Sensible to be afraid of wasps.

Did you know that earwigs have wings and can fly? But they don't eat brains. They're mainly vegetarians.

I have a wasp phobia /:

@ elfin "mainly vegetarian" is not reassuring if one gets in your ear and there are no vegetables to be found. Wings?? they can get everywhere!!

OMG someone else who is scared of earwigs.

Agree on wasps too but that's because some species are quite aggressive. The buzzing sound alone is enough to make me want to run. But then I got stung on the eyelid by a bee when I was very young and TWICE had a wasp land on my face and poke its little legs around my lips. I will NOT sit still again if there is a wasp buzzing about my head. I was lucky that I stayed calm enough not to get stung but nope, never want a wasp on my face ever again!

Ha! You pegged it - earwigs are one of my biggest bugbears too. I also read that thing about them crawling into your ears and I'm not sure where that myth began but it isn't true at all, earwigs will generally do anything to get away from you, including dropping themselves from great heights just to get off you. The reason they freak me out is because of how they move. They have a particular wriggle and curl to their pronged tails that just gives me the creeps. They also have a knack of getting into tight spaces. We had an infestation in the back garden and those little buggers would always come out when it got damp, any thunder or rain and you'd find them on the tap and toothbrushes. Once opened a pot of Ibuprofen in my drawer to find a few in the lid, the same with the mouthwash!! Urgh. And the worst one was a few who drowned in the bacon fat I had been saving...didn't see them until after I added the fat to the scrambled eggs and then nearly threw up when I saw all the dead bugs.

SAME! I literally get a visceral reaction with earwigs. I had a... very scarring encounter with multiple earwigs when I was younger, so I understand where the phobia comes from. Doesn't change the fact that they freak me out.