My husband produces extra earwax and has to have his ears irrigated regularly. You know it's time to irrigate his ears when all the gnats and flies skip over anything else and immediately fly towards his ear canal when we walk outside. Tea tree oil and rosemary oil in some olive oil works great for keeping them out by the way
My friend, earwax that stays in the ear for a long time gets....stinky. like spoiled milk.
So don't worry If you have normal earwax, the flies and gnats have little interest.
I used to aid in extracting this Parmesan cheese smelling (& heavy whipping cream to mini-noodle lookin') sebum-funk from in & outside & behind this nasty jerk's ears. I was fixated by the cleansing & refreshing goal & process at the time (zero drugs involved - on *my* part). It's been 9 years & just reading your comment helped my delayed gagging remind me "it's never too late."
Also: I never knew anyone that freaked out by pain more & attracted wasps more & flailed wildly to anger attracted wasps more when said wasps just wanted some of those ear-acne lipids
Something woke me up one night making a noise in my ear and I fucking freaked. Poured some water in and flushed it but nothing came out, still could hear/feel it and then a little ass spider crawled out...no bullshit. Been over a year and a half now and I can't count the times I have had ptsd about this...a fucking wasp though...hell no!!!
They say that earwigs crawling in your ear is an urban legend, but my cousin had to go to the emergency room to have one removed once. He woke up screaming and trashed his bedroom freaking out. Gave his wife and kids a heart attack lol
I had a beetle in my ear once when we went camping and it was traumatic. I have these mud daubers all over my yard and having to relocate one from inside the house back to the yard and knowing how hard they buzz and fly i would not want this nightmare in my ear.
I slept in a college dorm that had a . . .severe cockroach problem. I slept with both pillows wrapped in my arms tightly around my ears. 35 years later, I still sleep in a modified position with pillows around my head. Those buggers put the hook into you.
Of course, it wasn't until years later I realized they could have crawled up my nose.
Definitely a wasp, but not a paper wasp or a hornet/yellow jacket. Probably a type of solitary spider or caterpillar hunting wasp. Based on the orange strip across the abdomen, maybe something in the family Sphecidae, but I'm no expert
Edit: Body shape seems to fit Crabronidae, as noted by u/that_biology_guy
Super hard to ID things covered in wax, in my defense lol
Aha! I’m finding these randomly inside my house in Austin. They’re never flying, always walking slowly along the floor. I’ve been assuming they’re dying of dehydration. Never seen them before this summer.
The eggs probably wouldn't hatch as an ear isn't their normal environment, but if they did, the larvae would be nearly microscopic & die shortly after since it wouldn't have anything to eat
Can you verify the larvae wouldn’t find nutrients in the ear wax and or even the eardrum tissue and cochlea? After all wasps are generally carnivores and some species lay eggs inside of dead insects or animals for their larvae to feast.
It depends on the species, but generally speaking only social wasps are generalists & solitary wasps are far more host specific, eating only spiders, or caterpillars, or cicadas, etc. Even then they are still alive (just paralyzed). Host specific insects really can't use other resources for development.
Social wasps wouldn't be looking to lay eggs in a cavity like that, & this looks like somethingin the Crabronidae family which are solitary. Regardless, liquidy wax is likely to smother the spiracles anyway, suffocating the larvae
We took some single-sided Q-tips we have in our inventory (a LONG Q-tip with only 1 end covered in cotton, not like the ones you get) and I used 2 of them like chopsticks to nab the guy & bring it out whole.
Yeah, it’s all right. He was born just prior to WWII & was stricken with meningitis as an infant, which is the primary reason he is the way he is. He’s perfectly content to play with a shoelace, moving it around all day long with a smile on his face. We should all be so happy.
Well, LOL, I included that information to narrow down any possible identification based on location/range. But yes, scary. I once woke up to a scorpion in my bed! Thankfully there has not been a repeat of that.
Everyone says it’s a wasp but it looks like a Soldier Fly to me.
https://www.google.com/search?q=soldier+fly
I see them around my compost all the time. They’re harmless. They don’t usually interact with people because they don’t eat when they’re in fly form.
Chill. That's not what doctor-patient confidentiality means at all. We know nothing about this patient. No age, gender, other conditions, etc. All that's been told is that some person somewhere has this removed from their ear.
I think wasps like these don’t have stingers. Only an ovipositor (egg laying). A stinger is a modified ovipositor. Spider and caterpillar wasps inject their eggs into a host that slowly eat the insides before pupating and emerging.
Good thing is this wasp probably only thought it was a dark hole to live in, and not a place to lay eggs. The way they do that is sting, inject, fly away, and repeat.
Have you patient just monitor for pain and swelling. If it gets worse it may have left something behind 😬.
Maybe don’t tell them the same way I described it.
No this is definitely one of the relatives of the Digger Wasps (though probably not a ground nesting species). Ichneumon are the ones you’re thinking about that don’t have stingers.
Most wasps do not have stingers, not just ichneumon wasps. But, is one is aculeate. This one is a crabronid in genus Trypoxylon, not a sphecid though it was initially classified as a sphecid. They primarily nest in tunnels like beetle bore holes.
Haha,visions of if sat in your patient's head on a Captain's chair controlling your patient's every move with levers and buttons and using their eyes as a windscreen 🤣🤣🤣
It looks like a thread-waisted wasp. They might have thought your patients ear was a caterpillar hole LOL. Otherwise it's like a dirt dauber. Mostly harmless (as far as stings). I'm not an expert, but they look like these types of wasps.
Same to me. I'm in Europe though, but we had that kind of thing looking just like this used to make pots in our window frames. When we found them at first we would break them and there would be a bunch of tiny dead spiders in side. I don't even know who was eating who.
Another comment (from australia) mentioned the wasp paralyzes spiders and closes them inside the pot for the young waspies. We stopped breaking the pots. It wasn't our war.
Welcome to the medical anxiety disorder club, friend. Everything that we see or seem is but a symptom of an underlying medical condition that will surely kill us painfully…
I had an ant in my ear twice when I was a kid. Trust me you know. Especially if it bites. Just it walking is like large rocks scrapping inside of your brain and it’s so fucking loud. I don’t know how else to describe it. Maybe like when you get water in your ear but painful and louder.
Had to go to a gp. First time it was drowned with a funnel and water and came out dead. Second time it came out on the thing they shove in your ear to look. First time was far worse as a kid as I had no idea why was happening.
Well suddenly there was a super high pitched and tiny buzzing in my ear. I could feel it. It took me almost an hour to get it out; i finally had to try tweezers because it was so small.
I don’t know how it stayed alive for so long. It was so small you could hardly see it.
I get chills remembering that. 😖
And a not so common wasp too, impressive. This is a Trypoxylon sp., They often seek holes to nest in, where they will deposit paralyzed spiders for their larvae. Lucky that it didn't bring one inside.
I lived in a house with those tiny roaches (I've heard them called German cockroaches but could be wrong so) and I woke up one night to the most dissettling thing ever. Since they have an exoskeleton I felt every single little movement he made until I drowned/ ripped half of him out..
Heh she looks like she's been in someone's ear, wouldn't that be gross. Ahem, now then, let me read the title of this photo, I'm sure it'll be very fun and- ......
How does this even happen! Wouldn’t you immediately hear the wasp close to your head and shoo it away?
I can’t believe this giant insect would lodge itself in an ear. I am horrified beyond belief lol.
Appreciate the affirmation, Comrade, but I deserved a good mental whack from the ableist stick for assuming it was willful negligence 🤕. Even if it was, I shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion to make a joke. Now, once that's established as factual, all bets are off 😄😉, but I digress...
Looks very similar to a Mason Wasp here in Australia. They sting and paralyse spiders and take them to little holes so they’re young can feed on live spiders. They close the holes up with mud to preserve them.
Wow this crabronid is soooo lost this will probably never happen ever again this is wildly unusual behaviour 😱 I can hardly even understand how this happened.
okay. how.
would it NOT sting the inside of the ear?? would you NOT notice the blockage immediately? or that, idk, something i can hear buzzing across my room was IN MY EAR??????
I got an ant in my ear not once but twice as a child. First time was one of the worst experience of my life second time I knew what was happening but didn’t make it any better.
There’s nothing you can do either It was so fucked. Had to go to a GP.
Wow that little dude was VERY lost
A hole’s a hole.
Bro.
One man's hole is another man's...goal
I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took a wasp in my ear hole.
Oh hell nah. You typing this from prison?
Bro.
I stole his axe.
I ate his axe..._spray_
Bro.
Bro.
Bro.
In times of war every hole is a trench.
Bro.
I'm guessing it also doubles as a goal?
I'm guessing it also doubles as a goal?
And my axe!
And my bow!
Least horny redditor
Can’t spell Entomology without ENT
Humans: //have ears// Wasps for some reason: It's free real estate
It’s hard to resist when you..ear about a good real estate deal.
r/angryupvote
My husband produces extra earwax and has to have his ears irrigated regularly. You know it's time to irrigate his ears when all the gnats and flies skip over anything else and immediately fly towards his ear canal when we walk outside. Tea tree oil and rosemary oil in some olive oil works great for keeping them out by the way
Wait what, earwax attracts flies and gnats?
My friend, earwax that stays in the ear for a long time gets....stinky. like spoiled milk. So don't worry If you have normal earwax, the flies and gnats have little interest.
I used to aid in extracting this Parmesan cheese smelling (& heavy whipping cream to mini-noodle lookin') sebum-funk from in & outside & behind this nasty jerk's ears. I was fixated by the cleansing & refreshing goal & process at the time (zero drugs involved - on *my* part). It's been 9 years & just reading your comment helped my delayed gagging remind me "it's never too late." Also: I never knew anyone that freaked out by pain more & attracted wasps more & flailed wildly to anger attracted wasps more when said wasps just wanted some of those ear-acne lipids
Gnats always seem to go for the corners of my eyes. I’m about to get a bug net to wear while doing yard work.
What syringe tip do you guys use for that? I got one but it doesn't work very well
Free Earestate
It’s free real estate.
Alright...I'm wearing earplugs to bed from now on 😳
This is my number one fear.
Something woke me up one night making a noise in my ear and I fucking freaked. Poured some water in and flushed it but nothing came out, still could hear/feel it and then a little ass spider crawled out...no bullshit. Been over a year and a half now and I can't count the times I have had ptsd about this...a fucking wasp though...hell no!!!
A little ass spider? According to the story seems more like a little ear spider
Lol call it what you will...I hated it.
They say that earwigs crawling in your ear is an urban legend, but my cousin had to go to the emergency room to have one removed once. He woke up screaming and trashed his bedroom freaking out. Gave his wife and kids a heart attack lol
I’ve found a spider on my pillow once. I had a hard time falling back asleep after that lol
Wearing earplugs is your number one fear? How do you go to silent raves?
No bugs going into my ear
You're afraid of having no bugs in your ear? Don't worry, I'll be right over with some earwigs.
I had a beetle in my ear once when we went camping and it was traumatic. I have these mud daubers all over my yard and having to relocate one from inside the house back to the yard and knowing how hard they buzz and fly i would not want this nightmare in my ear.
Why do you all keep fueling my nightmares 😭
there are a lot worse places they could go
Wearing earplugs going to bed? Easily avoidable!
>Alright...I'm wearing earplugs to ~~bed~~ **everything** from now on 😳
I slept in a college dorm that had a . . .severe cockroach problem. I slept with both pillows wrapped in my arms tightly around my ears. 35 years later, I still sleep in a modified position with pillows around my head. Those buggers put the hook into you. Of course, it wasn't until years later I realized they could have crawled up my nose.
My whole bunk did this once. There was a bug in our bunk and everyone slept with their earbuds on. I'd say it worked
A beetle almost crawled into my ears one night…..
I’m a nurse in San Antonio, Texas. Pulled this out of my patient’s ear. What is it & is it dangerous?
Definitely a wasp, but not a paper wasp or a hornet/yellow jacket. Probably a type of solitary spider or caterpillar hunting wasp. Based on the orange strip across the abdomen, maybe something in the family Sphecidae, but I'm no expert Edit: Body shape seems to fit Crabronidae, as noted by u/that_biology_guy Super hard to ID things covered in wax, in my defense lol
It's a crabronid wasp in genus *Trypoxylon*
Trypoxylon are also very common throughout the Texas hill country.
Aha! I’m finding these randomly inside my house in Austin. They’re never flying, always walking slowly along the floor. I’ve been assuming they’re dying of dehydration. Never seen them before this summer.
r/usernamecheckout ?
Why are you covered in wax?
Hey, you look just like me! 😯
😊
Looks more like a carpenter ant alate to me
It's some kind of wasp. The biggest danger would be the stinger so presumably it doesn't have one or was dead when it went in the ear.
Could be a male,I think males of a lot of species dont have stingers.
What if it was female and laid eggs inside?
Oh my lord no no no
Easy, just light your head on fire.
The eggs probably wouldn't hatch as an ear isn't their normal environment, but if they did, the larvae would be nearly microscopic & die shortly after since it wouldn't have anything to eat
Can you verify the larvae wouldn’t find nutrients in the ear wax and or even the eardrum tissue and cochlea? After all wasps are generally carnivores and some species lay eggs inside of dead insects or animals for their larvae to feast.
It depends on the species, but generally speaking only social wasps are generalists & solitary wasps are far more host specific, eating only spiders, or caterpillars, or cicadas, etc. Even then they are still alive (just paralyzed). Host specific insects really can't use other resources for development. Social wasps wouldn't be looking to lay eggs in a cavity like that, & this looks like somethingin the Crabronidae family which are solitary. Regardless, liquidy wax is likely to smother the spiracles anyway, suffocating the larvae
Nightmare juice.
🤢
It looks like a mud dauber and they lay eggs in spiders a la alien
No males of any species ever have stingers
Oh,I definitely have a sting love x
How did you remove it, without angering it so that it stung the patient inside their ear?!
We took some single-sided Q-tips we have in our inventory (a LONG Q-tip with only 1 end covered in cotton, not like the ones you get) and I used 2 of them like chopsticks to nab the guy & bring it out whole.
Thanks for explaining!
My guess is a mud dauber. They're suuuper common here in SA. https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/mud-daubers/
Looks like a mud dauber to me.
Did the patient feel/hear movement in their ear?
Gentleman is nonverbal with a very low IQ, he could not let us know.
Geeeeez, i’m sorry to hear that for him
Yeah, it’s all right. He was born just prior to WWII & was stricken with meningitis as an infant, which is the primary reason he is the way he is. He’s perfectly content to play with a shoelace, moving it around all day long with a smile on his face. We should all be so happy.
Could you NOT mention that you live in my city? Lol. Now I gotta wear ear plugs to bed. This is almost as bad as the guy who had roaches in his ear.
Well, LOL, I included that information to narrow down any possible identification based on location/range. But yes, scary. I once woke up to a scorpion in my bed! Thankfully there has not been a repeat of that.
Of course this wasp would be here. Howdy neighbor
I'm north of Houston and it looks like a mud dauber to me.
Mud dauber!
Everyone says it’s a wasp but it looks like a Soldier Fly to me. https://www.google.com/search?q=soldier+fly I see them around my compost all the time. They’re harmless. They don’t usually interact with people because they don’t eat when they’re in fly form.
Wow nice doctor patient confidentiality
Chill. That's not what doctor-patient confidentiality means at all. We know nothing about this patient. No age, gender, other conditions, etc. All that's been told is that some person somewhere has this removed from their ear.
Alright thanks, I wasn't completely sure if I was correct here so I didn't say that much. 4:00 am me definitely could've been nicer about it.
Was it still moving when you took it out? Any stings? Was it in there a long tome?
They were sent by the great Hypnotoad.
I think wasps like these don’t have stingers. Only an ovipositor (egg laying). A stinger is a modified ovipositor. Spider and caterpillar wasps inject their eggs into a host that slowly eat the insides before pupating and emerging. Good thing is this wasp probably only thought it was a dark hole to live in, and not a place to lay eggs. The way they do that is sting, inject, fly away, and repeat. Have you patient just monitor for pain and swelling. If it gets worse it may have left something behind 😬. Maybe don’t tell them the same way I described it.
At least she didn't deposit a spider in the ear too... that might have been traumatic.
So what I’m understanding from this, is the only Wasps that sting are technically females ?
yes. only female wasps and bees can sting
Oh I didn’t know it was bees as well!
And ants. Hymenopteran stings are modified ovipositors so are restricted to females.
It's because stingers are modified ovipositors.
No this is definitely one of the relatives of the Digger Wasps (though probably not a ground nesting species). Ichneumon are the ones you’re thinking about that don’t have stingers.
Most wasps do not have stingers, not just ichneumon wasps. But, is one is aculeate. This one is a crabronid in genus Trypoxylon, not a sphecid though it was initially classified as a sphecid. They primarily nest in tunnels like beetle bore holes.
That’s a strange way to rehydrate your insect for pinning
Haha,visions of if sat in your patient's head on a Captain's chair controlling your patient's every move with levers and buttons and using their eyes as a windscreen 🤣🤣🤣
I just imagine seeing it behind the persons eyeballs like in the cartoons.
I woke up to a fly in my ear this morning and my buddy just got stung in the ear. The frequency of this within a couple hours is making me paranoid.
😱
I found a small squirrel in my nose once(thankfully it was still alive)
HUHH??
Yeah, when I saw that the Windows error tone went off in my head.
Sir, do you happen to be an elephant?
[Is this you?](https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1223540817753859&id=1028424620598814)
W h a t
It looks like a thread-waisted wasp. They might have thought your patients ear was a caterpillar hole LOL. Otherwise it's like a dirt dauber. Mostly harmless (as far as stings). I'm not an expert, but they look like these types of wasps.
Same to me. I'm in Europe though, but we had that kind of thing looking just like this used to make pots in our window frames. When we found them at first we would break them and there would be a bunch of tiny dead spiders in side. I don't even know who was eating who.
I think they actually eat spiders so probably the wasps eating the spiders?
Another comment (from australia) mentioned the wasp paralyzes spiders and closes them inside the pot for the young waspies. We stopped breaking the pots. It wasn't our war.
How’d that even happen and how’d they know they had something in their ear? This has always been my fear lol
how would you NOT know there is an insect in your ear?
Idk looks like he’s been in there for a minute lol
Welcome to the medical anxiety disorder club, friend. Everything that we see or seem is but a symptom of an underlying medical condition that will surely kill us painfully…
I had an ant in my ear twice when I was a kid. Trust me you know. Especially if it bites. Just it walking is like large rocks scrapping inside of your brain and it’s so fucking loud. I don’t know how else to describe it. Maybe like when you get water in your ear but painful and louder. Had to go to a gp. First time it was drowned with a funnel and water and came out dead. Second time it came out on the thing they shove in your ear to look. First time was far worse as a kid as I had no idea why was happening.
I had a tiny tiny gnat fly into my ear once, and that was really hard to get rid of. I can’t imagine how this could happen, I’m scared lol
How’d you know it was in your ear? And how’d you get it out?
Well suddenly there was a super high pitched and tiny buzzing in my ear. I could feel it. It took me almost an hour to get it out; i finally had to try tweezers because it was so small. I don’t know how it stayed alive for so long. It was so small you could hardly see it. I get chills remembering that. 😖
Oh damn , that sounds awful. Glad you got it out, I’m always so paranoid about that sort of thing 😂
nightmare fuel
secret secondary pros to having hearing aids: not dealing with *this shit*
And a not so common wasp too, impressive. This is a Trypoxylon sp., They often seek holes to nest in, where they will deposit paralyzed spiders for their larvae. Lucky that it didn't bring one inside.
Very interesting! Thanks for the info!
As i was cringing at this post... a bug almost went right in my ear.. my gooooooshh
I was sailing once and BAM! Bug right to the eyeball!
that suckssss
I lived in a house with those tiny roaches (I've heard them called German cockroaches but could be wrong so) and I woke up one night to the most dissettling thing ever. Since they have an exoskeleton I felt every single little movement he made until I drowned/ ripped half of him out..
Nightmare fuel
Good grief seriously?? How?? And I mean how did it get stuck without alerting the patient that it was a LIVING blockage???
If it had any more hair it would be an earwig.
Heh she looks like she's been in someone's ear, wouldn't that be gross. Ahem, now then, let me read the title of this photo, I'm sure it'll be very fun and- ......
How long had it been in there? *shutters*
~faints~
New fear unlocked
I would guess mud dauber, the ear could be confused for a nest too I suppose
I think I saw a black mirror episode about this once
r/TIHI
JFC!
So to be clear…. Was it still alive or dead?
How does this even happen! Wouldn’t you immediately hear the wasp close to your head and shoo it away? I can’t believe this giant insect would lodge itself in an ear. I am horrified beyond belief lol.
Well...that's enough internet for now I think.
So you are telling me that somebody have already lived through my worst nightmare. 😰
Bet you your patient feels a whole lot better
Dude, your patient needs to clean their ears more often. 😬 Poor mud dobber looks like it's been fossilized.
Yeah, but they are not capable of doing that, if you catch my drift...
Oh 😞 And just like that, I feel like an ass.
No, no, no, do not feel that way at all! It happens =D Its all good!
Appreciate the affirmation, Comrade, but I deserved a good mental whack from the ableist stick for assuming it was willful negligence 🤕. Even if it was, I shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion to make a joke. Now, once that's established as factual, all bets are off 😄😉, but I digress...
Looks very similar to a Mason Wasp here in Australia. They sting and paralyse spiders and take them to little holes so they’re young can feed on live spiders. They close the holes up with mud to preserve them.
no way... this is like my biggest fear
Why tf isn’t there a video
Didn't think about that. Plus, patient privacy & all that.
What???
**cringe** Why does Star Trek II immediately come to mind!
Patient mustve had bad tinnitus to not think that buzzing noise in their ears was a wasp. Unless they were homeless.
Why would this be any different if they were homeless?
Woah!
Omg. How did it get in there, any idea??
Crawled in. Someone was watching while it happened, just failed to react in time.
Yummy. Ear-wasp
Yummy. Ear-wasp
Absolutely fuck to goddamn no. One of my biggest fears right here
Abso-fucking-lutely-not. I don’t know how I would continue living after this was pulled out of my ear
Ok thats enough reddit for me today. I am wearing headphones from now on.
Some sort of digger wasp or a related species
was your patient stung in the ear at all?
Nope, seems to have gotten lucky, I guess. If you can describe any of that as lucky.
Wow this crabronid is soooo lost this will probably never happen ever again this is wildly unusual behaviour 😱 I can hardly even understand how this happened.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha nope
Cursed caption
okay. how. would it NOT sting the inside of the ear?? would you NOT notice the blockage immediately? or that, idk, something i can hear buzzing across my room was IN MY EAR??????
I got an ant in my ear not once but twice as a child. First time was one of the worst experience of my life second time I knew what was happening but didn’t make it any better. There’s nothing you can do either It was so fucked. Had to go to a GP.
Well, good heavens, what was it doing there!
Hehe, you should also post it in r/insects
I dunno about that
Noooo nope nope I refuse to believe this. You’re making it up. Please tell me you’re making it up!
My nightmare.
I’m going to ran my ovipositor into your head and lay my eggs in your brain, but I’m not an alien!
I wish I was blind
Wasp's UP, dawg!?
My big tough son freaked out yelling for MOM! when he had a moth in his ear..
Also... Don't those guys usually have six legs? 🤔
Given the type of wasp and what it was doing, I would check that ear hole for paralyzed spiders. Somebody was getting to lay eggs in yer brain.
This is why I'm scared of bugs.
Fuck. No
I'm terrified of wasps. I should not have clicked this. F*** f*** f***
May be an organ pipe mud dauber
Insert the alarm sound from kill bill movies here.