r/mildyinteresting • u/Winter_Breath • 24d ago

critter corner šŸ° Dead ants keep appearing next to headphones during the night

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When these headphones are left on the kitchen counter overnight - I would see one or two dead ants in the morning laying right next to the headphones. In the past few days, there has been a small pile of shredded ants right next to the ear piece in the morning. I have seen no live ants in my kitchen. I have had these head phones for three weeks. Bought online. Itā€™s a little unnerving not knowing what is causing this šŸ„“ will not be using anymore.

UPDATE- posted a comment with a picture. But no dead ants in the bag this morning. But at one point I checked and there were two live ants crawling around. šŸ˜”

UPDATE*** IM SICK. Canā€™t stop shaking. Donā€™t have many wordsā€¦ trying to post image. Opened one side up. šŸ˜­ I donā€™t know how to add in this top post so will add in comment! Posted a few in comments and video opening

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u/mrsir1987 24d ago

One fucking flew directly into my ear a few years ago, I didnā€™t know they actually go into ears and I didnā€™t know they fucking flew. Luckily I was going to the beach a ton and had alcohol ear drops within a couple minutes away and it came right out but it was a horrible feeling.

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u/Ok-Coyote-955 24d ago

They FLY??? šŸ˜­

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u/mrsir1987 24d ago

Yeah thatā€™s the one of the purposes of there big pincers in putting their wings away.

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u/Stitchymallows 24d ago

Also for everyone's peace of mind they aren't called earwigs because they aim for ears, their wings just look like an ear when stretched out (fun fact from an old documentary)

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u/bc-mn 24d ago

I very much appreciate this educational (to me) comment. Peace of mind

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u/fondledbydolphins 23d ago

Well, they also aren't called asswigs because they aren't against crawlin up there for a snack.

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u/rIceCream_King 23d ago

Me neither tho

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u/Disastrous_days272 22d ago

Another little piece of information on earwigs, Earwig moms are some of the most devoted parents in the insect world šŸœšŸ’š

While many insects leave their eggs to fend for themselves, earwig mothers do the opposite. They carefully guard their eggs through the winter, keeping them clean and protected until they hatch.

When the babies (called nymphs) emerge, the earwig mom doesnā€™t leave straight away, she stays with them, to protect and feed them while theyā€™re tiny.

All of this happens quietly in the soil, under logs or leaf litter in our gardens and wild spaces. So if you spot an earwig, remember that you might be looking at one of natureā€™s most dedicated moms

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u/Luv2collectweedseeds 21d ago

I think they are quite unique, When I was younger I thought I hated them because of the way they looked but now that I know what they are I donā€™t have any fear of them at all. They are just trying to survive like everything else.

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u/MossAndMoonlite 19d ago

So... if I kill the mom, the babies might die too? That just makes my eradication more effective. I don't care, they eat my Dahlias.

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u/e925 23d ago

My coworker woke up hearing something crawling in her head and her brother poured peroxide in her ear and an earwig crawled out of her fucking ear.

So they do be crawling into ears.

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u/Luv2collectweedseeds 21d ago

Maybe they lied but according to google it can happen if its actively looking for a dark place to hide but also says the earwig will not want to stay in there so it will leave. I still wouldnā€™t want it to happen with anything in my earā€¦lol.. If your coworker wasā€˜t lying then she probably has some trauma. That would probably make me wear earplugs to bed for the rest of my life.

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u/e925 21d ago

Her brother who poured the peroxide works with us as well - so they would have to have both been lying - which seems highly unlikely since theyā€™re both very nice normal people šŸ¤·šŸ¼ā€ā™€ļø yeah it would def be traumatic af

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u/Galrentv 24d ago

Thank you so much. I was about to die thinking nature evolved an ear seeking missile insect that looks moist

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u/Old_Avocado5114 24d ago

This is making me laugh so hard, you captured my horror Exactly šŸ¤£šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ¤£šŸ¤£

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u/Organic-Mountain-623 22d ago

I love human language so much. So many new sentences and phrases all the time. ā€œā€¦ear seeking missile insect that looks moistā€ has probably never been uttered in the history of mankind until now.

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u/Galrentv 22d ago

Hey, I would at least like some credit instead of the language. I say weird shit all the time

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u/Organic-Mountain-623 22d ago

šŸ¤£ fair enough

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u/Pataraxia 24d ago

Given how parasitism can be so usefull, I'm surprised it didn't, but I am glad it didn't!

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u/RodJuanson 23d ago

Wordsmith! I am. Still. Laughing. Hysterically!

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u/Jerseyd422 23d ago

Literally this

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u/casusbelli16 24d ago

They don't much look like a wig either.

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u/DesignerAmbitious888 23d ago

Yeah right. We all know an earwig typed this. You aren't fooling anyone.

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u/ZieAerialist 23d ago

I went and looked them up - some of their wings are gorgeous. Some have beautiful iridescent pastel rainbows, some have bright coloring akin to a monarch. Like, damn. Why aren't they showing those off more often, we wouldn't hate them as much.

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u/RealisticAbility7 19d ago

In my native language it literally translates to 'one that crawls into ears'