Insects are perhaps the most misunderstood creatures on the Earth. Myths about insects abound – such as the old tale about earwigs tunneling through the brain, or the fictional accounts of giant insects that appear in the tabloids…so, just out of curiosity, I decided to have a look on snopes.com to see what kind of insect stories the masters of debunking urban legends have collected on their pages (www.snopes.com). A quick search using the simple term “insect” yielded 62 hits – more than enough fodder for an entomological blogger! Let’s take a look at a few interesting ones…
A lowly earwig (Fir0002/Flagstaffotos)
According to snopes.com, a home remedy for fire ants – pouring 2 or more cups of club soda into a fire ant mound to kill the ant colony – has been circulating in newspaper columns and on the internet since at least 2007. The idea is that the carbon dioxide in the club soda will displace the oxygen in the mound, suffocating the ants. In my experience, there may be more home remedies floating around out there for fire ants than for any other insect, but this one was new to me! Does it work? You can probably guess, or you can have a look: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/fireants.asp.
An old favorite is the one about the woman with the bouffant hairdo who succumbs to a mysterious illness and dies from the bites of spiders nesting in her hair. Rumors do not discriminate – a different version exists, involving a fellow with dreadlocks. Are you feeling a little creeped out by this? Interestingly enough, in the year 2000 a Yemeni bride supposedly met her end from the stings of a scorpion hidden in her wedding wig by one of her groom’s other wives. If you aren’t squeamish and want to read more, see http://www.snopes.com/horrors/vanities/hairdo.asp.
What might be lurking up there?
Here’s one that’s true! Entomologists often tout the many uses of insects worldwide in an effort to increase public awareness of our six-legged friends. The claim that the food colorant cochineal is made from ground bugs is true. The insects themselves are scale insects, tiny creatures in the insect superfamily Coccoidea. Some scale insects are serious pests of landscape and ornamental plants, but these particular bugs have been exploited for their vibrant red coloration since the time of the ancient Aztecs. Want to know more? Check it out at http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/bugjuice.asp.
The three stories above are only a small taste of what’s available online at snopes.com. A word of caution – some of the stories and images that you will find there are not for the squeamish! Till next time, have fun!