Tag: bug
I Swallowed a Bug: Should I be Worried?
We received a strange question a little while back concerning the implications of swallowing a bug. A bug flew into our reader’s mouth, and at least some of the bug was swallowed. The reader experienced some irritation in the back of her mouth, and she also had a sore throat, so she was wondering if she should be worried. However, the discomfort might be the result of allergies, according to the reader, and not the fact that she swallowed a bug. The reader asked if we could “help at all,” so we presume she wants us to comment on the whether or not it is dangerous to swallow any sort of bug, a matter we will try our best to address.
Black, Worm-Like Bugs that Fall Apart When Dried Out or Dead
We received an extremely short email from a reader the other day about a black bug that looks like a worm and falls apart when it is dried out or dead. The bug also has a thick body, and it was found in Naples, Florida. The reader’s question – or technically sentence fragment – seemed to concern identification, so we’ll try to make some sense of her message, such as it is, and offer a couple of remarks about what she might have found.
Mystery Bug in the Bathroom
A reader wrote to us recently about some “things” she is finding in the bathroom, although they are occasionally found in other parts of the house as well. The reader only refers to the things in the bathroom as, well, “things,” but she presumably is finding some sort of worm, larvae, or other bug, or else she wouldn’t have written to us with her question. The reader provided us with a bizarre description of the bug in question, which we quote in full below, and then asked us if the bug could be harmful or dangerous to herself or her animals. What could this mysterious bug in the bathroom be?
Insects that Look Like Grass and Sticks
We received a very interesting question a while ago about some sort of insect that looks “like a blade of grass” (or a stick, to our eyes). The reader referred to the creature, which he found in a state park in Pennsylvania, as a “really weird worm,” but also added that it might not actually be a worm. Based on the video he sent in, it appears that the grass-like creature is an insect, not a worm. What kind of insect is, of course, the question. Below we investigate what this insect that look likes grass might be. (As mentioned, we think the insect looks a bit like a stick as well, so we’ll be using “grass” and “stick” to basically mean “some sort of elongated plant material.”)