Insects
Ants - Claire finds a jar of Ant Eggs in Davie Beaton's surgery at Castle Leoch (Outlander, chapter 7)
Bedbugs - a hazard of 18th century life, especially in inns
Body lice - Claire notes that body lice were endemic amongst the Lallybroch men who fought with Charles Stuart (DIA, chapter 36) Body lice are bigger than head lice and public lice but like those lice they feed on human blood and lay their eggs on skin and clothing. They are common in overcrowded conditions where people cannot wash their bodies or clothes. Body lice cause severe itching
Butterflies - Claire sees flocks of orange & white butterflies, and a few brilliant yellow butterflies while on Hispaniola (V, chapter 50)
Cockchafers - the rats in the cells at Ardsmuir keep the number of cockchafers down (V, chapter 8) A cockchafer is a brown beetle which can reach up to 30mm in length and is also known as a May bug
Cockroaches - there are cockroaches on board the Artemis (V, chapter 41)
Crickets - Claire hears crickets in the grounds of her house in Boston (V, chapter 19)
Deerfly - Claire is bothered by a deerfly on the way to Lord Lovat's lands. When Jamie tries to kill it he is bitten by another one and lets go a loud shriek which causes his horse to bolt (DIA, chapter 40) Deerfly can have very painful bites which cause an allergic reaction
Dermestid beetles - Father Fogden uses dermestid beetles to remove the flesh from the skulls of his dead sheep so that he can keep the skulls (V, chapter 50) Dermestes beetles are from the family of skin beetles and feed on dead animal material
Dragonfly - Hugh Munro gives Claire a gift of a dragonfly suspended in a piece of amber (Outlander, chapter 19) Clouds of dragonflies hover over a pool in Father Fogden's courtyard (V, chapter 50)
Fleas - Claire thinks the Huguenot pastor she finds hiding in the barn probably has both lice and fleas (DIA, chapter 26)
Lacewings - Jamie watches lacewings fluttering around a candlestick (DIA, chapter 21)
Lice - a common companion for 18th century people
Maggots - the cask of spoiled horsemeat aboard the Artemis was full of maggots (V, chapter 44)
Midges / Midgies - a generic name for small biting insects (Outlander, chapter 1)
Orb weaver spider - Jamie points out an orb weaver spider with a green and yellow back to Young Ian and Claire (V, chapter 29)
Praying mantis - Jamie likens Rebekah Hauberger to a praying mantis (Virgins)
Silverfish - found in some of the books in the Reverend Wakefield's garage (DIA, chapter 4)
Spiders - Claire brushes small spiders from her skirt after sleeping in a pine forest (Outlander, chapter 25) Jamie met Lawrence Sterne when he was in Edinburgh delivering a paper to the Royal Society on spiders (V, chapter 29)
Ticks - Annekje Johansen's goats have ticks (V, chapter 49)
Water striders - living in the water trough at Helwater (V, chapter 16)
Weevils - found in hard tack biscuits (V, chapter 46)
Bedbugs - a hazard of 18th century life, especially in inns
Body lice - Claire notes that body lice were endemic amongst the Lallybroch men who fought with Charles Stuart (DIA, chapter 36) Body lice are bigger than head lice and public lice but like those lice they feed on human blood and lay their eggs on skin and clothing. They are common in overcrowded conditions where people cannot wash their bodies or clothes. Body lice cause severe itching
Butterflies - Claire sees flocks of orange & white butterflies, and a few brilliant yellow butterflies while on Hispaniola (V, chapter 50)
Cockchafers - the rats in the cells at Ardsmuir keep the number of cockchafers down (V, chapter 8) A cockchafer is a brown beetle which can reach up to 30mm in length and is also known as a May bug
Cockroaches - there are cockroaches on board the Artemis (V, chapter 41)
Crickets - Claire hears crickets in the grounds of her house in Boston (V, chapter 19)
Deerfly - Claire is bothered by a deerfly on the way to Lord Lovat's lands. When Jamie tries to kill it he is bitten by another one and lets go a loud shriek which causes his horse to bolt (DIA, chapter 40) Deerfly can have very painful bites which cause an allergic reaction
Dermestid beetles - Father Fogden uses dermestid beetles to remove the flesh from the skulls of his dead sheep so that he can keep the skulls (V, chapter 50) Dermestes beetles are from the family of skin beetles and feed on dead animal material
Dragonfly - Hugh Munro gives Claire a gift of a dragonfly suspended in a piece of amber (Outlander, chapter 19) Clouds of dragonflies hover over a pool in Father Fogden's courtyard (V, chapter 50)
Fleas - Claire thinks the Huguenot pastor she finds hiding in the barn probably has both lice and fleas (DIA, chapter 26)
Lacewings - Jamie watches lacewings fluttering around a candlestick (DIA, chapter 21)
Lice - a common companion for 18th century people
Maggots - the cask of spoiled horsemeat aboard the Artemis was full of maggots (V, chapter 44)
Midges / Midgies - a generic name for small biting insects (Outlander, chapter 1)
Orb weaver spider - Jamie points out an orb weaver spider with a green and yellow back to Young Ian and Claire (V, chapter 29)
Praying mantis - Jamie likens Rebekah Hauberger to a praying mantis (Virgins)
Silverfish - found in some of the books in the Reverend Wakefield's garage (DIA, chapter 4)
Spiders - Claire brushes small spiders from her skirt after sleeping in a pine forest (Outlander, chapter 25) Jamie met Lawrence Sterne when he was in Edinburgh delivering a paper to the Royal Society on spiders (V, chapter 29)
Ticks - Annekje Johansen's goats have ticks (V, chapter 49)
Water striders - living in the water trough at Helwater (V, chapter 16)
Weevils - found in hard tack biscuits (V, chapter 46)