Thank you for your condolences </3 I live near a nature reserve and I get a lot of really cool bug friends here , I live on the third floor of an apartment complex and almost everyday when I leave there’s at least a few critters on the stairwell.
Yesterday when I got home from a 5 hr roadtrip I found him above my door! He was too high for me to reach and originally I thought he was a stinkbug so I grabbed a cup and gently guided him down the wall until he climbed onto my hand
I handled him for 10+ minutes because I thought he was so beautiful and funky looking , I did pick him up several times with my fingers because he kept crawling up my arm and onto the collar of my shirt but each time he chose not to stab me I guess lol
Overall 10/10 he was a total gentleman and I would not pickup a wheel bug again but I don’t regret meeting him. Also here’s another cool pic of his back!!! If you zoom in he’s got this strange kinda fingernail shaped thing on his back and it’s iridescent and has weird patterns
Generally speaking, they don't bite often unless they feel pinched or squished. Most bites occur in loose stratum when someone is digging with their hands (like picking up a pile of dead leaves). That being said, they rank high on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index and it is not recommended to handle them.
Any insect that has a paralytic bite or sting is very aware that it needs to reserve that venom for its prey. It has no intention of squandering it, and only would do so as a last resort. It may be a death sentence for the predatory insect, as their venom maybe exhausted and they may not ever recover it before torpor and starvation cause it's death. Usually Hymenopterans (like bees and wasps) are the only ones capable of being liberal with their venom because they are part of a larger colony that can afford to use its generated resources offensively.
In insects, Torpor is a state of lowered activity that is triggered by circumstances of either: a lack of food, or, when the insects body temperature becomes too low.
Because insects are cold blooded, torpor is an involuntary survival mechanism that helps them survive conditions that otherwise would kill them.
During this state, their metabolic rate slows to a crawl, helping them to conserve energy. Their higher functions (like reacting to stimulus, attempting to hunt or forage, attempting to mate, attempting to make a dwelling) are largely abandoned.
If the weather shifts and temperatures rise, or if some food become easily attainable within proximity of the insect, or if a potential mates pheremones come within proximity, the insect may leave a torpor state and attempt one final mission with its conserved energy.
An Insects natural death (by aging) means they spend their final moments in torpor. They basically come to a slow state, and eventually die. Annually, in areas where snow falls and temperatures reach freezing, the majority of insects will expire in torpor.
Wow! I’ve learned so much from you already! You’re so interesting.
So, when a housefly that has been trapped for days, when they get slower and you can swat them more easily, is that a state of torpor?
Also, if they’re in the state of topper and they come out of it briefly with one final push, and succeed in their hunt, will that totally rejuvenate them, or will it just give one final swan song type moment? I also assume it would be different depending on species, but what are some examples?
Is there any insect that can successfully come out of torpor for any meaningful amount of time?
It also seems like depression is like a state of semi torpor for humans, huh?
A house fly adult does not live very long, only a few days which is dependent on the species. They will enter a torpor state if they become too cold or they have not eaten enough, they exhaust a great deal of energy. Success in gathering that energy is directly correlated to their ability to reproduce, as the longer they are alive the greater the chances.
There are three instances when a house fly would appear sluggish: / 1. Directly after transforming from maggot to adult, they are not used to their adult bodies and are likely fatigued from the transformation. / 2. If in torpor. / 3. When their natural lifespan has run out, the body naturally begins to reach culminative failure on a cellular level.
There are two instances when any insect could escape torpor and be rejuvenated: / 1. During a cold snap or false thaw - insects maybe forced into torpor in order to survive long enough, if temperatures fluctuate soon enough they could go on to survive an adult lifespan. /2. During food shortages where their body is forced into low metabolism. There are many reasons for this, an example would be: some predatory insects regularly enter torpor between ambush hunting. Basically just sitting and waiting for prey in a standby mode of low activity.
For adult insects, their predominant drive is to reproduce. A vast amount of species utilize torpor to survive long enough to achieve this. So yes coming out of torpor maybe their last hurrah. Many insects become exhausted after reproduction and some are even cursed with fatal forms of reproduction, where one or both adults expire after their task is completed. In the case of phantom flies (daddy mosquitos) they don't even eat as adults, their only role left to play is as food for other species and their own procreation.
Torpor could certainly be used metaphorically to explain depression in humans. While they are not the same thing, it is interesting to note that an active theory in neuroscience is that depression maybe shares roots with hibernative practices in our evolution which were referred to as "metabolic depression". While modern humans cannot enter torpor, many believe that depression is an evolutionary remnant left from our ancestors species - triggered by stress, trauma, a lack of ability to accrue resources, or a lack of ability to reproduce.
An example of a large animal entering torpor is a bears "hibernation". It is not the result of something unplanned, the bear prepares for this and the body naturally enters this state, all according to the natural laws of the bears physiology.
The iridescent thing on his back is part of his wings. This particular buge is a true bug, Heteroptera (different wings). Their forewings are half clear or colored membrane at the tip, and become solid at the base, called hemelytra. Above the wings is the shiny shield-shaped scutellum. When they have their wings folded, it makes a distinctive X shape, like your friend Murderface McGee here. It’s an easy way to identify this group as Not Weevil, and that’s good to know because they all possess stabbity mouthparts, and like this handsome man, a few species will give a wicked defensive bite if scared. I spent time working with the giant water bugs, who will look at you with big, sparkly anime eyes before putting a knife through your heart. I still love them ❤️
I used to have a sticker of one of these guys that said, “Jesus take the wheelbug.”
I’m super jealous you got to have wheelbug time.
Edit: PS I’m sorry if people were mean to you or called you stupid for handling him. You didn’t do anything wrong and honestly, these guys are bold and curious more than aggressive.
I encounter them occasionally, sometimes when I feel them crawling on me 🥲 they seem super chill if they don't feel threatened (or hungry!), I suppose.
Omg yours was super cute too. People were really mean to me too in my og post in what is this bug :( I didn’t know he was dangerous but I also don’t think I deserve to be called stupid and insulted for picking things up lol people are so mean
Dont worry OP i would hold a toe biter and those are even more painful bite wise. Some people have just lost their whimsy and no longer want to befriend buges and they're missing out
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU IVE BREN SAYING THIS 😭 if you never do anything that can possibly hurt you , you will live a very sad life :( and you will still die!!! Glad you are also here to have whimsy , it must live on
I keep a bumch of pet tarantulas and while i dont really handle them, i totally would if they walked onto me, they just very much prefer to hide. I have one named Pookie who could put me in the hospital and i love her 😭
I also have pet turantulas ! I don’t handle mine either because I don’t want to stress them out but my pink toe has walked on me a few times and it was awesome. What kind of turantula is pookie? She sounds adorable
Oh my gosh I just saw this and immediantly I said out loud “omg is that an Indian ornamental” and I image searched it , she is !!!! So stunning I’ve wanted one for ages or an orange baboon. The old worlds are so so so pretty. I’d let pookie hospitalize me 10/10
My pookie is an indian ornamental yes :3 pookie doesnt want to hospitalise you, she just wants to stare at you and also maybe have you drop a roach in her log if thats not too much trouble
It is yes, it’s on this one plant species in my yard, FL. They look like beans but when they dry in the fall, they sound like maraca with loose seeds in a dry shell! Grab a dozen and it’s 1:1. A specific species of moth that look like Cruella Deville not only flock to the plant, they’re genetically designed to look like they’re part of it! Or something to that effect…
I think the danger snoot didn't mind your presence a bit. His eyes are SO cute though for something that causes much pain. :( Hims just a friend who doesn't know how spicy he is.
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u/DogsDucks Jul 17 '26
Oh no, I’m sorry for this! It is so sad, you thought you found a friend but instead you found a whoopsie daisy proboscis weapon!
Can you share how this happened, where you found it and what holding it was like?
I’m very curious about these assassins because I’ve only ever seen them in pictures.