Field Guide to Venomous and Medically Important Invertebrates ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Many true bugs (Order Hemiptera) are capable of inflicting painful bites with their piercing- sucking mouthparts, and some species are capable of transmitting potentially deadly parasitic diseases. Assassin and kissing bugs- several members of this predatory family Reduviidae can inflict painful bites and others can transmit pathogens resulting in serious and potentially fatal human disease (i.e., Chagas' disease, or American trypanosomiasis). Kissing bugs (Subfamily Triatominae) usually bite for the purpose of taking a blood meal. This bite is relatively painless which allows them to feed on their hosts without disturbing them. However, they also can deliver a painful bite for defensive purposes. Most bites by kissing bugs occur at night when the victim is sleeping and the bites generally occur on the face. The bite wounds typically appear as lesions with purplish-colored puncture marks. Some individuals may develop localized urticarial reactions to the kissing bug saliva, and acute systemic reactions including swelling (usually unilateral and known commonly as Romana’s sign), low blood pressure, itching, vomiting, headache, and abdominal cramping. Uterine bleeding in women also may occur. Figure 83. Kissing bug (Panstrongylus geniculatus), Panama. Photo: David Bowles and Mark Pomerinke. Figure 84. Kissing bug (Rhodnius prolixus), Brazil. Photo: Marcelo de Campos Pereira. Figure 85. Kissing bug (Triatoma sp.), Texas. Photo: Texas A&M University. Figure 86. Kissing bug (Triatoma infestans), Brazil. Photo: Marcelo de Campos Pereira. Figure 87. Head of Triatoma infestans showing piercing-sucking beak. Photo: Marcelo de Campos Pereira. Figure 88. Romana’s sign. Photo: World Health Organization.
Although bites of kissing bugs normally are intentional for the purpose of feeding, the bites from the predatory assassin bugs (Subfamilies Harpactorinae, Reduviinae) are entirely defensive and usually received after accidentally contacting or handling these bugs. Assassin bug bites are extremely painful and the pain may last for a few hours. In general, initial pain often is followed by residual pain and numbness that can last for several days. The afflicted area often becomes reddened and hot to the touch, but later may become white and hardened at the puncture area. Subsequently, the hardened core of the wound may slough off, leaving a small hole at the puncture site. Healing time varies from about two weeks up to 6 months in some cases, especially in hypersensitive people. The most commonly recognized assassin bug in North America is the wheel bug, Arilus cristatus, but several closely related species of wheel bugs occur throughout Central and South America. Other species of assassin bugs are distributed worldwide. Among these is the masked hunter, Reduvius personatus, of North America which sometimes bites humans. Due to the red and black coloration of this species and a tendency for it to bite on the face, it is sometimes incorrectly identified as a kissing bug. Assassin bugs do not transmit any known diseases pathogens to humans. Treatment of bites from assassin bugs can include ice packs, topical corticosteroids, systemic antihistamines, and antibiotics for secondary infections. Figure 89. Wheel bug (Arilus cristatus), Texas. Photo: David Bowles and Mark Pomerinke. Figure 90. Wheel bug (Arilus sp.), Panama. Photo: David Bowles and Mark Pomerinke. Figure 91. Masked hunter (Reduvius personatus). Photo: W. Müller. Figure 92. Assassin bug (Zelus bilobus): Photo: Clemson University/USDA. Treatment of kissing bug bites includes use of cool compresses and mild analgesics to relieve the itching. Occasionally, patients who are hypersensitive to kissing bug bites may develop severe
Page 1 and 2: Field Guide to Venomous and Medical
Page 3 and 4: Introduction Types of negative inte
Page 5 and 6: Other Arthropods Centipedes Millipe
Page 7 and 8: Threats from invertebrates encompas
Page 9 and 10: ―traumatic‖ may be applied, and
Page 11 and 12: Surveillance of Medically Important
Page 13 and 14: Black widow spiders and their relat
Page 15 and 16: There are several commercially avai
Page 17 and 18: Approximately 12-24 hours following
Page 19 and 20: Reactions to envenomation by funnel
Page 21 and 22: Figure 21. Six-eyed sand spider (Si
Page 23 and 24: Yellow Sac spiders More than 200 sp
Page 25 and 26: one South American species, Lycosa
Page 27 and 28: Mesobuthus tamulus, the common red
Page 29 and 30: The effects of scorpion venom on pe
Page 31 and 32: motor skills become impaired. Other
Page 33 and 34: Larval chiggers actively crawl to t
Page 35 and 36: Scabies mites produce two general t
Page 37 and 38: Reactions from the bites of these v
Page 39 and 40: from pale yellow to reddish-brown.
Page 41 and 42: longer a tick remains attached, the
Page 43 and 44: Lice in the families Pediclulidae a
Page 45: Cockroaches Cockroaches are not med
Page 49 and 50: the source of bed bugs. Under norma
Page 51 and 52: norepinephrine that affect the abil
Page 53 and 54: practical, scented sprays, perfumes
Page 55 and 56: Bumble bees and carpenter bees- Alt
Page 57 and 58: are their bodies are commonly disti
Page 59 and 60: Bullet ants are large (~1 inch or 2
Page 61 and 62: which resolves within a few days. S
Page 63 and 64: Certain species (brown-tail moth, t
Page 65 and 66: Blister beetles (Family Meloidae)-
Page 67 and 68: should consider the potential healt
Page 69 and 70: feces or urine. The life cycle of b
Page 71 and 72: Chrysomya bezziana (Calliphoridae),
Page 73 and 74: Wohlfahrtia magnifica (family Sarco
Page 75 and 76: mosquito eggs hatch into larvae wit
Page 77 and 78: Aedes and Ochlerotatus mosquitoes a
Page 79 and 80: of these genera play a secondary ro
Page 81 and 82: and Phlebotomous in the Old World.
Page 83 and 84: effective on the local scale. These
Page 85 and 86: Filth flies (Families Muscidae, Cal
Page 87 and 88: cosmopolitan distributions, can be
Page 89 and 90: Northern rat flea, Nosopsyllus fasc
Page 91 and 92: tetanus or gangrene. Minor surgery
Page 93 and 94: Millipedes Millipedes (Class Diplop
Page 95 and 96: distributed largely in marine syste
Page 97 and 98:
Figure 230. West coast sea nettle (
Page 99 and 100:
Carukia barnesi is a small box jell
Page 101 and 102:
Figure 235. The ―false box jellyf
Page 103 and 104:
The stings of some sea anemones can
Page 105 and 106:
fishermen, especially those in Denm
Page 107 and 108:
exploration of the wounds may be ne
Page 109 and 110:
and continues until the leech is en
Page 111 and 112:
Symptoms generally include pain, sw
Page 113 and 114:
Recovery may take from hours to wee
Page 115 and 116:
Swimmer’s itch (schistosome cerca
Page 117 and 118:
United States Centers for Disease C
Page 119 and 120:
L. hystrix: Southern Europe, Northe
Page 121 and 122:
Sicarius spp.: Zimbabwe, southern A
Page 123 and 124:
Family Scorpionidae Opistophthalmus
Page 125 and 126:
Ixodes holocyclus (Australian paral
Page 127 and 128:
Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, hor
Page 129 and 130:
Megalopyge opercularis (Puss caterp
Page 131 and 132:
Lucilia (=Phaenicia) cuprina (sheep
Page 133 and 134:
Glossina spp. (tse tse fly): Africa
Page 135 and 136:
Family Tedaniidae Tedania ignis (fi
Page 137 and 138:
Haementeria depressa: South America
Page 139 and 140:
Family Bulimidae Oncomelania spp.:
Page 141 and 142:
eschar- a sloughing or crusting whi
show all

Field Guide to Venomous and Medically Important Invertebrates ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?