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I'm fairly certain this is a sci-fi book, not a movie. On an alien planet, a person discovers that these "bugs" (if memory serves that are the size of say turtles...) burrow and dig through rock, eating it along the way. As a byproduct of this, they produce gems/jewels inside their bodies. One of the humans tries to collect as many of these jewels as he can by capturing these creatures and harvesting the gems.

I also seem to recall that the people teleported to this planet in some manner.

I know it's thin; not much to go on. Any help would be appreciated.

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    Sep 19, 2017 at 6:44

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I think it's a Koontz book called The Bad Place. The villain and his brother can teleport to an alien world where aliens use bugs to mine gems. I remember one of the bugs makes it back to earth and is examined by a scientist.

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    Please add more information why do you think this way
    – Yasskier
    Sep 19, 2017 at 3:23
  • That's it! I had a feeling it wasn't a typical SF author. Thanks bookreader!
    – Remmy700P
    Sep 19, 2017 at 3:36
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    The Wikipedia description of The Bad Place has almost no elements in common with the poster's description. What makes you think this is the correct answer?
    – iayork
    Sep 19, 2017 at 12:00
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    The fact that the OP confirmed it's correct goes a long way, I suppose. Even so, I still support the idea of fleshing out the answer with details to support its correctness (especially if common internet sources like wikipedia don't have such details at hand), for the benefit of future visitors who might be looking for the same thing, but want more information.
    – Steve-O
    Sep 19, 2017 at 13:15
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    I found this snippet of info in a "study guide" that is online for The Bad Place - During the session of hypnosis Frank becomes terrified and teleports, taking Bobby with him to all of the places he has tried to hide from his brother, the two most notable are another planet where engineered insects mine for red diamonds, and the study of Doc Fogarty who holds the key to the mysteries of the Pollard family.
    – Danny Mc G
    Sep 19, 2017 at 13:38

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