Ed wrote:The last time I was up, which was Friday before last, there was quite a bit of buzzing in places. I assumed it was bees, but moved on quickly without investigating. I am not blasé about insect bites. I was stung by a wasp once, coming back from Silliman Peak in the Sierras. It felt like I had been hit in the arm with a hammer blow. Then grew into what looked like a small volcano, complete with liquid red stuff on the top. Took weeks to heal.
Bad enough, but thank heavens the Japanese Giant Hornets haven't pioneered here yet.
They *have* made it to England:
Runners attacked by hornets in race
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -race.htmlIn Japan they are the no. 1 cause of animal-assoc. deaths, ca. 40/yr, and most due to multi-organ failure caused by venom, NOT anaphylaxis. Twenty stings can be fatal. No anti-venin exists.
Why Perry's ant bites hurt : another movie reference. Even if you are unfamiliar with ant bite mechanisms of injury, one
Thing you may recall from an old film, "Them!" which I saw in the 60s. A young girl nearly catatonic with fear is jolted back to awareness and speech as Edmund Gwenn (Kris Kringle from "Miracle on 34th Street) wafts a chemical in front of her nose. "THEM!! she screams. (giant ants had killed her parents)
The chemical? Formic acid. as in the Latin etymology of the name for ants, Formica.
which BTW is what Crazy Ants use to protect themselves against Fire Ant venom, and why Crazies are displacing the invasive Fire ants. But that's another story...
bonus for Ellen: connection between Them and Thing and pitown pi