Close Encounters of the Bug Kind

[Verter]

IcaroRibeiro said:

I like some like beetles, butterflies, ladybugs and fireflies

But many of them scare me

I like those too: some beetles are kind of majestic, certain butterflies have very beautiful colorations, ladybugs are nicer (to me) when their colors are the opposite to the typical (red patterns in black), and fireflies in the night are an amazing show that I'm not fortunate enough to have ever witnessed in person, sadly. The cycle of butterflies and other insects is interesting too.

Ka-pi96 said:

You... like bugs? WTF?

I hate the things! They're gross and disgusting and ugly and scary and icky and horrible and terrible!

I nearly stepped on a cicada yesterday, it was probably already dead given it was just lying on the pavement, but wow those things are big and ugly! The amount of times my classes have been interrupted by bugs too because the kids just want to run away from them. I've met way too many kids that are scared of butterflies too, I don't get that one. Like most bugs will bite/sting you, hating them makes sense. And they're gross too! But butterflies? They'll just flap at you?

Haha that's a genuine reaction! I can understand why you hate them. I actually started to like them at a time when I looked for a bit of information about some of them and their behavior, which made me think of them as very interesting creatures, sometimes even fascinating - the hive mind of bees and ants, for example. Also, the more information I had about the ones considered as most dangerous, the least dangerous I thought they were, mainly because, as a general rule, no insect whatsoever attacks without a good reason, and that reason is generally protecting itself or its home. For instance, I was attacked by a couple of wasps not too long ago (they both stang me while I was doing the laundry), and looking a bit later at the place where that happend I discovered that they had their nest right there, so I made them feel in danger because the clothes I was hanging up were touching the entrance to their nest.

Oh, and this is the first time I hear that someone's scared of butterfiles, so I find it weird too, but considering that they're kids I guess that they just see them as big insects that sometimes fly over their heads, and they don't like it. Maybe.

Farsala said:

I came back home and there was a stupid cicada lying down right in front of my door and not any of my neighbors. I knew it wasn't dead, it had to get there somehow, but it was in a dead position. I had to kick it like a soccer ball and it went pretty far but then it flapped its wings and and made cicada noises and tried to recover.

Kids also freak out when a suzumebachi comes in, rightfully so. I think since I am sensitive to bee venom, they might be able to kill me. Teachers even have a designated weapon for the bugs.

A few months ago I had a run in with a few giant roaches. I was boiling water, and when I brought the water to the sink to drain, there was a massive roach in the sink and I freaked and dropped all the boiling water on it. It was stunned by it but not dead so I finished it with some dish soap. Took a picture, because I couldn't believe the size of the thing. Took me a bit before I had the courage to pick it up and throw it out, because no way am I keeping it in my trash. After this little run in I bought roach repel and some traps. Haven't seen any since.

I had an encounter with a roach too. With a female one, to be more precise. How do I know it was a female? Because I had the information that female roaches have a smaller body than their male counterparts, but that difference in size is not translated into the wings, so female roaches can actually use them to glide. And the one I found was on a wall and, in an attempt to avoid being thrown away or killed by me, it actually glided towards my body and tried to hide inside my shirt. I wasn't worried, because I knew it wasn't going to hurt me, but it was an uncomfortable situation. However, I don't think it was nearly as big as the one you're describing - maybe yours belongs to some particularly big species from Japan.

About that cicada situation that both of you are commenting, I first thought that they could be playing dead, but I've never seen one having that behavior - I've caught them a lot of times just to have them on my hand for a while, and what they do to avoid that is just flying away. So I actually looked for information and I found a potential explanation. Basically, "it’s possible these cicadas have been paralyzed by a specialist predatory wasp. Dead looking cicadas are really common in areas where cicada killers are found, and it’s entirely possible that these cicadas have been paralyzed by a wasp who just couldn’t handle her prey." There's also a video in that page showing a wasp that isn't able to carry a cicada, it's kind of a hilariously sad spectacle.