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In January 2016, social media users began encountering an item warning that a new killer insect sighted in India harbored a virus spread through touch that was able to circulate [throughout] the entire human system in minutes. The insect and the deleterious effects of its virus were graphically shown in accompanying images, the latter of which were depicted in a hand with a large number of small holes throughout the palm and fingers: There was nothing to this warning, however. These images were fabricated ones that combined elements from two separate and disparate life forms to produce a visceral response is viewers, famously exemplified by a supposed photograph of a breast rash caused by South American larvae that was actually a melding of a picture of a human breast with an image of a lotus seed pod: The image of the allegedly virus-infected fingertips seen in the upper right-hand corner above is actually one that has long circulated online as an example of the effects of excessive computer use and was created by merging a photograph of fingers with images of lamprey mouths: The insect pictured here, at least, is real. It's a giant water bug, a creature that is found in North America, South Africa, and India and is harmless to humans. These types of faked images are sometimes claimed to play on viewers who have trypophobia, defined as a pathological fear of holes (particularly irregular patterns of holes). Although many people claim to experience this disorder, it is not covered in scientific literature or listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: The afflicted hand seen in the upper left-hand corner of the above example is similar to an effect helpfully documented in a video showing how to produce a scary-looking hand that will vex trypophobes:
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