien creature was some kind of sand bug that dug a sand pit, eat ant and then it completed its life cycle by getting old or having some terminal illnesses like falling in love with Najwa Latif. It was my youngest son who pointed out a story from a book I bought him a few years back that featured kids playing with antlions that made me realized the life cycle of an antlion. We can surely learn a lot from small kids and we should always do.

Antlions look ferocious and grotesque with its fusiform body and large mandibels. They however pose no threat to human or drag you into their sand pit unless some kind of mutation takes place and transform them 100 times larger than their normal size.  I always dream  to ride this bug to my office and occasionally scare off uncivilized mat rempit. Nowadays, it is very hard to find antlion as kampung houses are now made of concrete and modern houses don't spare any space  for antlion to lepak or settle down with their sand pit bungalows. 

This week I am off to Kota Bharu, I hope  Cik Mek Molek of Kelate are still around to greet me and bring back the nostalgic feeling spending time under the dark shadow of the old house. 






Exclusive and elusive sand pit bungalows of antlions. Surprisingly enough, I found it near the back stairs of my new office. I think they choose this strategic spot for a special reason too i.e reporting office staffs who smoke during office hour to the head of the department (the whole campus is now a smoke-free zone).


31 comments:

Naddy said...

haha. the idea of big huge antillion scares the nasi goreng out of me.

Also giant isopods like this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_isopod

Nizam.Ariff said...

aku pun ada pengalaman yang sama... memancing.

kadang-kadang kami lawankan.. yang tercabut kepala akan kalah... hahaha

Temuk said...

Assalam DrSam
Development has certainly affected our ecology to a certain degree. I wonder whether there are antillions in all our sandy beaches, and whether they are now vanishing since the beach eco-systems have become targets of our tourism programmes.

Sir Pök Déng said...

My childhood tongue was accustomed to calling this tiny bug "cikgu". We always made this 'cikgu' teach some poor ants a lesson. Cikgu would drag the ants into its burrow and God knew what happened in there. I heard of a practical method to fish cikgu out of its dwelling but never did it before. Using a strand of hair poked into the pit of cikgu's crater, it would grab the hair strand and we can pull it out.

DrSam said...

mizzyN,
isopods and similar weird looking creatures are not that good in their physical appearances but could be good to be part of our gastronomic endeavour. Nasi goreng antlion doesn't sound that bad either.

DrSam said...

Nizam ariff,
Pasti satu pengalaman yang kurang dilalui oleh generasi PS3.

Temuk,
Eco-tourism should have been a symbiosis between the natural elements, people and the new development. Bolehland eco-tourism understanding is - develop the ecology and bring in concrete jungle into the system plus the tourist.

DrSam said...

SPD,
Perhaps my tongue has long never tasted budu so it becomes a little bit softer :)

ckLah @xiiinam said...

Antara akticiti kami masa budak di sekolah agama rakyat tidak bersimen...memburu binatang ni.


:)

besi said...

dr sam...bug ni dlm bahasa rasmi kita namanya apa..

DrSam said...

ckLah,
Bila dah masuk zaman batu (dan simen) ni, nak cari makhluk ni pun dah susah.

besi,
Ada panggil Cik Ru, Cik Gu, Cik Mek...yang rasminya saya tak pasti.

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LiFe Is BeAuTifUl LyRiC said...

saya tau cik Li jer.. lipas!!

zafi said...


bad experiences with bugs! :D

jeragang said...

I thought the orang kelaut like me je having past time like this.... unsangkarebel profesore pung has samething in common in the past.... but this one was my second time i had read orang teganu writing about this menatang cikgu ker cik ru ker che ghu whateve....here: http://daerahdungun.blogspot.com/2011/08/che-ghu-apa-tuh.html.
however thanks doc atleast you wake me up... lame doh dok balik teganu

Farha Liyana Yshin said...

Dr.,
saya xpernah jumpa pun cik ru ni.
Nanti kalau saya jumpa kat bangunan baru FASM tu, bole la dpt markah bonus kan:)

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ASH said...

I had written my experience with these bugs some time ago.

The same 'Ulat undur belakang' and the similar insanity..

Ngeh ngeh ngeh

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