We were speaking Turkish & the woman used the Turkish word for "bug". I
think for most people in the world, the term "bug" (in their own language)
covers half the invertebrates & the term "worm" covers the other half.

Now I know. If anybody ever warns me about a dangerous "bug", I will assume
that there is a potentially dangerous arthropod.

Aydin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: NORA BRYAN [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 9:58 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: land snail parasites
>
>
> Did you really think she meant an insect member of the Order
> Hemiptera?  There
> is a good chance she did not know the english term 'scorpion'
> and so used the
> general term 'bug'. Even here in our so-called more educated
> world most people
> who do not have a natural history background call all crawly
> things 'bugs'.  I
> bet 95 percent of educated persons in any country do not know
> that a scorpion is
> not an insect.  I would consider the word 'bug' from a
> layperson in any country
> to mean any crawly thing.  Your expecting otherwise might
> have resulted in a
> more painful experience!
>
> "Orstan, Aydin" wrote:
>
> > "Natives" usually give good advice, although their terminology &
> > explanations are likely to be crude, unscientific &
> confusing. One day last
> > August I was collecting land snails with a friend along the
> wall of an old
> > monastery in Istanbul, Turkey. A woman looking over the wall of the
> > monastery saw that we were not wearing gloves & warned us
> about the "bugs"
> > that could bite. Knowing that there are no biting insects
> that live under
> > the rocks in that part of the world, we ignored her advice.
> The next day, at
> > nearby locations I started finding tiny (about 1 cm long)
> scorpions under
> > the rocks. The woman at the monastery probably had the
> scorpions in mind,
> > but in her terminology they fell under "bugs".
> >
> > So the "poisonous parasite" that the speaker was warned
> about could have
> > been a parasitic worm that sickens the animals.
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Carol B Simpson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > > Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 8:55 AM
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: Re: land snail parasites
> > >
> > >
> > > It was my understanding she didn't eat the snails, but just
> > > collected them.
> > > And she was warned by the natives that some of them carried a
> > > poisonous
> > > parasite.
> > >
> > > Carol
> > >
>