van Leeuwenhoek was right

Whence the moth? Spontaneous generation is the only answer. No other explanation could possibly make sense.

This moth is currently living (quite comfortably, as far as I can tell) in my rice canister. Said canister is made of glass and has a soft plastic gasket at the top. The purpose of this gasket is to keep the rice in and all other foreign material (including moisture and, I would have thought, moths) out. Being a modern American I have faith in these modern conveniences and staunchly believe that they more than adequately perform the functions which they are designed to perform.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered this little bugger flitting about inside of my rice container. How did it get there? It couldn’t have just squeezed through the gasket to feast on the ricey goodness inside (do moths even eat rice?). And, heaven forbid, it couldn’t have been there when I purchased the rice at the store then been transferred to the container. If that were the case then there’s the very real chance that I would have been eating nascent moths since that time. In America we do not eat insects, accidental or otherwise, so this is a thought which I choose not to entertain.

Having ruled out all other reasonable options I must be forced to admit that this moth has spontaneously generated within the canister of rice. The primordial ooze of the ages bubbled its way up through the kernels and sprouted this creature into the otherwise pristine glass-encased environment.

Have I mentioned that this critter ain’t alone? No, far from it. Check out the dark smear in the far right of that shot. See that? That’s another moth. That’s right, there’s two of them. Perhaps they’re the advance scouts for the spontaneously generated moth hordes which have designs of descending upon my apartment. I can’t tell, really. I suppose that as long as they keep generating inside of this glass canister they’ll at least be contained and I can easily dispatch them, thereby saving the world—if not all of humanity—and finally being recognized as the hero that I am. Regardless, two of them have already invaded my supply of short grain rice so therefore there will be no risotto for dinner tonight.