Global warming. Nothing chills a room full of people quicker than when that topic comes up for discussion. The debate rages on. I have noticed a new tactic among many of the “deniers”. They have embraced a term that has entered the lexicon of late and made it their own. That term is “junk Science” and it tends to roll of their tongues just a little too easily and with ever increasing frequency. It is my observation that most people who use the term just don’t understand or like science. Since they have no use for it that they can see, they call it junk.
Many good people have tried many an effective means of trying to instill a knowledge or an appreciation of science where none exists. One of my favorite tools in this effort is the visual aid. One such as the following that starkly contrasts the past with the present.
You would think an image showing the early explorers arriving at the North Pole on foot with supplies pulled by dog teams displayed along side a present day picture of the North Pole would have some sort of impact. In 1909 it required a trek with a dog team to reach the North Pole and in 2009 you could send your parents there on a freestyle cruise ship. Something changed but this does not seem to cause worry amongst those so quick to dismiss the concept of global warming.
But I think I have just found something that might at least give them a moment’s pause. Scientists have shown us for years evidence of species relocating into new areas that were previously inhospitable to them because of the temperature or other climate restrictions. As the atmosphere warms, their ranges expand. We now have West Nile Virus endemic through the U.S. and it was never even reported there before 1990. We have seen Dengue Fever return to the U.S. for the first time in nearly a century. But this weekend I learned of a new pest that many people feel is moving closer to us. This one my denier friends you are going to want to hear about. You might even want to re-think your whole opposition to funding the Global Warming impact studies. I give you The Human Bot Fly.
Until this past weekend I had never heard of this insect. Trust me it will now be a long time before I forget it. This past weekend Juan Carlos asked me what I knew about Human Bot Fly infection. My response was, “Huh?”. One of his classmates had just posted on her Facebook page that she had recently returned from a vacation in the Yucatan and had contracted a Human Bot Fly infection that had just resulted in her having a larvae extracted from the back of her head. Once I gotten over the amazing revelation that there really are no boundaries as to what a person will post about themselves on a Facebook page we immediately went to Google for information and oh boy what we learned!
This fly is rather large and very distinctive looking in its appearance so problem solved, just avoid it. The more I read, the more I realized this is a nasty little creature. The female knows she must get her eggs into a host species if they are to survive. There are many different types of Bot flies. Some infect rodents, others cattle and there is a reason this particular one is called the Human Bot Fly. Yes, her eggs are destined for us. Because Bot flies realize they have no chance of installing their eggs into the unwilling host themselves, they have learned how to get others to do it for them. The female employs a process known as phoresis. Immediately after copulating she traps a mosquito or some other small blood feeding fly and she glues 50 or so eggs to their abdomen before she releases the captive. The relieved kidnap victim flies off and finds the appropriate host and when it begins to feed on the host the temperature sensitive eggs begin to hatch. The larvae then enter the host through the insect bite or even along a hair follicle. Some can even just burrow into the skin and they remain inside the host growing and developing until they are mature.
Once they have spent 5 to 10 weeks maturing they then work to the surface and drop to the ground where they molt and develop into an adult fly and repeat the process.
In Brazil the species that infects cattle has been responsible for millions of dollars damage to their milk and leather industries. The problem has been widespread for many years in South America but the Bot flies are now moving farther north. As temperatures increase so does their range. The orange area on the map shows their range as of 2002. Now they have been reported in Belize and Yucatan Mexico. Not just the cattle and rodent Bot flies but also the Human Bot fly.
I finally came to accept the Africanized (so called Killer Bees) bees got here and took over our hives and ruined our honey production in this country. I have made détente with the dreaded iguanas here in Florida but I am not ready to have alien possession of my subcutaneous tissues become a way of life. Check out the video below of the guy getting the larvae removed from his elbow following his Belize vacation.
Okay my Global Warming denying friends, don’t say we didn’t ask you to pay attention
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