Comments on: They. Are. NOT. Beetles.

By: boblet

boblet — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:57:02 +0000

..and that link didn’t happen.. :-S do you moderate links into functioning :-S http://boblets.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/the-story-of-e120-the-colour-red/

By: boblet

boblet — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:53:08 +0000

I should have known, buggirl, that you’d been into this! I wrote this a while back
the colour red
Admittedly, my main interest lies in the dramatic history and the colour – wars have been fought over such resources. But I really enjoy that it is an insect, and therefore freaks out chickens. I know a girl who – after I gleefully told her about cochineal – panicked and refused to eat her favourite sweets.. ah. It keeps me amused.

By: Candace

Candace — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:05:59 +0000

I’m someone who is extremely allergic to carmine. So allergic that I ate a yogurt with carmine on a business trip once and ended up in an emergency room going into shock. It’s become more common now to see it actually listed in the ingredients rather than just hidden under “natural and artifical color”. I actually found your site using google to try to find lipstick without carmine, it’s really interesting to learn more about the insects themselves.

By: darkdaughta

darkdaughta — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:46:17 +0000

The juice?! The juice, too!? Is nothing sacred?!

By: Wild Flora

Wild Flora — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:03:57 +0000

I just tried to send an email about this matter to Snopes, only to have my comment bounce back to me. Will try again. Meanwhile here’s the comment:

Having been a passionate promoter of Snopes for years, I feel betrayed to learn that you have refused to correct an inaccurate entry despite having been informed of your error by a professional entomologist. As has evidently been explained to you several times now, the insects from which cochineal and carmine are made are not beetles.

See http://membracid.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/they-are-not-beetles/

Yes, this insect is often referred to as a “beetle” in common parlance. But isn’t that precisely the sort of widespread misconception Snopes is supposed to correct?

If you refuse to believe the entomologist who first contacted you, ask a few others. Get the facts. Isn’t that your mission?

If a site such as yours is not scrupulous in its attention to accuracy, it has betrayed not just its readers but its entire reason for existing.
Color me heartbroken.

This comment refers to the following entry:
http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/bugjuice.asp

By: Terrell

Terrell — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:58:20 +0000

Just wanted to let you know we linked to this article in the March issue of Learning in the Great Outdoors. Thanks!

http://aloneonalimb.blogspot.com/2008/03/learning-in-great-outdoors-10.html

By: Ed Darrell

Ed Darrell — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:40:23 +0000

You mean, there’s good reason to call the sugared and flavored water served in Scout camps “bug juice?”

Strange, passing strange.

By: Oldfart

Oldfart — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:27:40 +0000

Except for their robot, they didn’t even bother to reply to me.

By: Shane Killian

Shane Killian — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:51:57 +0000

Well, I got a reply from Snopes. They sent me to the dictionary. I guess they figure that’s more authoritative than a professional entomologist… :^(

By: Kiki

Kiki — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:34:55 +0000

To Bug Girl:
http://xkcd.com/250/
Snopes

To DougT (but off topic):
http://xkcd.com/18/
snapple