Ananova

bugs in the news

Man dies after poisonous beetles 'snack'

A Thai man has died after eating poisonous insects.Health officials say Pitak Chanchai died on his way to hospital after eating fried fire beetles.They are a popular snack in north-east Thailand, but some are poisonous. Sutai Limtoptasert, a health official in Ubon Ratchathani near Bangkok, warned people not to eat bugs unless they are sure they are edible.

Ananova Story filed: 12:42 Friday 5th October 2001

Snack-hunting man stung to death by wasp swarm

A man has died after being stung by wasps in Thailand while raiding a nest for an afternoon snack.Nor Jaiprom and his friend Somboom Jaiwong went into the forest after work, to look for wasps nests and remove larvae to roast as a snack.The men disturbed a nest and a swarm of angry wasps emerged and attacked them.Mr Jaiprom had found the giant nest in a tamarind tree and poked it with a stick, while Mr Jaiwong shook the tree.The Thai Rath newspaper reports 49-year-old Mr Jaiwong ran away screaming in pain from the stings but his friend was overcome.His bright red and swollen body which had been stung dozens of times was found near the tree.Mr Jaiwong, who is recovering in hospital, said they had collected wasp larvae many times before and the insects usually flew away without attacking.

Ananova Story filed: 09:00 Friday 21st September 2001

Hot cockroach poo 'can cure babies' ulcers'

Cockroach poo can cure babies' mouth ulcers, a Thai doctor claims.Dr Kanvee Viwatpanich has scoured ancient texts and spoken to healers about insect-based remedies.He has been told to heat the poo, and rub it into the sores of new-born babies.Dr Viwatpanich, of the National Institute of Thai Traditional Medicine, thinks cockroaches have the most medicinal potential."It was very distinctly used in the past, has survived for thousands of years and has some very good properties," he told the Straits Times."I have talked to village doctors and they seem to have real confidence in cockroach poo." Dr Viwatpanich also met monks, who fried a cockroach with seven centipedes and pepper, crushed it with honey, and used it to treat sore throats.In some parts of Thailand insects are even used to make jewellery or children's flying toys.The group of researchers hope to get funding next year for clinical trials and toxicity tests.

Ananova Story filed: 10:29 Monday 2nd April 2001

THE BUZZ

An album of buzzing noises made by insects mixed with elevator music is selling in downtown Hong Kong. I suspect they'd be better off selling it in rural Thailand, where at least it would remind people of their favourite snacks. (Far Eastern Economic Review)

Technobugs

“Insects can do many things that people can’t,” Assistant Professor Isao Shimoyama told a press conference in Tokyo, “such as being able to lift hundreds of times their own weight. The placement of the electrodes is still a very inexact science, but within a few years we’ll have electronically-controlled insects carrying colour mini-cams with surroundsound stereo microphones, and equipped with hi-tech backpacks. The potential applications of this work for mankind could be immense.”
Professor Shimoyama was explaining why the Japanese government had just awarded a $5,000,000 grant to his bio-robot research team at Tokyo University. “We envisage insects crawling through earthquake rubble searching for victims, or being slipped under doors on espionage surveillance, in suspect restaurants for example. At present, we’re experimenting with the American cockroach, Perplanta americana. We remove the wings and antennae, then equip them with tiny microprocessors, and fit pulse-emitting electrodes where the antennae used to be. That way, researchers can control them remotely by sending signals to the backpacks, making them turn left or right, scamper forward, or spring backward. The technology isn’t so difficult. The real problem is understanding what’s happening in the nervous system.”
Raphael Holzer, a Swiss researcher on the team, added: “We breed them by the hundreds in plastic bins, and they are not nice insects. They stink, and there’s something nasty about the way they move their eyes and antennae. But they look nicer when you put a little circuit on their backs, and remove their wings.” (Associated Press, 23/9/01)

As part of the general effort to increase condom use the government plans to subsidise the cost of condoms as well as selling them in vending machines. Their sale through vending machines will save shy Thais the embarrassment of a visiting a shop such as a supermarket or drug store, where most shop assistants are women. The government has said that in 2001 they will start selling subsidised condoms at five baht ($11 cents) for a pack of two, compared with the usual price of 20 baht. The subsidised condoms will be sold in public facilities, such as factories, police stations and military barracks, but good spots to install the vending machines will have to be found, as otherwise the condoms will loose their quality or be destroyed by insects.

Aids in Thailand Avert

People in Bangkok are being warned against keeping giant African cockroaches as pets in case they become a health risk if let loose. Businessmen are reported to have imported the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach from Africa and are selling them as pets for the equivalent of 77p.The government's public health minister says their main worry is that the cockroaches breed quickly producing as many as 60 offspring in a 60-day gestation period.They grow up to 6.35 centimetres compared with the 4-centimetre average length of cockroaches found commonly in Thailand.And they can live for up to three years making them very difficult to control if they escape.Sudarat Keyuraphan is urging vendors to stop selling the insects, although their sale is not banned by law.She said: "We shouldn't be raising them as pets especially because they can thrive on anything, all kinds of foods."Cockroaches carry bacteria and viruses on their bodies, but it is not proven they transmit disease.When feeding, they walk, spit and defecate on the food. Some people are allergic to the droppings or remains of dead cockroaches.

Villagers urged to cash in on fireflies
Residents of a village in Phetchaburi province renowned for its huge population of fireflies have been told to cash in on the ubiquitous insects by banding together and setting up a group to manage eco-tourism in the area.
Anguan Liewwanit, a senior entomologist from the Thailand Research Fund, said residents of Samaechai village in the Ban Laem district of Phetchaburi should seek to earn extra income by organising trips to observe the fireflies in the natural surroundings of the province's abundant mangrove forests.
``Most of the villagers are living in poverty,'' she said. ``They want to earn extra income to support their families, but they don't know who to manage their natural resources.''
Many tour groups in the area were currently paying local residents a pittance to accompany tourists while observing fireflies on boat trips along the community's canals, she added.
Ms Anguan urged the villagers to learn more about fireflies and river conservation before venturing into eco-tourism.

Thai woman covered in scorpions for world record attempt

A Thai woman has draped herself with scorpions in an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.
Kanchana Ketkeaw will aim to spend the next 32 days covered in 3,000 scopions to break a world record.

She began her stunt at Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum in Pattaya, east of Bangkok.
The scorpions are non-venomous and only eat insects.
Of 1,500 species of scorpions worldwide, only about 20 to 25 are regarded as dangerous.
Story filed: 15:04 Saturday 21st September 2002