Not All “Bugs” Are Created Equal

 Blogosphere, Rant, Taxonomy  No Responses »
May 132014
 

A public service announcement:

Not all "Bugs" are created equal.

Not all “Bugs” are created equal. (Both images in the public domain, via Wikipedia)

The colloquial use of “bugs” to refer to bacterial microbes by a bioremediation specialist in Bozeman, Montana lead to a spectacular Taxonomy Fail on the local nightly news.

Watch the video from KBZK News here.

In case they remove the video (which I actually hope they do), here’s a screen cap demonstrating the problem.

So. Much. Fail.

So. Much. Fail.

I think it’s safe to assume that Bed Bugs (Eukaryota: Animalia: Arthropoda: Hemiptera: Cimicidae) are not being pumped into the groundwater of Bozeman to clean up dry cleaning chemical contamination, but rather Bacteria (which belong to an entirely different Domain of life). While certainly an extreme example, this is why it’s important to use the correct names for organisms, and what happens when we off-handedly use common names or terminology that we think is colloquial: vitally important details can be lost in translation.

In case you’re wondering, mistaking Bed Bugs for Bacteria represents a Taxonomy Fail Index of 403, a new world record! Yowza.

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This story was brought to my attention by Dr. Michael Ivie of Montana State University on the Entomological Collections Network email listserv.

Tuesday Tunes & Trends – Bed Bug Edition

 Entomology, Environment, Tuesday Tunes  12 Responses »
May 172011
 
Ryan Fleacrest

Ryan Fleacrest sometimes hangs with Michael Bubonic

Normally I have a bit of fun with Tuesday Tunes, whether mocking sugary pop music or giving props for mad entomological rhymes. Today however, I want to share a few trends which are both topical and disheartening (don’t worry, I still have a great song for you at the end of the post).

Last week, a report came out of Vancouver in which doctors reported bed bugs harbouring antibiotic resistant bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] and Enterococcus faecium [VRE]). While it’s a scary proposition, it’s unknown whether the bed bugs are capable of transferring the bacteria at this point. As Jonathan Eisen points out, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that MRSA was found; bed bugs are ectoparasites and MRSA is primarily a skin/wound-related infection. In fact, bed bugs have never been shown to transmit diseases (bacterial or viral) despite plenty of research attention, and as far as I can tell, have never been implicated in a human death. More people have died from improper handling and use of pesticides intended to kill bed bugs than from the bed bugs themselves!

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Tuesday Tunes – Bugs – Pearl Jam

 Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes  2 Responses »
Feb 012011
 

Ryan FleacrestIt’s not often an artist manages to fill their song with as many insect references as today’s song does! In fact, let’s just take a look at the first verse as an example:

I got bugs
I got bugs in my room
Bugs in my bed
Bugs in my ears
Their eggs in my head
Bugs in my pockets
Bugs in my shoes
Bugs in the way I feel about you

OK, so maybe that last one isn’t a true bug! Either way, Pearl Jam was channeling the Hemiptera vibe when they put this piece together!

Good luck getting this bug out of your head! Fleacrest out!

This song is available on iTunes – Bugs – Vitalogy