Why I Was Scared To Touch Bugs...Bad Experience Developed Into A Phobia!

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Bug Angst....

You may have seen a movie where one of the characters got a bug inside his ear in a desert. The man almost got crazy because of the intensive pain he suffered. I know the feeling since I have had a bad experience while on my sleep, a black bug crawled inside my ear in the middle of the night. It must have fallen from a tree and landed on my head without me noticing it. My dad and my brothers woke up and came to my rescue, Dad had the idea to spray my ear with insect spray, the bug came out creeping in a backward motion. Its legs were like needles that simultaneously pricked my ear. I almost went nuts from the pain. It turned-out that it was a black baby bug, those found in gardens. From that day on and since 40 years, I got a bug phobia, I cover my ears when I go to sleep.

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In recent weeks, I had been hunting for wildflowers to pick in the nearby fields for my wildflower arrangements when I found these bugs. I backed-off, had been scared they might get to my clothing without me knowing it. I was very careful not to interrupt what they were doing, only then I carefully held the leaves of the plants so I could photograph them.
I also had been careful not to touch any of them because as a defense mechanism, they will release that awful aroma which is so disgusting. I had such similar smell from a green bug in my previous garden. I have read they are not harmful to humans nor devastating to plants.

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Pyrrhocoris Apterus

To describe this type of red bug, here´s what Wikipedia has to say:

Pyrrhocoris is a genus of true bugs in the family Pyrrhocoridae, the cotton stainers.
The firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus, is a common insect of the family Pyrrhocoridae. Easily recognizable due to its striking red and black coloration.

Firebugs generally mate in April and May. Their diet consists primarily of seeds from lime trees and mallows (see below). They can often be found in groups near the base of lime tree trunks, on the sunny side. They can be seen in tandem formation when mating which can take from 12 hours up to 7 days. The long period of copulating is probably used by the males as a form of ejaculate-guarding under high competition with other males.

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My advice to all is that, be careful when you are out there in the forest or any other wild areas. Check your clothing when you come home to see whether you discover insects particularly ticks that could cause TBE (Tick-borne encephalitis) which is an inflammation of the brain and cerebral membrane.

That´s it for today, I wish you all a great weekend...

...take care and keep safe!

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2 comments
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Pyrrhocoris Apterus

Beautiful ... and completely harmless.

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Indeed! But I am still scared.... Lol! Appreciate the support, Thanks!

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