Leeches: Bug week begins!
This week on The One Show we'll be finding out what's so great about a wasp, why mosquitoes make that annoying noise in your ears, what makes a tick - tick, and why nits like clean hair.
The first film of the week is all about . George McGavin waded through the ponds and ditches at Romney Marsh in Kent, dressed as a 19th century leech collector. Back then, the medicinal leech was extremely popular as it was believed to cure people of their bad blood. Today, leeches are still used in plastic and reconstructive surgery, as wounds heal much better when leeches are used to keep the blood flowing through them.
There are sixteen species of leech in Britain, but only one has the jaws capable of sucking human blood, the medicinal leech or .
Bloodsucking leeches will drop off on their own when they are done feeding - removing a leech by burning with a cigarette (as seen in the movies) is generally not recommended as this can result in the leech regurgitating into the wound and causing infection much worse than the leech bite itself.
See some of the photos of insects you've sent in.
Have you been bitten by a leech? Have you been treated with leeches? What was it like?
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