When Insects Bite...

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Yesterday, I asked Alex to get the mail for me. I filled my watering can and was about to give the geraniums a long-overdue drink when I heard Alex screaming. I looked up and he was running up and down the sidewalk.

"What happened?!" I yelled.
"A wasp stung Alex," Brett said.

Through choking sobs, Alex spurted, "It...did...not...sting me. It...bit...me. There's...no...stinger."

I got him in the house and put some ice on it. (Actually, I put an Otter Pop on it because it was frozen and handy. Plus, as Alex pointed out, when he was done with it, he could eat it.) Once Alex had calmed down some, I asked him how he knew the wasp did not sting. "Mommy, I saw its mandibles pinch." I wondered if the saliva was venomous and might cause a reaction. Alex patiently explained that the saliva was not venomous, and also that "wasps use saliva for wood, but not for things that threaten them."

Later, Brett, who left for a bike ride after telling me what happened, doubted that Alex had been bitten instead of stung. He asked Alex how the wasp could hurt him if it hadn't used its stinger. "Brett," Alex answered, slightly annoyed, "Wasps don't just have stingers; they have mandibles."

Comments

Rebecca said…
That is so funny. Alex is something else. Hopefully a brilliant future scientist.
July 9, 2008 at 1:34 PM
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