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Tag Archives: Nasty Reader Award

Fanmail

Fan letter, no response requested
January 31, 2011 3:50 pm
I have just spent the morning re-visiting your site, one of the very best in the world in my humble opinion. To my knowledge, no one else is doing what you do. Just one reason for your work: songbirds of all kinds are in serious decline, in no small measure due to pesticide use. Private individuals are often the worst offenders in use of widely available, broad-spectrum pesticides. We all need to learn not to unthinkingly destroy invertebrates.
“Unnecessary Carnage” is important as well as entertaining (if tragic), and the entire “Nasty Readership” section has made me laugh more today than anything has in weeks. You guys are incredible. I know it’s a lot to ask of volunteers with important, time-consuming day jobs, but please never stop!
Sincerely,
Signature: Lee White

Hi Lee,
Thanks so much for your kind letter.  It is really appreciated.

Update
Me again, sorry — more supportive thoughts
February 1, 2011 1:36 am
I have been sitting here for some time now, re-reading your marvelous responses to irate readers. These are people who have been trained to believe that the customer, however ignorant and infantile, deserves immediate gratification and an ego stroke in the process. “Ooh, was the bug scary? Oh you poor thing! I can’t believe you waited hours for my unpaid labor!” It thrills me beyond words that you don’t play that game.
As to the smash-first response (“But I was scared!” “I feared for the safety of the chiilldrennn…”), how hard is it to brush the critter off and count some legs? Education is everything! As a California child, I feared the dreaded potato bug, but eventually learned to appreciate it as the harmless and charming Jerusalem cricket. Of course, some people don’t care; they smash because they just don’t like bugs, or because “it’s only a bug”. As I recently told my  classmate, who smirked while I took some trapped boxelder bugs outside, “they understand suffering as well as you do”. Unnecessary carnage is not okay.
Signature: Lee White

potato bug jazz 300x213 Fanmail

Potato Bug from our archives

Thanks for your additional insight Lee.  We have found a nice image of a Potato Bug from our archives to illustrate your passionate and supportive letter.

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Posted 31 January 2011 § Potato Bugs, Wetas and Parktown Prawns ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged: ,
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Fanmail

Nasty reader award
Location: Maryland
October 26, 2010 12:34 am
Love, love, love your site. I find it very informative and am pleased to say that I now think before I squish. (I admit, though, that cockroaches are squished without a second thought. Fortunately I haven’t had roaches to squish since I lived in that one questionable apartment…) anyway, I wanted to say kudos to you for having the ”Nasty Reader Award” links. Too often the people who write nasty letters get no comeuppance (sp?) and it gives me great satisfaction to see that at least a few of these horrible people face some kind of recourse. Keep up the great work, both with the bugs and the karma. (PS- I included the pic of me because for some reason the site wouldn’t let me send this w/out a pic. Please don’t post it! Thanks!)
Signature: Faithful reader in Maryland

Dear Faithful reader in Maryland,
Thank you for your nice letter.  We are pleased to hear that our website has contributed toward your appreciation of and tolerance for the lower beasts.  We admit that we ourselves have very little tolerance for certain creatures, like the Argentine Ants that have colonized Southern California.  While we will tolerate them in the garden, they are dispatched without mercy should they happen to invade the kitchen.  We are happy to honor your request not to publish the beguiling image of you dancing at what looks like a fun party because What’s That Bug? does not run a dating service and we imagine that we would be getting countless comments and requests from the eligible gentlemen among our readership if we were to run your photo.

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Posted 26 October 2010 § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Stink Bug and Nasty Reader #1 Comment

‘carafe shape’ answered in nasty reader section
August 23, 2010 10:37 pm
dearest bugpeeps: OMG! I was drawn to read your highly entertaining and mindboggling NRAs, and what did i find? my beetle, at nasty reader award no 1 !! Thank you for a most informative and entertaining online research session. you guys are the (bug) bomb!
Signature: terre zenk

Dear terre,
We are happy you successfully identified your Hawthorne Shield Bug and were entertained in the process.

carafe-shaped mark
Location:  west seattle
August 23, 2010 10:12 pm
I found this little beetle on my shirt the other day. I’ve not been able to find it by shape or color, and there are SO MANY beetles. I live in Seattle. thanks in advance for your help–your site is amazing!
terre zenk

banasa dimiata terre 300x249 Stink Bug and Nasty Reader #1 Comment

Stink Bug

Hi terre,
We are trying to piece together the various components of your submissions into one posting.  Interestingly, we also responded to you with a short generic Stink Bug reply to your photo submission.  The Nasty Reader was from the UK, and we believe your Stink Bug is Banasa dimiata which according to BugGuide is:  “Reported from the entire United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico.”

Posted 24 August 2010 § Stink Bugs and Shield Bugs ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Comment on Nasty Reader Awards and Butterfly Garden

Nasty emails
May 8, 2010
LOL—OMG!! YOu poor folks….I am working three jobs now to make ends meet, and trust me, I have favorited it to return and read each and every item there. I only want to know: Where are these nutjobs? They should have GPS trackers so we can avoid them when a signal is received.
Hang in there, your works are great!
Margo Rose
SW Florida

butterfly garden margo 225x300 Comment on Nasty Reader Awards and Butterfly Garden

Butterfly Garden

Hi Margo,
We are catching up on some old letters from when we were out of the office, and we got tremendous glee from reading your letter.  Our Nasty Reader section grew out of the rudeness we experience occasionally.  We must say that the vast majority of our readers are kind and gentle folks who show us great respect and appreciation, but occasionally a real piece of work crawls out of the woodwork to push our buttons.  Then we put them on blast for some public humiliation.

Posted 20 May 2010 § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Fanmail

Hello!
I just wanted to extend a thanks to all you who make “What’s That Bug” possible. It’s really an excellent site and I often find myself perusing it just to feed my amateur entomolgist’s appetite! I noticed the Nasty Reader’s Section you have and was both amazed by the breath-taking idiocy of some of the readers featured there and amused by your responses.
So thanks again, for all you hard work on an excellent site!
Nate McInnis

Hi Nate,
Thanks for your words of encouragement.

Posted 18 February 2010 § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Seventh Recipient of the Nasty Reader Award Redeemed: Root Weevil

halifax nova scotia inquiry
February 17, 2010
I sent you a pic and question the other day before these ones you have been answering? Must be out of your knowledge or something? I have better things to do than check back here daily to see you skipped me and answered everyone else inquiring after me. How do you guys operate at this site anyways? Favorites first?
Mad in canada
nova scotia

granary weevil nasty 300x224 Seventh Recipient of the Nasty Reader Award Redeemed: Root Weevil

Granary Weevil

Dear Mad in canada,
We operate on a volunteer basis and we try to answer as many letters as possible, and we can’t imagine anyone having anything better to do than to visit our website multiple times each day.  We do not answer on a first come first served basis, and we randomly select from the numerous identification requests we receive daily to pick website content that we think will interest our readership.  Our time is also limited, and we are never able to respond to every request.  Though we have received much more vile letters that have earned their writers the Nasty Reader Award, your lack of patience and your presumptuosness have landed you spot number 7 on our list of Nasty Readers.  This is a Granary Weevil in the genus Sitiphilus which may be compared to images posted to BugGuide.  Use some of your free time now that you will not need to visit us any longer, and search your home for the site of infestation, which might be stored pet food or bird seed.

Thanks alot its about time. I personally run websites myself and you do see the people who are visiting and their ip where they are and how many times they been there. Dont blame your lack of proffesionalism on me.
As for infestation don’t you think it could be the indoor vegatation in my home? They were not anywhere near a kitchen. As for the nasty email I sent this morning I didn’t really think untill I read your disclaimer after it already went though. Now that you have helped a person in need with their home not just some random question thanks alot

Once more I would like to apoligize but your still wrong. It is not a granary weevil yes I agree it is a weevil but if you checked both pictures I sent you would see it does not have a snoutc

Here is a different picture where you can see the antanae are at the tip of the nose not halfway back

weevil canada 300x193 Seventh Recipient of the Nasty Reader Award Redeemed: Root Weevil

Root Weevil

Dear [no longer] Mad,
Thanks for the additional photo.  After posting three letters this morning, we must leave our home website office and go to work.  Weevils are the largest group of insects, and it may take time to correctly identify this species.  Our readership does post comments and you might want to consider checking back to see if someone has made an identification.  As far as our professionalism goes, we do not manage our own website, nor monitor its traffic.  Our web host does that.  All we do is post content and try to respond to our readership’s queries.

Dear Mr Marlos,
Thank you very much for your humble proffesionalism. I am sorry I was so upset >:[ These weeviles are turning me evil. I won’t be of bother to you anymore and will continue to check now and again to see if anyone else had clarified the identification. I am sure you all try the best you can and it is appreciated that you all do this volunteerly. One more time I extend my deepest apology. You do run a great website and I promise to never offend any of you again. Keep up the dedication to something you love and have a great day at work. Thank you very much
Your’s
NoLongerMad ^^

Dear No Longer Mad,
Your gracious subsequent letters have redeemed you, and though we no longer consider you to be a Nasty Reader, we are keeping the tag as a document of ironing out differences.

Update from Eric Eaton
February 17, 2010
Daniel:
Well, I can tell you that it is definitely not a granary weevil.  If granary weevils ever get that big, we are all going to starve.  LOL!  This is probably one of the “root weevils” in the genus Otiorhynchus, maybe the black vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus, but I can’t be positive.
Root weevils are flightless, mostly nocturnal, and frequently invade homes while looking for mates and food.  I do not know if they overwinter as adults, but it certainly seems plausible.
Hope this helps you and the (former) “Nasty Reader.”  icon smile Seventh Recipient of the Nasty Reader Award Redeemed: Root Weevil
Eric

Posted 17 February 2010 § Weevils ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Sixth Recipient Nasty Reader Award: Unnecessary Carnage Solpugid dies agonizing death

What is THIS bug?
July 18, 2009
I killed this bug (sorry, I was afraid!) in my garage tonight and was so creeped out I’ve got the heebie-jeebies! I have no idea what it is, can you please tell me? It has large jaws and is appx 3/4 to one inch long.
Creeped out in Colorado
Foothills of the Rocky Mts. in Colorado Springs, Colorado

solpugid carnage colorado 230x300 Sixth Recipient Nasty Reader Award: Unnecessary Carnage Solpugid dies agonizing death

Solpugid dead from unknown causes

Dear Creeped Out,
This harmless Solpugid looks like its final moments were horrific.  Solpugids are fierce predators, but they have no venom and will not harm humans.  Cockroaches and other undesirable household intruders are common prey for this formidable hunter.

Update:  NASTY READER AWARD
After we supplied Creeped Out with the above answer, Creeped Out had the wherewithal to submit the following tirade.  Seems Creeped Out didn’t read the release on our form which gives us the right to post images and letters to the website and to use them in other authorized What’s That Bug publications.  Nowhere in our response did we libel (slander is uttered aloud, and thankfully we have never spoken to her) Creeped Out’s reputation, and we stand by our statement that the final moments of the Solpugid’s life were horrific.  We are very happy we don’t live in Colorado Springs as we might run into Creeped Out and her nasty temper by getting some cosmetic dental work done (info we gleaned from her email address which we will withhold from publication).  Just imagine the horror and potential pain if she ever took her wrath out on someone’s teeth?  Read on and see just how nasty some readers can get after getting free information on the internet.

That was a ridiculous way you used my submission. I would have never given you permission to use my submission if I had known what a wack-job you were. Need you be so melodramatic about a bug (which by the way there are trillions of?!) You do not have my permission to use anymore information of mine including this email! I will be sure not to recommend your site to any of my friends for fear you will slander them too on the web. Sorry I even ASKED you for help.
Creeped out in Colorado

A Reader Comments
Nasty Reader
I just have to comment on creeped out’s nasty email. The entire point of this website and the reason why so many of us bug lovers are so grateful for it is to educate those who may not appreciate the insect kingdom for the amazing necessity it is. Those who are so inclined to “squish” first and ask questions later may think twice had they had known that the poor little Solpugid wouldn’t have even been in their garage if it weren’t for a food source… like COCKROACHES. Whether “There are trillions of them” or not it is just as easy to remove them without killing them or actually be thankful for how beneficial they are. I believe the correct spelling is “whacked out”…AND people in glass houses….
Andrea, Hollywood.

Creeped Out Comments
Request for revision: Web site says “after we supplied the reader with the above answer”. Please revise that in your notes since you NEVER supplied me with that explanation.  You simply wrote two words “harmless solpugid” in an email and sent it to me. I had to go out on the web site to see the way you presented it and to see your full answer and then I still had to search the web to find out what a “solpugid” was. If you want to be accurate, please adjust your notes accordingly

Ed. Note
Creeped Out is correct.  Our original response to her was a brief two word answer which we sometimes do in an effort to answer as many requests as possible.  Then we spend more time crafting responses that we plan to post.  We do not feel sorry that after supplying a brief correct identification, the burden of further research was placed on the querant.

Creeped Out continues to write to us
It seems I am not the only one with a bad temper judging from your response. Your words were completely unnecessary and unrelated to bugs or your website. I apologized in my initial email to begin with and only became insulted by the way you presented my situation.
I apologize for killing the “solpugid” and I am sorry that I became angry. I didn’t think that this was the first photo of a dead bug you would have seen so I apologize for not being more sensitive to your passion.

Ed. Note:
For the record, we no longer email Creeped Out directly, as feel compelled to keep all lines of communication totally transparent and public.  Also, for the record, though we consider What’s That Bug? to be an insect identification website, we do not shy away from relating the insect world to the grander scheme of things.  We have maintained from Day 1 that we are not scientists, but artists, and as such, we reserve the right to dialog in whatever way we see fit and to not fear letting our freaky flag fly.

Another Reader Comments
Big nasty black thing
July 22, 2009
I was so intrigued by Creeped Out’s diatribe and backstory that I thought I’d let you know there are calm, reasonable people in Colorado as well. Also, I need a bug identified. I’m so sorry I don’t have a photo; I’m too scared of them, and I only see a couple a day. It doesn’t look anything like the photo attached, which I had to do for the form to work. They are 1 1/2″ or so long, black but iridescent (blue or green in sunlight), have a small middle section (thorax?) , very narrow “waist” and a long, skinny back end. They buzz when they fly. I’m scared because I thought I saw one flying away from biting my son; I just need to know how vigilant to be about them! If you can refer me to a lineup, I’m sure I could pick one out, and if I get a picture I’ll write again. Thanks for all you do!
For Heaven’s Sake Feel Free to Post This
western CO
Dear For Heaven’s Sake,
Thanks for your support regarding our latest Nasty Reader Award.  Your insects sound like some kind of wasp, perhaps a Cricket Hunter Wasp in the genus Chlorion, or a Blue Mud Wasp, Chalbion californicum, or some other Thread-Waisted Wasp in the family Sphecidae.  All of them may be viewed on BugGuide, but our money is on the Blue Mud Wasp.

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Posted 19 July 2009 § Solpugids and Camel Spiders ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

A No Nonsense Letter of Support

Hi Very Nice People Offering an Unbelievable Free Service,
I could just not resist writing the following note to the selfish, unaware morons who feature in your “nastiest person on the Internet” (aka “Nasty Reader Award” section). Thanks for posting their emails so that they cannot remain anonymous and get away with such anti-social behavior.
Kindest regards and gratitude,
Julie

Clueless Ingrates: your post to What’s That Bug (Jen Cifon, jonathanayres, Dawn)
Sat, Nov 8, 2008 at 9:16 AM
I can’t believe that you are such self-centered and apparently pretty stupid people to EXPECT someone who offers you a FREE service (at their own cost, in their own time) to give you what you want, when you want it. Just who handed you your sense of entitlement?
If you had a smidgen of intelligence, you’d be off to some professional entomologist at some high $$, and THEN demand service. Don’t be so stupid and selfish to look a gift horse in the mouth.
It is people like you that are screwing up our society in a big way. You make generous people like the owners of “What’s That Bug?” give up through frustration, and ruin it for everybody else.
You are each a clearly clueless ingrate, acting like the brats that you are, and deserve only the worst in life. Get out of other peoples lives. Idiots
JB

Hi JB,
Thanks so much for your support in the matter of our Nasty Reader Awards. We cannot believe the bile that some people spew because of the anonymity of the internet. We have been chastised by some people for our responses to the Nasty Readers, but we reserve the right to voice our opinion on our own website. Thanks again
Daniel

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Posted 08 November 2008 § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

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