Bestselling author, Eureka Books co-owner and North Coast Journal contributor Amy Stewart was on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air this afternoon, chatting with guest host Dave Davies about the “creepy-crawlies” that inhabit her latest book, Wicked Bugs.
With her customary cheerful aplomb, Stewart tells of such nasty insects as the Asian giant hornet (pictured above), otherwise known as “the yak killer,” the pork tapeworm, which will live in your brain if given the chance, and so-called “zombie bugs,” a phenomenon that occurs when a particular wasp stings a cockroach in its brain — thereby zombifying it — then lays her eggs inside the roach’s body. (The larvae later eat their way out. YouTube video here.)
Not all of Stewart’s tales will make you want to seal your body in Kevlar. For example she corrects the unfair reputations of the black widow and brown recluse (arachnal profiling?).
Listen to the interview here and check out the ingenious Wicked Bugs trailer below.
This article appears in Bad Weed.
Nice rollout video and book. Well done, Amy.
Do I have a pesky cold or… malaria? Should I cut those toes off having walked barefoot in the Carribean with those pesky chigoe fleas are underfoot? Computer chips in caterpillars? I’m getting the book to find out and save myself. If there’s time, I’ll save mankind.
Glad Amy didn’t bring up the horrors of Ratlung Worm Disease currently infecting lazily washed lettuces, greens, natives and tourists alike on the big island of Hawaii. That scared the bejeezus out of me– as much as this video.
Besides the bugs and plants Amy mentioned, and the horrific parasites, there’s also those bacteria and viruses far deadlier, smaller, and more wicked than anything seen even in the best of Hollywood’s B-grade horror flicks. Fodder for Amy’s next book?
Amy also made the
New York Times, too: “Stink Bugs: It Could Be Worse.” Congratulations.
Nice job, Amy. You’ve done well– the books and bookstore completely rock. Thank you for being in, and representing, Humboldt.
peace…. skips