Wicked Bugs
Amy Stewart was in town lately at a book signing for Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects
. We were familiar with her previous book, Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
. She said that when she was researching plants, she was alarmed by the fact that people commonly perceive plants to be harmless. In fact, since plants can't run away from hungry herbivores, she had no trouble uncovering examples of nasty defenses plants have evolved to keep themselves from being eaten. In contrast, when researching bugs, she found that finding ones that are genuinely "worthy of human terror" was much more of a challenge, despite the common phobias people have for all kinds of creepy crawlies. For example, she was unable to uncover any documented case of death by black widow bite. She did find an article by a reporter who had put black widows on his arms and tried in vain to actually get them to bite him. The worst stories she could turn up about the black widow were about painful bites. Similarly, she found that the range and frequency of the brown recluse spider has been greatly exaggerated. She discovered a university that offered a substantial reward for anyone who could send them a specimen. They received many, many odd submissions, but the prize remained unclaimed. Ms. Stewart said that in many cases, the biggest threat from the brown recluse has been misdiagnosis of staph infections and parasite attacks as spider bites, leading to ineffective treatment. She also told us about cave centipedes, which have been seen hanging upside down in caves, hunting flying bats! Jasper thought this was a really entertaining piece of information. (You can see a video if this phenomena here.) She told us about the fearsome bite of the assassin bug, which can spread Chagas disease. This is one of many possible suspects in the mysterious illness that plagued Charles Darwin. She also mentioned the pioneering work of Dr. Justin O. Schmidt, who invented a pain index to rank insect bites, unhappily created with much field research. (An interesting interview with Dr. Schmidt can be found here.) She brought along some of the more fearsome insects described in her book, in lucite blocks for all to see. She had them custom made by an entomologist who she found through Evolution, a Manhattan natural history store. (Lucite blocks are a terrific way to share insect specimens with kids. Evolution stocks quite a few, as does The Bone Room.) An audience member asked her which bug she truly finds the most fearsome. Without hesitation, she recommended the mosquito, the ubiquitous spreader of disease. Amy Stewart and her husband own a magnificent antiquarian bookstore in Eureka, so check it out on your next trip down the coast!
. We were familiar with her previous book, Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities. She said that when she was researching plants, she was alarmed by the fact that people commonly perceive plants to be harmless. In fact, since plants can't run away from hungry herbivores, she had no trouble uncovering examples of nasty defenses plants have evolved to keep themselves from being eaten. In contrast, when researching bugs, she found that finding ones that are genuinely "worthy of human terror" was much more of a challenge, despite the common phobias people have for all kinds of creepy crawlies. For example, she was unable to uncover any documented case of death by black widow bite. She did find an article by a reporter who had put black widows on his arms and tried in vain to actually get them to bite him. The worst stories she could turn up about the black widow were about painful bites. Similarly, she found that the range and frequency of the brown recluse spider has been greatly exaggerated. She discovered a university that offered a substantial reward for anyone who could send them a specimen. They received many, many odd submissions, but the prize remained unclaimed. Ms. Stewart said that in many cases, the biggest threat from the brown recluse has been misdiagnosis of staph infections and parasite attacks as spider bites, leading to ineffective treatment. She also told us about cave centipedes, which have been seen hanging upside down in caves, hunting flying bats! Jasper thought this was a really entertaining piece of information. (You can see a video if this phenomena here.) She told us about the fearsome bite of the assassin bug, which can spread Chagas disease. This is one of many possible suspects in the mysterious illness that plagued Charles Darwin. She also mentioned the pioneering work of Dr. Justin O. Schmidt, who invented a pain index to rank insect bites, unhappily created with much field research. (An interesting interview with Dr. Schmidt can be found here.) She brought along some of the more fearsome insects described in her book, in lucite blocks for all to see. She had them custom made by an entomologist who she found through Evolution, a Manhattan natural history store. (Lucite blocks are a terrific way to share insect specimens with kids. Evolution stocks quite a few, as does The Bone Room.) An audience member asked her which bug she truly finds the most fearsome. Without hesitation, she recommended the mosquito, the ubiquitous spreader of disease. Amy Stewart and her husband own a magnificent antiquarian bookstore in Eureka, so check it out on your next trip down the coast! 
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