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Aug 25, 2018 15 tweets 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Scientists make their living using their brains to interpret data.

So what happens when that organ breaks, and a respected researcher becomes mentally ill?

In this week's second #DeepDive, let's explore the case of Jay Traver.

CW: Mental illness
Jay Traver was one of the early entomological pioneers. Her career centered mainly around aquatic insects, specifically mayflies.

Most of her work-which is still cited to this day-revolved around describing the lifecycles of mayflies.
In 1951, Traver published a paper where she claimed to have experienced an infestation by a mite called Dermatophagoides scheremetewskyi.

This is a mite which lives in homes, and although it causes allergic reactions, it was known at the time to not be parasitic.
We all have similar species in all of our homes. If you look closely at your vacuum bags, you'll see mites which kind of look like the ones below.

These are dust mites. Very common in the environment.

flic.kr/p/8ZKkgE
The paper itself is really worth a read. Her description of the condition, and her attempts at treatment, are all incredibly detailed.

It's worth noting that she used about a dozen different treatments, many of which can cause skin irritation alone.

pdfs.semanticscholar.org/12f9/b262b99d0…
This sort of condition is actually familiar to entomologists. It's called Eckbom's syndrome, or sometimes, 'delusory parasitosis'.

It's a condition which makes people believe they're invested with parasites.
This condition is not well studied. People who have it move frequently, go to many different doctors, and tend to not stick with treatment regimens.

It's accepted that about 25,000 people in the US have this condition, although the numbers are likely much higher.
Traver's 1951 paper is important because it's considered the best first-person account of the illness.

Her case is also pretty standard. A disproportionate amount of people with this condition are middle-aged or older, and female.
Traver's account of her condition is undeniably important, but her observations are faulty. Beyond that, there's proof of harm because it's been used to support the claim that these mites are parasitic.

So it should be retracted, right?

Well, there's problems with that, too.
Mental disorders of various types are not uncommon in the scientific world.

Autism spectrum disorders are not uncommon (@Stylopidae is diagnosed), and depression is also pretty common.

So it's unethical to say that mental disorders are incompatible with good science.
Another thing to point out is that Travers herself kept publishing during this period, and her papers published while she was suffering from this condition are still cited in important aquatic insect keys.

For example, the Merrit & Cummins aquatic keys (p.1121, for ref).
So...entomologists know the paper needs to be dealt with.

We can't retract it because the author had an illness, but we also have to recognize that it's an important paper even if it's for reasons unintended by the author.
This case has been in the background of entomology for awhile.

In 2011, @mshelomi published reccomendations to either retract or publish a letter of concern in a scientific ethics journal.

researchgate.net/profile/Matan_…
To this day, as far as I know, the paper hasn't been retracted...and it's unlikely to ever be retracted at this point for reasons Shelomi has pointed out.

The damage has already been done, and retracting it may cause a backfire effect.
Even though Traver's observations on her infestation are questionable, I still believe that her paper (as well as Shelomi's) should be required reading for any entomologist who deals with the public.

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More from @BugQuestions

Aug 26, 2018
Yeah, we get pictures/videos of this occasionally.

Ants don't really do 'funerals'; even the dead in their own colonies are put into a garbage dump rather unceremoniously.

There's a handful of possibilities for this behavior...
1.) They may be attempting to bury it, especially if it's on a hard surface.

Lots of ants bury large food items to protect it from scavengers, other ants, and to absorb liquid which comes out from the prey.
2.) The critter happened to fall into the colony's trash pile.

Ants put waste (dead ants, poop, shedskins, etc) into a large pile called a 'midden pile' which functions just like our landfills.

If something ended up in that pile, they could be moving stuff out of the way.
Read 4 tweets
Aug 25, 2018
I think this problem hits at the heart of the issue when it comes to Eckbom's, because it's often not about infestations.

This deserves it's own thread to describe how complicated this problem is, and how poorly understood it is.
So...first, I believe that these people are accurately describing their perceptions of medical issues.

Urban IPM Extension people can go through samples to find insects, inspect homes for infestations (bed bugs, fleas, etc), get someone to do skin scrapings for Scabies, etc.
However, after that, they need to be passed onto a doctor.

Often times, attempts at self-treatment can cause skin irritation. Pesticide poisoning can also cause crawling sensations.

Brain tumors, autoimmune diseases, even cold weather can do this as well.
Read 4 tweets
Aug 24, 2018
A new meme going around FB claims the WoodLouse Spider is a "deadly new species" wrecking havoc in the Southern US

It's a completely harmless spider, but it still has a neat story to tell.

For the first of this week's two #DeepDives, let's explore the biology of Dysdera crocata
So, for the first tweet in this series, let's put these rumors to rest with data.

There's a lot of verified bites from D. crocata in the medical literature-which is rare. One person allowed themselves to be purposely bitten multiple times.

No deaths; everyone was just fine.
D. crocata gets it's name-the woodlouse spider-from it's food.

They live in dark, moist, areas and are adapted to feeding on sow bugs...sometimes called rollie-pollies.

They use those huge mandibles to foil the isopod's defensive rolling.

Read 8 tweets
Aug 21, 2018
It is with a heavy heart that we announce that one of our colleagues, Vazrick Nazari, has been arrested for possession of child pornography.

We cannot tolerate exposing our followers to this sort of person, and have blocked him from our feed.

ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new…
We did consult him for help with moth IDs here on Twitter, and although there's no way we could have known he was doing this, we still feel the need to apologize for exposing our readers to-and let's just put it as bluntly as possible-an alleged child predator.
We try to be careful about who we consult, and let into our conversations.

Unfortunately, it's not always possible to know what's going on behind the scenes.

Needless to say, we will not be requesting any more assistance from this person.
Read 4 tweets
Aug 18, 2018
With Glyphosate being in the news due to a recent court ruling, let's take this opportunity to explore the history of pest control in this week's #DeepDive.

It's a huge and complex topic, so the best we can do is a brief overview.
It's not really known when humans started using pesticides.

The first agricultural societies began about 10,000 BCE, with several independent shifts around the world from relatively nomadic lifestyles to those tending crops.
The first records of pesticides being used is in Sumeria, where they used elemental sulfur to control crop pests.

This is largely an accident of geography; Sulfur deposits are abundant in a stretch between Mosul and Fatha...which allowed easy access.
Read 27 tweets
Aug 12, 2018
For tonight's #DeepDive, let's talk a little bit about how insects use venom *and* poison for various things.

The divisions can be weird, and there's a lot of ways that venoms and poisons can be used!

Thanks to @RosemaryMosco for comic permission!

amazon.com/Birding-My-Fav…
When we think of venom or poison, we typically think about the act of eating...and for good reason.

Venom/poisons are used to either help something eat, or keep something from being eaten.

flic.kr/p/asPjzA
The only exception to this that I'm aware of is the mating of the African rock scorpion.

During mating (2:10 in this video), the male stings the female.

This species doesn't use venom to hunt, so the exact reason behind this behavior is unknown.

Read 17 tweets

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