This is some freaky, scary stuff.
Thanks a lot, I just peed my pants in terror.
I actually read the whole article until I got to the headline “Bot Fly” and stopped right there. If I read a single damn word about parasites burrowing into my brain I am going to freak the fuck out.
My charming husband helpfully pointed out that, due to global warming, all these sweet, fuzzy critters are going to be coming our way at some point.
Army ants! Eep!
I suggest you stay away from Thailand, too, then. The one that STILL gets ME is our giant flying cockroach.
Wow. Just…wow.
And since nobody’s posted it yet: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
What, no Kissing Bugs?
Oh, the Bot Fly; those bugs live in my home country (Uruguay). One of my uncles, eh… hosted one, about the size of half a cigarette, in his leg. The traditional way of getting them out is to put a thick piece of bacon over the (urgh!) burrow entrance and wait for the larva to munch its way through so it can catch some fresh air. Because, you see, its not bad enough to have a bloody maggot burrowing through you, the bastard has to stick his disgusting mug out every now and then to say “howdy!”
Once the bug pokes its head out you remove the bacon with maggot and all... dont eat it.
Holy fucking shit, did anyone watch the youtube link on that page of the Japanese Hornet? After the one they posted about 30 hornets massacring a colony of 30,000 European honey bees, there’s a link that pops up with a continuation of the story. Apparently Japanese honey bees have discovered a way to deal with the hornets. When the initial scout locates their hive, they lure her inside (unclear how). Once in, they swarm the hornet, and then get this, they don’t sting her, but instead vibrate raising their body temperatures to 117º F. They do this because they can withstand temperatures up to 118º F, while the hornets can only deal with temperatures to 115º, so the hornet slowly roasts to death!!! They’ve evolved a coping mechanism based on 2º F.
Here’s the link I watched, there are several others on there. I have no idea what to say about this. I’m stunned speechless. Nature kicks ass.
Rescue me, holy savior! WHAT THE HELL? WHAT THE HELL? I’m sitting here, picturing a big f-ing hole in my…WHAT THE HELL? I mean it. What new fresh hell does tomorrow bring?
:: hiding in corner, rocking slowly ::
Ah, you signed up; so for you tomorrow will bring a squid and a goat at the welcome party.
Welcome to the Dope.
Well I’ve been stung by Bullet Ants (one time by five at once), Africanized honeybees, and Army Ants. Fortunately I’ve never had a botfly, but several of my friends have. The only one I’ve completely missed out on is the Japanese Hornet.
Did the Bullet Ant stings really feel like getting shot? Or if you haven’t been shot, was it as painful as they make it out to be in the article?
Also, would anyone else love to see a battle royale between some Giant Japanese Hornets and a hive of Africanized Bees?
And thus the arms race continues. They bring a wasp, you make a ball of bees. They cut 30,000 of your hivemates to pieces, you gang up on each one of their guys and encase them in 2 degrees beyond their temperature tolerance of hot death. That’s the Chicago way, and that’s how you’ll get Capone!
Seriously, tho’. There goes my appetite and sleep for the night.
Yes, I’ve “missed out” on that, too. Damn. I should really go find a Japanese Hornet. Right now. Seriously, I’m going now. Hey isn’t it great that I’m already in Japan? Should be no problem.
Thank Christ I’m in a place where it snows all the freaking time and there are no bugs alive right now to come find me. After reading this thread, I probably wouldn’t sleep for a week.
I’m in a large city, surrounded by cement and I’m considering dipping myself in wax before going to bed.
This is why I live in Canada. Sure, we have blizzards. But we don’t have two inch fucking hornets that spray acid, for fuck’s sake.
I was halfway through reading the link when my sister called and asked what I was doing. I tried to tell her she really didn’t want to know.
At fist she kinda laughed. I read to her in a manic pace, I was at the Army ant when she had called.
Then we got to the Bot Fly.
She audibly “Urped.” and demanded to know where I had gotten this information. I told her it was my message board.
She told me to pass this on:
“You’re all sick, and can go to hell.”
I had a good hearty laugh at this, and told her it mattered not.
On the other hand, those are some seriously scary bugs.
Screw not going to Japan. I’m not leaving enclosed spaces for longer than five seconds at a time. Home -> Car -> Work -> Car -> Home. That’s it. There is no longer an ‘outside’, only ‘big vast area full of evil things that want to kill you if you stay out longer than five seconds’.
Sort of like any RPG out there, full of random battles and every living creature out there wants to fuck you up.
I’m keeping insecticide on me from now on.
I’d probably be more concerned about all this if it wasn’t a grand total of 6 degrees outside with snow falling.
This is why I don’t travel. In Michigan the worst you get is the occasional blizzard or generally weak tornado. All the big nasty bugs are dead or sleeping for about half the year, and the snakes follow suit.
On the other hand, I guess familiarity might have something to do with it. I mean, I met a girl from Oklahoma once that swore up and down that earwigs were worse than scorpions.
I would liken it to being hit with a red-hot iron poker. (Not that I’ve been hit by a hot poker or shot, but that’s the way I imagine it.) The intense pain fades after about 5 minutes. But the stings still hurt after several hours. Much worse than bee or wasp stings.
But I’ve had worse ant stings than Bullet Ants. There’s one kind of medium-sized nasty, a lot smaller than the Bullet Ant, that lives in thorny shrubs in scrubby areas, that has a sting like red hot acid. And it takes a lot longer to fade than a Bullet Ant sting.
And then there was the time I was stung by a scorpion in my tent, and after flinging him off me in the dark I couldn’t find him again to squash him. It made for a long night expecting him to come crawling out of somewhere again.
24 below with minus 40 windchill (my current weather stats) are looking better and better…