INSECT POISONING AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 469 



may cause anaphylaxis in an animal. Anaphylaxis essentially consists 

 in the development under certain circumstances in an animal of a hyper- 

 Sensitiveness to foreign albuminous materials which in themselves are not 

 essentially toxic. The larvae of the bots Hypoderma bovis DeGeer, H. 

 lineata De^'illers, and Oestrus oris Linnaeus are not normally toxic al- 

 though by living in an animal they produce a sensitiveness. When 

 crushed in the animal or when the protein material contained in the 

 larvse is injected into the jugular vein of a sensitive animal, anaphylactic 

 shock results. Both in natural and experimental anaphylaxis death may 

 result. Recovery from the reaction gives immunity for varying periods. 



POISONING FROM EATING INSECTS 



Cornelius (1919) reports an instance of eleven cases of acute native 

 poisoning in India following a feast on cooked garden bugs, Aspongopus 

 nepalensis Westwood, which were collected from under stones. Recovery 

 takes place in from three to ten days. Continued consumption is said by 

 the natives to immunize against poisonous effects. The bug gives off an 

 odor resembling sulphuretted hydrogen, but when cooked is regarded as a 

 delicacy. 



KISSING BUGS 



Various species of reduviid bugs have been charged with inflicting 

 severe injury with their bite. The species of Triatoma have been dis- 

 cussed in Chapter 28. The black kissing bug, Melanolestes picipes in- 

 flicts a very painful bite. Probably foreign matter is often introduced by 

 the bite. 



DERMATITIS CAUSED HY BEETLES 



A number of species of beetles have been recorded as excreting an 

 irritant liquid which causes a dermatitis to the skin which they touch. 

 As an example we may cite Paederus columbinus Lap. of Brazil, which 

 causes an acute dermatitis, a species of Staphylinid of the Belgian Congo 

 which causes a vesicular dermatitis, and the Meloid beetles, Cantharis 

 ftavicornis Dufour and C. vestitus Dufour. The substance secreted by 

 Cantharis is sometimes used as a cauterizing agent. 



BEETLES AS CARRIERS OF DISEASE GERMS 



We are not apt to think of beetles as carriers of disease, but there are 

 a number of ways in which beetles may readily be concerned in disease 

 transmission. There are quite a number of species of beetles which 

 breed in carcasses and which can readily carry disease germs from one 



