Great essay! Not what I was expecting to read while eating breakfast, but fascinating nonetheless! I have a friend who picked up one of these in Central America when it burrowed into her neck. She had great bragging rights afterwards. Thank you for the science behind the freakiness!
Horrible, gross, scary. But you explain what a bot is in the natural world and how personally it affected you. Was it painful or dangerous to your health?
I never let it go long enough to be painful. I am told that it hurts when the larva gets big. I suppose the wound could get infected, though I had no such trouble. It wouldn't surprise me if the larva didn't secrete some kind of antiseptic. I'll check it out with my next bot.
What happens to people who don't figure out how to get the larvae out.? Does it just grow and emerge? I'd think it invites infection at the exit wound. Why it is called a bot? (i.e. what originated that word?)
In the regions where bots occur, people have figured out various ways of getting them out before they emerge of their own accord. Dissection is an option, though you'd probably want a doctor to do that. As for the origin of the word "bot", one source says it means maggot.
Great essay! Not what I was expecting to read while eating breakfast, but fascinating nonetheless! I have a friend who picked up one of these in Central America when it burrowed into her neck. She had great bragging rights afterwards. Thank you for the science behind the freakiness!
The concept of "bragging rights" is a good one. Lots of tropical biologists have stories in that vane.
Thank you! Only one egg per mosquito? Is the mosquito injured when the larva exits?
I don't know for sure, but probably a single egg adhering to the mosquito's belly. No injuries to the skeeter.
Horrible, gross, scary. But you explain what a bot is in the natural world and how personally it affected you. Was it painful or dangerous to your health?
I never let it go long enough to be painful. I am told that it hurts when the larva gets big. I suppose the wound could get infected, though I had no such trouble. It wouldn't surprise me if the larva didn't secrete some kind of antiseptic. I'll check it out with my next bot.
What happens to people who don't figure out how to get the larvae out.? Does it just grow and emerge? I'd think it invites infection at the exit wound. Why it is called a bot? (i.e. what originated that word?)
In the regions where bots occur, people have figured out various ways of getting them out before they emerge of their own accord. Dissection is an option, though you'd probably want a doctor to do that. As for the origin of the word "bot", one source says it means maggot.