Photo Roelof Kleis ‘Must Leave’ is the name of the art piece in the Orion pond. The beetle is shown about to take flight. The gusts during storm Eunice tore one of the beetle’s two wing cases, turning the name into reality. The elytron has not yet been found, says the insect’s spiritual father Marten Scheffer.
He was alerted to the damage by a colleague last Saturday. Yesterday he donned a pair of waders and boots to assess the damage. The right elytron is missing. A quick survey of the surroundings yielded no results. ‘I think the item is in the pond. But, you never know, the wing case is made of fibreglass and is not all that heavy. It could be anywhere.’
Wind velocities of 140 km/h were recorded on the coast. WUR’s weather station De Veenkampen in the Binnenveld shows that these values were not reached in Wageningen. But we came close. At the climax of the storm, between four and five in the afternoon, the weather station’s equipment recorded gusts of up to 115 km/h.
Dredge
The wind was accompanied by considerable precipitation on Sunday and today (Monday). On both days, 38 mm of rain was recorded. Not the best circumstances to go searching for a missing wing case in the water. But as soon as the weather calms, Scheffer intends to dredge the pond for the missing piece of the beetle, he says. Unless someone else finds it before then.
The Danish artist Vang Iversen will travel to Wageningen to restore the art piece. Preferably with the original part. Anyone who finds the missing wing case is asked to contact Scheffer. A bottle of home-distilled liquor awaits the finder, he states. The beetle’s sound will also be restored during the repairs, as the battery that powers the sound has been broken for a while.
