this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2026
77 points (97.5% liked)

Today I Learned

30040 readers
944 users here now

What did you learn today? Share it with us!

We learn something new every day. This is a community dedicated to informing each other and helping to spread knowledge.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with TIL. Linking to a source of info is optional, but highly recommended as it helps to spark discussion.

** Posts must be about an actual fact that you have learned, but it doesn't matter if you learned it today. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.**



Rule 2- Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-TIL posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-TIL posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Partnered Communities

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I found this on my head the second time today, last time i thought it was a spider (with doubts)
So i tried to look for it for like 1-2 hours before i got it finally

But they did not look like the first image because they can shed their wings when finding a suitible host and their wing shed form does get less acssociated with its name.
Its at least harmless because it does not really carry illnesses but it can leave an itchy head for weeks :/
Better than ill at least

all 28 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] atan@lemmy.ml 5 points 7 hours ago

I hiked along some cliffs in Mull where there was a large feral goat population, and was swarmed by these fuckers (we call them deer keds). Absolute nightmare fuel. They would quickly shed their wings and nestle in hair (mostly my beard) or inside clothing. They're really flat and leathery, and cling on for dear life - making them unreasonably hard to remove (they would wriggle free from my fingertips as I tried to prise them off.) I removed several dozen over the day and still found their corpses in my laundry.

The only goats we saw were dead and stinking. On the plus side, the weather was bad enough to mostly keep the midges at bay. Without a doubt, the worst experience I've had in the Western Isles.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

these are called ked flies. its related to bat flies( have 2 lineages specific to bats) which are bizarre flightless ones that parasitizes bats,(which are bizarre and thier evolutionary lineage with the bats.) bed bugs originated from bats, since they also posesses thier own versions.

[–] Little1Lost@gehirneimer.de 1 points 7 hours ago

thats very good to know

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 6 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Harmless huh? Spoken like someone who hasn't dealt with them.

[–] Little1Lost@gehirneimer.de 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Edit: you may confuse the deer flies im thinking of with the deer flies (yes, thats some nice naming there) You probably mean those: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_fly There also seems te be deer ticks which can also be dangerous and adds to the naming confusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixodes_scapularis


Meant harmless to human because they do not really carry disease.
I dealt with two and learned mostly about the scarce ressources on web so i dont really have actual experience

[–] Ashiette@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

You obviously have not dealt with them before. They are the devil incarnate. Fast, sleek, robust. They go for places that are hard to reach, they go for the eye. They make the deer fly look like a very mild annoyance. When you think you killed them, they go full Lazarus. They are stealthy.

0/10 very bad experience, will not recommend.

[–] Little1Lost@gehirneimer.de 2 points 7 hours ago

i assume i got lucky but at least i know that they are only dead when (probably my) blood is spilled. i will never risk pests getting out alive after my experience with head lice

Edit: also i think i got very lucky so im biased and still dont want more exporiences with them

[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 17 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (2 children)

Harmless as Lyme-spreading harmless? Also, the bites are quite itchy.
If you love someone chawling under your clothes and in your hair, you're up for a treat:

  • you pass some bush, and now you have 15 new friends
  • in the most WH40K manner, they lose their wings when they find their host (you)
  • they are super sleek, so you can brush over them and think: "hmm, probably fell off"
  • for the first 40 minutes they sit quietly, and then, when you relax, they crawl in deeper, warmer and hairier places
  • even if you find one, they are super tough, so you have to crush them between your fingers, just against body it's usually not enough.

Great guys, love them!

[–] AlphaOmega@lemmy.world 8 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

Lime 🍋‍🟩 spreading? I think you mean Lyme.

[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago

Thanks, sorry, corrected. BBut need to replace the natural flies with gmo flies that spread lime juice.

[–] leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 12 hours ago
[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

They are thinking of deer tick not deer fly

[–] Little1Lost@gehirneimer.de 5 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

i think they think about booth.
Because the fly does shed its wings and likes hair but according to wikipedia only the ticks carry dangerous disease.
Also booth seem annoying to remove and at least the fly (like lice) seems to needs a bit more force

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixodes_scapularis

[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Ixodes are much more dangerous because in many regions they carry encefalitis. It's also not easy to remove them without a special tool and/or skill

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Tweezers ate more effective than the "tick key" but it does require skill to remove the whole tick without squishing it or otherwise causing it to regurgitate its lyme disease bacteria into you.

[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Or leave their fangs in your body and wait until they get out. Yes, I know, unfortunately I've had regular first-hand experience with both types of the biters being discussed

[–] starlinguk@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago
[–] FoxyFerengi@startrek.website 14 points 16 hours ago

TIL Idaho is in the Eastern US.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Confusing that they share a name with these evil things

[–] Little1Lost@gehirneimer.de 4 points 10 hours ago

yes, that made it hard to find after i finally got at least the swedish name and tried to translate it.
I used wikipedia as a translator in the end (open article in different language and chose a language then i understood)

[–] Nima@leminal.space 11 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

ngl my whole entire-ass body itches after reading that article lol.

[–] kamenlady@lemmy.world 9 points 17 hours ago

On my part my entire ass-body is now itching

[–] Tabooki2@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Can't stand these buggers. They wreck every nice hike up here. Nasty bites

[–] blargh513@sh.itjust.works 4 points 15 hours ago

Hate those fuckers so much. Fuck those fucking fucks with a fucking lamp post.

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 3 points 14 hours ago

Wow I never heard of these assholes. Hope I never make their acquaintance.

[–] brandon@piefed.social 4 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

There's another species in the same family that parisitises pigeons. Any who's kept doves will probably be familiar with it. Thankfully those cannot live on humans.

[–] AstralPath@lemmy.ca 7 points 15 hours ago

I feel so bad for pigeons. We relied on them so much in the past and then we just kicked them to the curb and now most people hate them... It makes me sad.