The other day I was on our usual route through the woods, taking the dog for a walk. Strapped to the side of an otherwise innocent tree, I found something that hadn’t been there the day before, and which hasn’t been seen since. Someone had posted a question in the woods.
The question is “what smells do bugs dislike?”
I didn’t know the answer to this so I had to do some research. Here are my findings.
- Ladybirds dislike the smell of marmalade.
- Daddy Long Legs actively avoid the odour of pigs and pig manure.
- Butterflies mostly agree that fried onions are heinous, except the Cabbage White which doesn’t mind fried onions but can’t bear the smell of them raw.
- The flat-backed millipede has a deep-rooted hatred of leather gloves.
- Grasshoppers find the smell of pineapple nauseating.
- Bumblebees, honey bees and mason bees all share a mild distaste for the smell of bacon.
- Caddisflies are enraged by the stench of meths.
- Red-headed cardinal beetles can smell hot custard a mile off and it turns their stomachs.
- Cockchafer beetles have enough to worry about and didn’t respond to my survey.
3 comments on “What smells do bugs dislike?”
I misread that as, ‘what do bugs smell like?’
What a fool am I.
The rest of this post must have seemed fairly avant garde after that.
Rest assured Ian, I did exactly the same thing, and continue to do so.
Imagine my disappointment when Crich only tells us what they dislike. Such a renegade, such disregard for our inability to accurately read simple English.