Trying to explain to people that the much larger flying cockroaches you find in Florida are fine and the much smaller invasive German cockroaches are far more of a problem is near impossible when they first come across them.
I feel like we call them Palmetto bugs instead of roaches just to make them feel better about them. Yet they don’t spread disease the same way, or seem to cause home infestations, which is why they really arent as bad. But when my partner moved from Tennessee to Florida and saw one out on the balcony by the beach, she almost chose to fly over the railing to get away from it either way.
I’m going to be honest, seeing a palmetto bug in person would probably make me think I’d traveled back to a more oxygen rich atmosphere for a second. I’m not generally squicky about bugs that don’t harm you, but I think that would activate a new part of my brain.
i dont hate cockroaches because they’re harmful. Rats are harmful and I like them.
I hate cockroaches because they trigger my monkey-brain to throw me into fight-or-flight mode. I’m 100% certain this would get infinitely worse if one of those fuckers started flying.
Lol, I would avoid the southeast U.S. then. Florida Georgia and I think they are in South Carolina.
Over time I think we just adapt. Palmetto bugs don’t make my skin crawl, spiders I don’t recognize will usually get me. I’d rather find a black bear than a spider I don’t know crawling somewhere I need to get it out of.
Somehow, They Fly Now has returned.
