Nature & Environment
California Parishioners Mistake Plant Lice Excrement for Tears of God
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Aug 13, 2013 06:06 AM EDT
A tree outside a Cathedral in California has becomes a symbol of faith for congregants as they believe the tree is weeping 'tears of God'.
According to an Inquisitr report, last week a group from the small community of St. John's Cathedral in Fresno, California., noticed a clear liquid falling from a Crape Myrtle tree and they interpreted this mysterious flow as 'tears of God'. Since then parishioners have been gathering under the tree to offer prayers and awaiting some miracle.
But they might have to wait for some time for the miracle as scientists say there is a very simple explanation behind the mystery.
"I said my prayer and asked the Lord to give me a miracle because I'm really, really sick," a parishioner said to WPTV.com.
Another parishioner, Maria Ybarra said, ""When you say 'glory be to God in Jesus name' the tree starts throwing out more water."
Arborist Jon Reelhorn says the water is nothing but the excrement from small, soft bodied aphids also known as plant lice.
"The aphides will suck the sap, the sap goes through the aphid and then it is a honey dew excrement from the aphid and it gets so heavy in the summertime that it will drip down," he told the local NBC affiliate.
He points to another tree across the street that is dripping the bug excrement.
Reelhorn's scientific explanation and analysis was confirmed by an entomologist Richard Covelo.
"Crape Myrtle trees as a generality can get really high populations of Crape Myrtle aphids and at times it can look so bad that it looks like the tree is raining out of it with all the honey dew dripping down," source myFoxphilly.com.
Even after this scientific explanation, people's strong faith has not deterred them from believing that the water falling is divine.
"I can tell you looking at it from a scientific standpoint and a spiritual standpoint it is the work of God manifesting here on earth," Ms Ybarra said.
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First Posted: Aug 13, 2013 06:06 AM EDT
A tree outside a Cathedral in California has becomes a symbol of faith for congregants as they believe the tree is weeping 'tears of God'.
According to an Inquisitr report, last week a group from the small community of St. John's Cathedral in Fresno, California., noticed a clear liquid falling from a Crape Myrtle tree and they interpreted this mysterious flow as 'tears of God'. Since then parishioners have been gathering under the tree to offer prayers and awaiting some miracle.
But they might have to wait for some time for the miracle as scientists say there is a very simple explanation behind the mystery.
"I said my prayer and asked the Lord to give me a miracle because I'm really, really sick," a parishioner said to WPTV.com.
Another parishioner, Maria Ybarra said, ""When you say 'glory be to God in Jesus name' the tree starts throwing out more water."
Arborist Jon Reelhorn says the water is nothing but the excrement from small, soft bodied aphids also known as plant lice.
"The aphides will suck the sap, the sap goes through the aphid and then it is a honey dew excrement from the aphid and it gets so heavy in the summertime that it will drip down," he told the local NBC affiliate.
He points to another tree across the street that is dripping the bug excrement.
Reelhorn's scientific explanation and analysis was confirmed by an entomologist Richard Covelo.
"Crape Myrtle trees as a generality can get really high populations of Crape Myrtle aphids and at times it can look so bad that it looks like the tree is raining out of it with all the honey dew dripping down," source myFoxphilly.com.
Even after this scientific explanation, people's strong faith has not deterred them from believing that the water falling is divine.
"I can tell you looking at it from a scientific standpoint and a spiritual standpoint it is the work of God manifesting here on earth," Ms Ybarra said.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone