|
Post by ANTHILL on Jun 21, 2005 18:50:14 GMT -5
I found this voracious beetle larva attacking a night crawler ten times it size This one is about an inch I have been finding smaller versions on me that are a 16th of an inch and smaller to see live web cam of the live specimen go to drop down menu and select anthill piwebcams.com/indexwc.php?adult
|
|
|
Post by ANTHILL on Jun 21, 2005 19:46:40 GMT -5
Well it was squerming I guess the hot lights killed it
|
|
|
Post by Frisk on Jun 21, 2005 21:00:50 GMT -5
Oh my God! I just saw a naked man" at Jeffs place'! I saw u too Ant but u werent naked Didnt see any bugs!HEHEHEHE :-*Frisky cat
|
|
|
Post by ANTHILL on Jun 22, 2005 13:43:51 GMT -5
Hi frisk cat I really did have a bug up there but it died now it's just me I'm the bug
I saw that naked man looked like he was doing some kind of naked meditation
I found out that it's a carrion beetle larvae you know the kind that you find eating from dead animals It seems that if it doesn't have a ready supply of carrion it makes carrion out of what it can find I do know that they burrow into dead carcasses whats to stop them burrowing into live ones
I haven't found out yet but I suspect that the adult beetle likes to lay their eggs in meat so the young have a ready supply of food
|
|
sondra
Full Member
infected since october 1999
Posts: 230
|
Post by sondra on Jun 22, 2005 18:23:54 GMT -5
Hi guys. here is an article on a beetle that does attack humans and can cause severe skin damage and illness.. A friend of mine said they did a special program on this bug on the national geographic channell last week..I have not been able to find any info on that show..Evidently doctors claim it can cause long term illlness . They are still looking for antibiotics to help..according to the show on the N G channel...
Kissing bugs (Triatoma) and the skin Rick Vetter MS1 Dermatology Online Journal 7(1):6
1. Department of Entomlogy, University of California Riverside
Abstract Kissing bugs (Family Reduviidae) can be the source of nocturnal dermatologic wounds in the mid to southern latitudes in the United States. The insects are obligate blood feeders and though the bites may be asymptomatic, a variety of dermatologic eruptions or death from anaphylaxis can result. The various dermatologic forms of the bite can be mistaken for herpes zoster, erythema multiforme and the ubiquitous catch-all diagnoses of "spider-bite."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 1 Paratriatoma hirsuta (family Hemiptera) identified by Rick Vetter, UCR Entomology. Collected in the Mojave Desert east of Indio.
Introduction In true entomologic terminology, the word "bug" strictly refers only to the large order of insects (Hemiptera) which are characterized by having sucking mouthparts. Most hemipterans are familiar to us as plant feeders (leafhoppers, aphids, stinkbugs), however, the family Reduviidae consists of predatory and parasitic insects, one group of which are obligatory blood-feeders that seek out mammals for their meals. They are known by a variety of colloquial names (kissing bug, cone-nosed bug, Mexican bed bug, etc.) and can be a cause of dermatologic wounds. The assaults are usually nocturnal and reactions are due to salivary proteins.[1] The most common kissing bugs in the United States are in the genus Triatoma with the less common Paratriatoma found in the southwest.
Life cycle and biology There are 16 species and 18 subspecies of Triatoma in the United States, distributed in the southern 2/3 of the country; additional related species and genera are common in Central and South America.[2] The kissing bug is dorso-ventrally flattened and is armed with a long, piercing proboscis. Although its mouthparts are only capable of sucking and there are no opposing structures capable of biting, its feeding wounds are still referred to as bites. Triatoma insects go through 5 molts before reaching maturity.[3] Their typical North American animal hosts include woodrats, opossum, raccoons and armadillos.[2,3] The insects are suspected to also feed off of many domestic pets and the wild animals that are abundant around human habitats. They are most often found in direct association with their animal host; for example, inside the large debris nests of pack rats. However, they are also capable of taking blood meals from humans. Because of their association with wild animal hosts, interactions with humans are more probable in areas that are surrounded by a natural environment in comparison to the disrupted landscaping of urban areas.
Medical significance Triatoma are predominantly nocturnal and feed off of a sleeping person's exposed human body parts.[1] They will not feed through clothing, although they will feed through large-weave laboratory cloth.[4,5] Typically, they position themselves next to the recumbent human, rather than on top of the host, to feed with the proboscis being the only contacting body part. Subjects describe the bite of Triatoma as virtually painless with a slight tingling sensation.[1,5,6] In laboratory observations, the insects fed for 8 to 15 minutes on humans before repletion and interfeeding duration was typically 3 weeks.[6] However, the insects were able to survive 3 to 6 months between meals.[7] In a large experimental study exposing 464 test subjects to 4 species of Triatoma nymphs and adults, most subjects exhibited no reactions to reduviid feeding with the number of symptomatic subjects being minimal (pruritus 0-4.2%, edema 0-3.2%, erythema 0-6.9%) 0 to 72 hours postbite for the variety of insect species tested.[5] Ryckman attributes this low response to lack of prior exposure of subjects to Triatoma salivary antigens. However, Triatoma can cause severe wounds via exposure to its salivary compounds and death from anaphylaxis is possible.[8] Most sleeping victims are not aware of the insect's presence during feeding, although for the few hypersensitive victims, severe allergic reaction to the insect's salivary secretions is sufficient to awaken them.[4,9]
Human interactions with Triatoma are considered to be incidental encounters and not deliberate infestations as the insects are typically found singularly inside homes and not as multiple intruders. Of definitive diagnostic importance, the engorged culprit is often found when sought; all 45 Texas patients and 95% of 110 California patients were able to recover the offending Triatoma when the home was thoroughly searched.[1,4] The insect often sought shelter in and around bedding or under sofa cushions. This high frequency of detection should readily allow one to confirm or exclude the bite of this reduviid insect.
Dermatologic expression For most victims, reaction to Triatoma feeding is unremarkable.[10] However, for a minority, significant dermatologic injury occurs. Clinical expression has been divided into 4 categories and is summarized from Shields and Walsh.[1,4] Typically, feeding wounds are multiple (2 to 15 in number), grouped, and most common on hands, arms, feet, head and trunk in that order.[1]
Papular lesions are similar to insect bites but have non-specific lymphocytic infiltration atypical of insect bite. Grouped lesions are often misdiagnosed as herpes zoster. Small vesicles surround the bite within 2 to 3 cm, commonly seen on the arms. No definite central puncture mark but wound is erythematous with moderate edema. Concomitant wounds elsewhere on the body can help with the diagnosis. Shields and Walsh list a patient with a hemorrhagic bullous lesion on the thumb who also had small vesicles on the arms. Large urticarial-type lesions (10 to 16 cm diameter)are also seen. Puncture wound may or may not be visible and in many patients and the lesion is erythematous. Lymphangitis and lymphadenitis may be associated with this type of wound. The most severe bite reaction exhibits hemorrhagic nodular-to-bullous lesions, typically on the hands and feet. The multiple lesions might be confused with erythema multiforme, however, in Triatoma bite, they are usually unilateral in occurrence. This type of wound is often attributed to the catch-all term, "spider-bite." Lymphangitis and lymphadenitis may be associated with this type of wound also. In addition, the triatomine bugs of Central and South America are vectors of Chagas' disease (trypanosomiasis) which is caused by the parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi.[1,10] The mechanism of infection from Chagas' disease is not via feeding but instead through contamination of the wound or other bodily portals by fecal material during or shortly after feeding. Although North American Triatoma species have tested positive for T. cruzi, Chagas' disease is much less of a concern in the U.S. because the North American Triatoma delay defecation until 20-30 minutes post-feeding. By this time, they are usually no longer in contact with the sleeping human.[1,10] Hence, vectoring of the protozoan is much less likely. Although T. cruzi is not difficult to find in both North American triatomine insects and their mammalian hosts (e.g., raccoons, opossums), the incidence of Chagas' disease in humans is extremely low, though in Central and South America, it is of genuine epidemiologic concern.[11] However, North Americans still need to be aware of the disease as infected immigrants enter the country and transmission has also occurred through blood transfusion.[11]
An extensive, annotated bibliography of the medical aspects of triatomine insects has been compiled. [8,12]
|
|
|
Post by Administration on Jun 22, 2005 20:59:17 GMT -5
Yeegads.. Bugs and insects really will be the death of civilization if these researchers don't get on the ball and quickly. Can't even hide in your house because they get ya there too! Ive read about this kissing bug and Chagas Disease Before.. scares the hell out of me! You would think the Government would come up with some kind of "safe for human" pesticide and just kill em all off............ Then again, who would trust them anyway? I think instead they are trying to kill us all off.....
|
|
|
Post by frisk on Jun 22, 2005 23:37:36 GMT -5
Heya Ant! I did get to see you with your shirt off ;! Yeah I like to "meditate " naked too ;D! Sorry we didnt get to se your bug but you were much more interesting anyway! And that Jeff guy was , well lets say entertaining! :-*Frisky cat
|
|