You would think that insects, being as miniscule in size as they are compared to humans, wouldn’t pose much of a threat to us. True, mosquitos, ticks, and fleas spread pretty awful diseases, but for the most part insects can’t usually kill us directly. It’s the disease that kills people, and the insect just happens to carry it. However, deaths do in fact occur where the insect murderer is directly responsible for ending a person’s life. Of course, most of these cases are either very disturbing or absolutely ridiculous and funny despite the morbid subject.
There are a few stories out there about people dying after having swallowed flies. One of these stories gives the most likely explanation for this strange death by insect phenomenon. A man was eating dinner with his family when he accidentally swallowed a fly that flew into his mouth. The fly happened to have recently escaped the clutches of some fly paper, which commonly contains arsenic, and the man died from the poison soon after swallowing the fly.
Apparently swallowing insects is really dangerous as another tale tells the story of a young boy dying after swallowing a moth. He had fallen asleep while sitting in front of an outside fire with his father. As you might have guessed, his mouth was hanging open. The father saw the moth fly into the boy’s mouth, but thought it would simply startle him awake. Instead the boy’s face began turning black and he went into convulsions before dying. The moth had apparently gotten lodged in the boy’s windpipe, cutting off his air and smothering him.
DO you know of any bizarre stories in which insects caused a person’s death?
