# A question for Floridians about bugs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 21, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058 "2014-08-21T02:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/61 "2014-08-26T16:28:23Z")
This was in the middle of a drought and all manner of wee beasties were getting in to the house for water. I had left a pair of cut-off jeans on the floor and when I went to pull them up, STING! Ouch; did I snag a leg hair on a rivet? NO! STING! STING! STING! SHIT! Off come the jeans, screaming for the wife, who brandishes a baseball bat and starts pummeling the cut-offs (think: churning butter motions). Turn 'em inside out, there’s a brown-ish blotch with claw, claw, tail sticking out. I called the emergency room, told them the story and when the laughing subsided, they said southeast scorps were not poisonous (venomous?) and I should get a tetanus shot. More laffs at the Dr’s. next day, it had stung me on the glute. Started channeling H. Simpson: A bee bit my bottom, now my bottom’s big! ETA: I never thought this 'til just now: maybe it clawed me instead of stinging. Whaddya think? ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/62 "2014-08-26T17:48:16Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > She’s actually gonna manage a new hybrid retail idea called Flendy’s, it’s a Wendy’s/flea market hybrid. 😛 > She actually took a job at a start-up golf academy that’s located in Howey-in-the-hills. She lives in Mt. Dora because apparently Leesburg was too far/inconvenient. Plus she liked the apartment complex she lives at the most (I’m assuming still does…despite the bug problems) If she is golfing in FLA she will see alligators. Take the free drop and leave the Titleist. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/63 "2014-08-26T18:08:12Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > This was in the middle of a drought and all manner of wee beasties were getting in to the house for water. I had left a pair of cut-off jeans on the floor and when I went to pull them up, STING! Ouch; did I snag a leg hair on a rivet? NO! STING! STING! STING! SHIT! Off come the jeans, screaming for the wife, who brandishes a baseball bat and starts pummeling the cut-offs (think: churning butter motions). Turn 'em inside out, there’s a brown-ish blotch with claw, claw, tail sticking out. I called the emergency room, told them the story and when the laughing subsided, they said southeast scorps were not poisonous (venomous?) and I should get a tetanus shot. More laffs at the Dr’s. next day, it had stung me on the glute. Started channeling H. Simpson: A bee bit my bottom, now my bottom’s big! > > ETA: I never thought this 'til just now: maybe it clawed me instead of stinging. Whaddya think? Did you find a mark? Generally, I’d think a scorpion would sting if bothered. Only, the poision of that particular species evidently isn’t very potent to humans. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/64 "2014-08-26T18:16:50Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > If she is golfing in FLA she will see alligators. Take the free drop and leave the Titleist. I’ve never seen the grounds, so I don’t actually know if there are/the quality of the water hazards. I’ll make sure she makes of note of them though, that’d be a fun catalog to keep ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/65 "2014-08-26T18:34:44Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Did you find a mark? Generally, I’d think a scorpion would sting if bothered. Only, the poision of that particular species evidently isn’t very potent to humans. There were a couple of small red bumps. It _seemed_ bothered, considering it was inside my cut-offs with me, and all. 🙂 But now, you all have me thinking I was clawed instead of stung; it might not have had enough room to rear back and let fly with the tail. Still, no fun. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/66 "2014-08-26T18:58:46Z")
Scorpions use their pincers to hold and manipulate their prey while they sting it. Prey is primarily insects, and the stinger must be inserted between the chitinous plates that make up and armor the body of insects. Thus some dexterity and control is helpful. Your butt probably didn’t look like prey to the scorpion, so it may have unleashed all available defensive weaponry to ward it off. In other words, you may have been both pinched \*and \*stung. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/67 "2014-08-26T22:21:18Z")
^ The little bastard unloaded his entire arsenal at me? Da Noive! See if I wear pants again! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/68 "2014-08-27T02:20:30Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > If she is golfing in FLA she will see alligators. Take the free drop and leave the Titleist. I golfed in South Florida for about five years. Didn’t see any alligators on the course. In fact, I’ve never run into a stray alligator in 40 years living here. Yeah, they are out - there are news reports every few years of having to relocate one. But they certainly don’t seem to make themselves known around me. And I live on a (small) lake. I did see a few turtles at the golf course. I hit a ball into the shallow edge of a water trap once…I found it because a turtle camped out next to it staring it down. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/69 "2014-08-27T08:52:18Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I golfed in South Florida for about five years. Didn’t see any alligators on the course. In fact, I’ve never run into a stray alligator in 40 years living here. Yeah, they are out - there are news reports every few years of having to relocate one. But they certainly don’t seem to make themselves known around me. > And I live on a (small) lake. > I did see a few turtles at the golf course. I hit a ball into the shallow edge of a water trap once…I found it because a turtle camped out next to it staring it down. Weird. I’ve golfed in Central Florida…well, never, but I did take some lessons, and there were always gators somewhere on the golf course. We’ve lived in Brevard County off and on for the last 10 years, and gators are a very common sight. The piece of advice I was given when we first moved down there was to just go ahead and assume that any body of water larger than a swimming pool has at least one alligator in it. Doesn’t mean you have to completely avoid the water, just keep your eyes peeled and be common-sensical about things. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/70 "2014-08-27T14:06:07Z")
There are a lot more gators in Brevard than Orange and Seminole because the Space Center is a large breeding area (or, more accurately, the large wildlife preserve that makes up the bulk of the Space Center.) ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/71 "2014-08-27T14:26:25Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > The piece of advice I was given when we first moved down there was to just go ahead and assume that any body of water larger than a swimming pool has at least one alligator in it. Doesn’t mean you have to completely avoid the water, just keep your eyes peeled and be common-sensical about things. Common sense says don’t swim with gators! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/72 "2014-08-27T14:34:45Z")
Meh. The odds of being killed by an alligator are [negligible](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_alligator_attacks_in_the_United_States_by_decade), though they’re infinitely higher in Florida than anywhere else. That’s 13 deaths (1 outside Florida) in seven years (I assume it hasn’t been updated since 2007). By way of comparison, [20 people](http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/fatalities.htm) have been killed by lightning is the US this year alone, including six in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/73 "2014-08-27T15:59:18Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > At FSU my father and his roommate used to give the Palmetto bugs names, but they were used to weird creatures. Huge spiders, lizards, frogs, giant land crabs–even rats and opossums stopped by for a visit. Giant land crabs? 😕 To the OP: Yes, the bugs are that ubiquitous. I would say all apartment complexes have a pest control contract – the bug guys should be showing up once a month. It’s the best you can do. It’s buggy here and doesn’t get cold enough to kill everything off. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/74 "2014-08-27T16:01:51Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Giant land crabs? 😕 > > To the OP: Yes, the bugs are that ubiquitous. I would say all apartment complexes have a pest control contract – the bug guys should be showing up once a month. It’s the best you can do. It’s buggy here and doesn’t get cold enough to kill everything off. [Coconut Crab?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/75 "2014-08-27T16:03:44Z")
“Giant” is [a bit of a misnomer](http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/UW/UW01300.pdf). They get up to about 6" across, so they’re not like coconut crab rivals or anything. I assume KRC’s roommate was from the Keys. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/76 "2014-08-27T16:18:16Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > [Coconut Crab?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab) Nope. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Coconut crabs live in the Indian Ocean and the central Pacific Ocean; their distribution closely matches that of the coconut palm.[27] The western limit of the range of B. latro is Zanzibar (with a stronghold on Chumbe island), off the coast of Tanzania,[28] while the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn mark the northern and southern limits, respectively, with very few population in the subtropics, such as the Ryukyu Islands.[5] The coconut crab once lived on the mainlands of Australia and Madagascar and on the island of Mauritius, but it no longer occurs in any of these places.[5] As they cannot swim as adults, coconut crabs must have colonised the islands as planktonic larvae.[29] > > Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean has the largest and densest population of coconut crabs in the world,[17] although it is outnumbered there by more than 50 times by the Christmas Island red crab, Gecarcoidea natalis.[30] Other Indian Ocean populations exist on the Seychelles, including Aldabra and Cosmoledo,[31] but the coconut crab is extinct on the central islands.[32] Coconut crabs occur on several of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. They occur on most of the islands, and the northern atolls, of the Chagos Archipelago.[33] > > In the Pacific, the coconut crab’s range became known gradually. Charles Darwin believed it was only found on “a single coral island north of the Society group”.[34] The coconut crab is far more widespread, though it is not abundant on every Pacific island it inhabits.[34] Large populations exist on the Cook Islands, especially Pukapuka, Suwarrow, Mangaia, Takutea, Mauke, Atiu, and Palmerston Island. These are close to the eastern limit of its range, as are the Line Islands of Kiribati, where the coconut crab is especially frequent on Teraina (Washington Island), with its abundant coconut palm forest.[34] The Gambier Islands marks the species’ eastern limit.[28] ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/77 "2014-08-27T16:20:48Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > “Giant” is [a bit of a misnomer](http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/UW/UW01300.pdf). They get up to about 6" across, so they’re not like coconut crab rivals or anything. I assume KRC’s roommate was from the Keys. Yeah, blue crabs range throughout the Gulf and the Atlantic and, like you said, are maybe half a foot. Not anywhere near “giant.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/78 "2014-08-27T23:27:00Z")
No, these are land crabs _Cardisoma_, not blue crabs _Callinectes_. They reach at least 6" across the carapace. Leg tip to leg tip can be more than three times that. At spawning time huge numbers of individuals march to the sea, crossing roads, interfering with automobile traffic, and flattening tires by accidental punctures. As recently as the 1960’s these marches involved tens of thousands of crabs walking right through populated areas in Miami and it’s outskirts as well as elsewhere all over the southern coastal parts of the peninsula. At night there would be an unbroken sea of arthropod shells and appendages scuttling across fields, roadways and open spaces everywhere within half a dozen miles of salt water. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/79 "2014-08-28T13:59:33Z")
I’ve seen the little blue crabs before, I hesitate to call them huge. But I gotta say…as crabs go, the most annoying crabs are in my pant… …ting dogs mouth when she bites them. Yeah… dog… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058/80 "2014-08-28T14:18:56Z")
> [@CannyDan](#): > > At night there would be an unbroken sea of arthropod shells and appendages scuttling across fields, roadways and open spaces everywhere within half a dozen miles of salt water. A drunken Vogon could have a ball. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-floridians-about-bugs/696058.md?page=5)