this post was submitted on 09 May 2024
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Science Memes

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bugs (mander.xyz)
submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 26 points 5 months ago (2 children)

They eat spiders too.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

mmm, human-lite

[–] [email protected] 31 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

I'm not a scientist, but I'm the kind of person to keep black widows as pets and create a website that catalogues all the spiders in my area. I'd allow spiders being called bugs, or even insects. Even poisonous is alright but it does hurt a little.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (6 children)

Are some spiders poisonous? Are all animals that are venomous also poisonous? Also I'd like to say that there is no linguistic difference between the two in some languages. There is no distinction between the two in German for instance. It's either giftig or it isn't.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

None that I know of. I think the OC was just mocking a bit on how some people can get so bent out of shape when the word is used colloquially.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

There is a distinction to make. For example some snake venom is not poisonous when traveling through your digestive system, and only becomes a problem when it enters the blood stream (usually from a bite).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

I don't think it matters in most contexts. When people are casually talking about it, venomous and poisonous are both stand-ins for "it has venom." They're not telling other people, "actually, don't eat spiders." I was just joking about the classic pedant line about spiders.

But it does make a difference on paper. I'm curious how you would express this in German: A black widow is venomous and in theory a healthy human can eat a dead black widow with no ill effects.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

We're going to need a link

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

It was a Google site (from years ago) so all that's left is a random archive somewhere. I had all the local spiders+favorites, but the only original content were pictures of Latrodectus and Kukulkania Hibernalis. Beautiful spiders.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

What's your favourite?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Portia jumping spider! It's such a crazy little machine.

What about you?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You need to read read Children of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky then.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Popped to mind immediately upon seeing the word Portia

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

i like beetles in general. i have a special place in my heart for weevils but not because of memes, Otiorhynchus is my first ID.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Display Name: Mentally Healthy

Username: EAT_ROADKILL

Dude is at odds with himself.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago

Duality of man

[–] [email protected] 109 points 5 months ago (4 children)

Bug isn't even a technical term. Lobsters are considered bugs!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

But they wanted to feel smugly superior! Poor fella can't even be pedantic properly...

[–] [email protected] 61 points 5 months ago

That's a great point you big dumb bitch.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (5 children)

I'm sorry but you're simply incorrect.

Bug is a technical term. Only insects of order Hemiptera, categorized by the ability to fly and the presence of piercing, sucking mouth parts, are considered true bugs.

Lobsters are certainly not considered bugs.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

The scientific taxonomic system was made, in part, because traditional colloquial terms are a mess. For example, "daddy longlegs" refers to a type of spider in my area, but there are two other animals and three plants that it could refer to depending on where you grew up. Taxonomists saw that there are ten different standards, decided to make a new one to replace them all, and for once, it actually worked out for the most part.

"Bug" is one of those old terms. It might have been mapped post hoc on top of the modern taxonomic system, but it didn't start that way, and isn't always used that way. I wouldn't expect an entomologist to use the term at all in formal contexts.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Merriam-Webster, definition 1:

a: any of an order (Hemiptera and especially its suborder Heteroptera) of insects (such as an assassin bug or chinch bug) that have sucking mouthparts, forewings thickened at the base, and incomplete metamorphosis and are often economic pests

called also true bug

b: any of various small arthropods (such as a beetle or spider) resembling the true bugs

c: any of several insects (such as a head louse) commonly considered obnoxious

[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago

I'm sorry but you're simply incorrect. Bug can be a technical term, but that doesn't also preclude it from also being a non-technical term, because words often have more than one meaning. See also: theory.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Yeah I always assumed "bug" was like "vegetable"

it's a colloquial, not taxonomic, term. But there are "true bugs" so maybe the analogy isn't completely sound.

(And tomato is absolutely a vegetable.)

[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago (3 children)

They're culinary vegetables. My wife likes to say it like this: intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing that it doesn't go in a fruit salad.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (7 children)

I always love the "explaining dnd stats with a tomato" bit:

Strength is being able to throw a tomato really far.

Dexterity is being able to catch the tomato thrown really far.

Constitution is being fine after eating a bad tomato.

Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit.

Wisdom is knowing a tomato doesn't go in fruit salad.

Charisma is being able to sell a tomato based fruit salad.

Also, obligatory "salsa is tomato in a fruit salad".

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Caprese is fruit salad.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Everyone loves my tomato/eggplant/pumpkin fruit salad. I bring it to parties, and they all say it looks so good, they want to make sure everyone else gets a chance to eat it. Except everyone says that, and I end up having to take it home and throw it out.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

Agreed. In my mind "bug" has always meant arthropod. So it's include insects, spiders, crustaceans, etc.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You wouldn't say that if you ever tried those tomatoes https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/01/17/culture/foodTravel/tomango-tomato/20210117130800678.html

I'd even call them candy.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Injected with.. stevia?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

I'd prefer vodka in watermelons, personally!

[–] [email protected] 65 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Jesus Christ someone get that dude a therapist.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago

But his username is mentally healthy so how could he need a therapist?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Or tell him he's the Lord of the Flies for being a Hemiptera expert and see what he does.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Taxonomy is a conspiracy invented by neckbeards so they could "um ackshually" us when we call a bug a bug.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Except...what do spiders eat? Hence, a bug-lite would fit perfectly with their favoured prey. Big-brain missed the obvious.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago

I'm guessing you missed where that was stated in the image.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

That's a typical case of someone who is so eager to sounds right in an argument that they will not bother double checking to see if they missed the original point or true meaning before replying.

There are a lot of people like that on Reddit. Well, I assume there still are I deleted my account a while ago. What a toxic place.

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