Other Direct Attack Arthropods

Announcements

Speaking Today: Elizabeth Andrews

Speaking Next Tuesday: Shea Gatewood

Solpugids

• Arachnids• Strong chelicerae can

tear flesh• Will attack when

provoke• In larger species, bites

can require stitches• Read more at

www.camelspiders.net• Covered in Chap. 23

Solpugid LegendsThis is what I had to deal with while in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm … the infamous “Camel Spider”. A vicious insect that lives in the middle eastern deserts. Although they are not actually spiders, they resemble a cross between a spider and a scorpion. Also called the sun spider, solpugid, wind scorpion, and a host of other terrible names that do not come close to describing the pure, unadulterated evil that makes up this ‘hell-spawned’ beast. The Camel Spider can grow to the size of a coffee cup saucer , it can run upwards of 5 miles an hour and jump several feet into the air. That’s not the worst part either. The worst part comes when they catch you. (And they will catch you.) Although they are not poisonous, Camel Spiders will inflict a horrible bite. It will jump on you and run up your back until it finds exposed flesh. If you’re wearing shorts, it will go for your legs; otherwise it may go all the way up to your face or neck . Its mouth opens four ways to become 4 very sharp fangs. If you are sleeping, i t has been known to eat at your face and rip at the flesh. Don’t worry, its saliva will numb the wound almost instantaneously… by destroying the nerve endings. The saliva also inhibits healing. When your nose grows back , it’ll be hideously scarred. I honestly believe if these evil creatures were the size of a German Shepard, they would rule the earth!Ron Larson,Pilot, Army Missile Command

Scorpions

• Ancient arachnids descendents of eurypterids (sea scorpions)

• Some 1250 spp world wide, ~100 in N. America

• All are predaceous• About 50 spp pose

health problems.

Extinct Myxopterid sea scorpion

Scorpion Morphology

Notes

• 1st instars stay on mother’s backs

• Have vibration sensors on the pecten

• Some very toxic ones can be bought online: eg: here

Leiurus quinquestriatus

• Deathstalker Scorpion

• Most toxic scorpion in the world– 1 sting = LD50 for a

small child

• N. Africa

Centroides spp.

• Bark scorpions

• Responsible for most human deaths

Public Health Significance of Scorpions

• US: About 15,000 stings reported to Poison Control Centers each year– 4 deaths reported in the US 1999 – 2009– 0 deaths in US, 1983 - 1998

• Mexico: ~200,000 stung yearly– 700 – 800 deaths yearly

• Tunisia: 35,000 – 45,000 stung yearly – 35 – 105 deaths/year

Lepidoptera

• Moths & Butterflies

• Principal Health Issues– Urticating caterpillars– Non-urticating, exposure-related

• Scale inhalation for entomologists in mass rearing• Dermatitis/allergies

Urticating Caterpillars

• Several stinging caterpillars in Kentucky

• Saddleback caterpillars were very common in 2009

• Injury from spines is called “urticaria”

• Do not sting like hymenoptera

Stinging caterpillar hairs

• Two general kinds– Spicule hairs – shatter into fragments.

• Tiny fragments cause mechanical injury• Some have toxins incorporated into the hair• Can cause urticaria without contact with the

caterpillar

– Spine Hairs• Stinger-like spikes• Toxins present in a poison gland at base of hair• Caterpillar must make contact with skin

Examples

Treatment

• Apply tape & remove spines

• Apply alcohol to inactivate some toxin if present

• Apply cold to area