# BIG bugs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377 "2009-04-08T11:27:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/41 "2009-04-09T15:31:39Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Would a crab that lived on coconuts taste coconutt-y? If so, it sounds like it’s halfway to a Thai curry. If I recall correctly, Anthony Bourdain once ate coconut crab on No Reservations and said it did taste sweet and coconuty. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/42 "2009-04-09T15:36:58Z")
Speaking of polychaete: I present the “Bone Eating Snot Flower”: [Osedax - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osedax) Surely wins the prize for “wierdest bug name ever”. The bug is pretty wierd, too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/43 "2009-04-09T16:10:14Z")
Go [to the archive of the RadioLab podcast "Yellow Fluff and other Curious Encounters](http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2008/12/12), scroll down almost to the bottom of the page to the story of Jerry Coyne, who allowed a botfly larva to gestate in his scalp. Again, not much to do with big, but the story is enough to squick anyone out of studying biology. Please do not listen to this story during lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/44 "2009-04-09T16:33:00Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > That picture of the coconut crab on the garbage can gives me the willies. At first, you’re all, “Well, it’s OK - big, but not that scary.” Then you realize you’re looking at a picture. Imagine seeing that thing outside your house, molesting your garbage can. In Toronto, we have a tremendous problem with the urban raccoons, and their incredible tenacity and dexterity in getting into our garbage and compost bins. I’m having a fun time contemplating one of those “Ultimate Battle” kind of shows with a raccoon on one garbage can and one of those coconut crabs on another. Or imagine the raccoon’s surprise when it lifts the lid only to get a pinch on the snout. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/45 "2009-04-09T16:54:00Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > In Toronto, we have a tremendous problem with the urban raccoons, and their incredible tenacity and dexterity in getting into our garbage and compost bins. I’m having a fun time contemplating one of those “Ultimate Battle” kind of shows with a raccoon on one garbage can and one of those coconut crabs on another. > > Or imagine the raccoon’s surprise when it lifts the lid only to get a pinch on the snout. 😃 Though the crab has the armour and the weapons, ultimately I’d bet on the racoon. Racoons are scary smart, and have hands. Speaking of Toronto racoons … we had some visitors from Europe staying with us, who found them incredibly interesting and exotic. The coons were fighting and trashing the neighbour’s garbage cans again, and my wife and I were all “damn coons” but they were glued to the window. They simply couldn’t believe the stuff the racoons were capable of. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/46 "2009-04-09T17:02:32Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > 😃 > > Though the crab has the armour and the weapons, ultimately I’d bet on the racoon. Racoons are scary smart, and have hands. > > Speaking of Toronto racoons … we had some visitors from Europe staying with us, who found them incredibly interesting and exotic. The coons were fighting and trashing the neighbour’s garbage cans again, and my wife and I were all “damn coons” but they were glued to the window. They simply couldn’t believe the stuff the racoons were capable of. In my more paranoid moments, I think the raccoons have infiltrated the waste management department, and the green bins are actually a devious training program for their as yet clandestine army of Big Washing Rats. I suspect Kingdok is at the bottom of all this, and the ‘rat creatures’ in Bone were just a fluffification of the real menace… ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/47 "2009-04-09T17:06:34Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Bat-eating centipedes of Venezuela. Band name. ---
**Author:** ![StinkyBurrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@StinkyBurrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StinkyBurrito)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/48 "2009-04-09T17:37:12Z")
I kind of like spiders, but [this](http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Clock_legs.sized.jpg) is [ridiculous](http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Image:IMG_1773.sized.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@Black\_Sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Sunshine)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/49 "2009-04-09T18:09:31Z")
If I saw something like that in my house, I would move. I’d leave my family and my belongings behind, and go live in a nice, flat, abandoned parking lot where nothing can sneak up on me. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/50 "2009-04-09T18:12:58Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > He’s not a bug by most definitions, but [Barry the giant sea worm](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1165930/Barry-giant-sea-worm-discovered-aquarium-staff-mysterious-attacks-coral-reef.html) definitely deserves a mention in a thread full of horrifying things. Ha, how about this from the article: ‘That worm must have obliterated the traps. _The bait was full of hooks which he must have just digested_.’ I cannot believe I’m back to this thread. I need my head examined… ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/51 "2009-04-09T18:23:43Z")
OK now. [Seriously](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Giant_isopod.jpg)? I mean, [seriously](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bathynomus_giganteus.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/52 "2009-04-09T19:00:25Z")
> [@StinkyBurrito](#): > > I kind of like spiders, but [this](http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Clock_legs.sized.jpg) is [ridiculous](http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Image:IMG_1773.sized.jpg). Now that’s a big spider. We get Dock Spiders up north which are the size of your hand in terms of legspan, which is quite large enough for me, thank you. Also, they are fast, and can jump. Having one of those suckers scuttle over your bare foot while on the dock was an experience not soon forgotten … but the worst was realizing that a particularly large one was moulting _directly over my head_ while I was “engaged” in the outhouse. It scared me and I scared it, I guess, because it angrily _rattled its shedding skin_ at me. I read a hilarious story about some poor sap who tried to stomp one to death, only to have it escape by jumping on his foot and _scuttling up his pant leg_. allegedly, his companions, who did not see the spider, were quite bemused and allarmed when this fellow begain to do an odd sort of spastic dance on the spot, and then apparently attempt to punch himself vigourously in the nuts as the spider reached the height of its journey. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/53 "2009-04-09T19:11:02Z")
Doesn’t get any[bigger…or bluer…](http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/9147991.jpg) ETA: sorry ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/54 "2009-04-09T21:43:29Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > OK now. [Seriously](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Giant_isopod.jpg)? I mean, [seriously](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bathynomus_giganteus.jpg)? Giant, horrible, blood-sucking lice of the sea? (maybe not, bot they look that way) Amazing - I’ve never heard about them before; they look like something Cthulhu would snack on while watching a movie. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/55 "2009-04-09T22:26:19Z")
What’s taking the scientist so long? I can’t wait to leave this planet! Why is everything in nature bite-y or sting-y or disgusting? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/56 "2009-04-10T12:36:55Z")
Hey, **G0sp3l** , check [this](http://www.officialpugguide.com/Pug_Pictures/Pug1.jpg) out! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/57 "2009-04-10T14:31:46Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Hey, **G0sp3l** , check [this](http://www.officialpugguide.com/Pug_Pictures/Pug1.jpg) out! :eek: GAAAAAAAAA!!! That’s disgusting! ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/58 "2009-04-10T15:03:35Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Hey, **G0sp3l** , check [this](http://www.officialpugguide.com/Pug_Pictures/Pug1.jpg) out! :eek: MY EYES! MY EYES ARE MELTING! HOW AM I EVEN ABLE TO TYPE THIS POST WITH EYES THAT ARE MELTING! AAAARRRRGGGHHH! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/59 "2009-04-10T15:18:36Z")
Exactly what I was talking about 🙂 Why is the navel so large? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377/60 "2009-04-10T15:20:43Z")
Just a hideous malformation of that particular specimen, no doubt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-bugs/492377.md?page=4)