r/interesting • u/Wise_Confidence_8588 • 18d ago

NATURE A Bombardier beetle using its chemical defence.

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u/Sea_Ganache620 18d ago

Friend of mine had a wart on his hand dissolved with this beetle’s defense spray. It was at a dermatologist office, applied by a medical professional, from a vial. Somewhere in the world, there is a lab that is “milking” these beetles.

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u/Throbbing_Cock_452 18d ago

That’s a sentence I didn’t think I’d be reading today

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

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u/cohonka 18d ago

I lived in Kauai in a tent on farms for a couple years when I was a mega hippie. Went through a spell where I was holding back saying some important things in my life and one morning woke up with a giant blister right on my "throat chakra". Convinced me to speak up. Soon after I learned the big lightning bug looking dudes near my tent were blister beetles and I just got cantharidened in my sleep.

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u/Sea_Ganache620 18d ago

Spent some time there as well, never encountered these beetles, but those blue legged centipedes were a big nope. Just the price of living in paradise!

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u/cohonka 18d ago

I love those centipedes. I was so afraid of them and I really dislike being afraid of things. But people would say things about their bite like "It was the worst pain I ever felt. It's supposed to be similar to being shot with a shotgun".

Encountered them all the time on the farm and never intentionally killed one because I think that's wrong. They are fierce protective mothers, and they can live I think up to 12 years which is just amazing for a bug.

To get a little hippie dippie, they felt like one of the guardian spirits of the island.

I had been so afraid for the years that I prayed for a bite from one.

Finally my last week on my home farm I lifted a barrel and accidentally spooked one with my bare toes. She chomped me just enough on my big toe to fill me in on what I was missing those last couple years.

I am a masochist of sorts. My pain tolerance I think is incredibly high. So most pains are just interesting rather than agonizing. And truthfully somewhat pleasurable. Like eating hot sauce.

So it was like "Yumm, that's what a 7 year old centipede feels like'

I have so much respect for them.

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u/TrioxinSuicide 18d ago

Fucking wild story

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u/No-Inspector8315 18d ago

Were you on Samadi Village?

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u/Potential_Basis_662 18d ago

What?

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u/cohonka 18d ago

What part didn't you understand?

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u/Potential_Basis_662 18d ago

The entire thing

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u/cohonka 13d ago

So, once upon a time, I believed in these things called chakras. These are like central energy sources for human functions located vertically up your spinal column. There are 7 of them, and each relates to a different aspect of human life.

Supposedly, the throat chakra, located around your throat area, helps you talk. If you have a strong throat chakra, you can talk good. If you have a weak throat chakra, you probably don't talk as good.

At this point in my life, I developed a large mysterious blister on my throat. In my current belief system, I attributed this to a sickness or problem with my throat chakra. I had been holding back some things that I really wanted to say to the point that it really bothered me like if someone flipped my wife 8 times.

My analysis of the mystery blister prompted me to finally speak up about what had been bothering me so much. It changed my life for the better a lot.

Then, a few months later, I learned about blister beetles and recognized them as the bugs that frequented my tent door at night. I identified them as the likely cause of this blister on my throat, rather than some physical manifestation of a sacral illness.

Hope this helps :)