So I was out for a walk the other day around dusk, and as happens from time to time a bug I never saw flew in my mouth, and of course ended up stuck in my throat. After the appropriate 45 seconds of hacking, gagging, and convulsing, I accepted the inevitable and just took a big swig of water and swallowed it down.
About 30 minutes later I got hit with one of the worst acid reflux episodes I have had in a long while. All evidence seems to indicate I am still alive, and it may have been coincidence, or psychosomatic, but it got me to wondering are there any common flying bugs in the Michigan area that screw up your stomach when swallowed, or hurt ya worse?
Ladybugs are said to be toxic, but a Google search brings up mixed messages. A friend told me she chomped one that got in her salad, and it tasted horrible. I remember reading a story about a runner who got really ill after swallowing one. I witnessed a Southern Tree Frog retch and wipe his mouth out with his front feet for ten minutes after he spit out the one he tried to eat. I felt sorry for him, but it was quite comical.
Tarantula Hawks really deserve an accurate link. They can also get too drunk to fly very well. With the second most painful insect sting in the world, you will remember an encounter with such.
I once saw a guy from Newcastle fling a beer right up a woman’s nose because a June bug landed on his hand. He was bent over her, trying to be suave, and the bug landed on his hand. It made its buzzing sound and vibrated on the web of his thumb. He thought he was being attacked by some vicious Texan killer bug. He yelped and screamed and jumped jerked his hand back. And Jezabel got 8oz of lone star straight up the nose.
That is why bikers have bugs in their teeth, they never open their teeth when riding. Does not take long to learn this.
Back when I was smoking, I was not always careful enough.
Anyone silly enough to go outside after dark in rural Michigan deserves what ever happens to them I had to bathe in ‘skin so soft’ and put lotts of rocks in my pockets to keep the twin engined mosquitos from carrying me off.
I have only gone back with netting* & a sealed up car.
Another non-Michigan poisonous insect: monarch butterflies as both caterpillars and adults. They acquire the poison from the plants they eat as caterpillars.
It’s also possible that any kind insect had been exposed to pesticides.
As for what you might have actually ingested there in Michigan… sorry, not sure.
