I read somewhere a while back that the nicknames for these creatures is highly regional, and it seemed to pan out when their data showed that the regions which used the two names I know them by are the same ones that my family comes from.
The ones we have here can't bite anything. If they get scared their only defense mechanism is to jump straight at the threat and hope to scare it away lol
Yeah, I have a deep-seated irrational fear of bugs large enough to "pop" when you step on them, and I think it stems from growing up around these monstrosities. They're not as bad as bugs in a lot of places, but goddamn does it hurt to get bit by them, especially as a child.