The insect in the photo is ‘Giant Water Bug’. It does not cause holes in the hands as shown in the photo - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 25, 2019
A post is being shared on Facebook with a claim that humans should not touch the insect shown in the photo with bare hands. It is also being claimed that, if touched, the insect will spread the virus to the human and the photos of its effects can be seen in the post. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Photo of ‘New Killer Insect’. Do not touch it with the bare hands, otherwise, it spreads the virus to the entire human system in minutes.
Fact: The insect in the photo is ‘Giant Water Bug’. Its bite is painful but not harmful. It does not cause holes in the hands as shown in the photo. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the photo of the insect is cropped and ran through Yandex Reverse Image Search, it was found on the ‘Pest Pro’ website that it is a ‘Giant Water Bug’. On the website, it can be read that it is not harmful.
Also, in a video uploaded by ‘Brave Wilderness’ on YouTube, it can be seen that when the ‘Giant Water Bug’ bites a human, it is painful but does not cause any holes as shown in the post. More about the ‘Giant Water Bug’ can be read here and here.
When searched on Google about the ‘holes on hands’, a YouTube video about ‘Trypophobia’ with visuals similar to the post can be found in the search results. In the description of the video, it can be read that the holes were made on hands ‘with some skin wax and some gore’.
Also, when searched about another visual (holes in the fingers), an article published by Snopes in 2015 was found. In that article, it can be read that it is an edited image. When similar posts went viral previously, various fact-checkers across the world have written articles debunking these claims, which can be read here and here.
To sum it up, the insect in the photo is ‘Giant Water Bug’. It does not cause holes in the hands as shown in the photo.
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