The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-07-24
aKISSING BUGn SCARE.

tlfic American: The North Atlantic
ABOARD has recently hadsa visitation
Of insect poisoning. reachinS from RIch-
mond, va, to Augusta. Ne, which has
been treated to the usual newspaper
exploitation and sensation mongering
ana has been dignthed by the datiy
press with the sobrlquet n 1The Kiss
ing Bug Plague" In ths-parlance Of
yellow Journalism, the kissing bug"
which they would, lead thGiF readers to
believe is an entirely new creature.
presumably discovered by some enter
prlslng reporter. is none 6iSAr than the
well known Melunolestes plcipes. Of the
sub family Pipatlna. Pethaps an Occa-
sIonal reader OF these sd ational ac-
counts Of serious illness and even Of
death from the bite" OF this insect has
stopped to wonder how It has come that
this species, with Its death-deallng
powers, has suddenly sprung into no.
tortety, II the mere ptrctttte from Its
powerful proboscIs IS capable of such
results, and the fondness for punctur-
Ing the human lips. from which II de-
rives Its newspaper name, Is one Gifts
principal characteristics. how does 1t
come that. although known to science
for nearly century, it's terrors have
been left for this last year Of the nine
teenth century to disclose?l
The kissing bug is no commoner
this year than usual; OF the genus Mel
auoestes, the two not uncommon spe-
Giles, NJ, plcIpes, with black, plceOus
legs. and NJ. abdominalls, with the sides
and sometimes the whoielupper surface
of the abdomen red, are to be observed
by the entomologlst around electric
lights In our parks, or in decayed mat
ter, or under stones in our woods, with
about the same frequency as always
before. THEY are active, blood-thirsty
insects. and inflict a severe wound up.-
on the hand OF the incautious collector"
has been said OF them; although to de-
scribe them as "blood-thlrsty" gives
false idea OF creature which, prob
ably, never uses Its prob0RclS on man
for any purpose other than self-defense.
There Is no proof whatever that they
are blood thirsty, In the sense that that
term may be applied TO the mosquito. 1
have handled scores Of both species.
and have been bitten but once; and
then only because carelessly plnChed
p!cipes too tightly between thumb and
finger, in lifting It from background to
my killing Jar. The wound made IN my
thumb was excessively painful, because
my powerful little antagonist had no
difficulty in piercing to the bone; but
there was no more poison about II than
about the puncture of a clean knife
blnde. For AIelnnolestes is not possess
ed OF any virtue or polson-secreting ap.
paratus whatever; the occasional pol.
sonous effects observed US following
wound from its proboscis are entirely
due to the food or the environment 1t Is
lately from.
It's present reputation depends on the
fact that an attache of out;agrlcultural
department In Washington, and gen
tleman in Wilmington, Delaware, both
captured specimens OF NJ. picipes In the
very act OF biting, and, in one OF these
cases, a slight degree of poisoning fol-
lowed. The specimens captured were
Identified by United States Entomolo-
gist l., o. Howard and--the newspapers
did the rest
Since this took place IN early June,
the leading papers have reported about
forty cases, so far as haHesbeen able
10 find by recourse to careful clip
rinE service In only three OF these
cases has Melanolcstes been an un.
doubted offender: and In every one Of
these the pain of the PuactGTe and n
slight amount Of poisoning in two
cases is all there was Of IT, In five
cases mosquitoes seem to have been
suspected, and in four AN ordinary
ny" was claimed to be at the bottom OF
the trouble. 1t Is worth remarking, III
passing, as sample OF newspaper dis
regard for anything approaching accu-
racy. that In several cases where the
text refers only to fly Orln mosquito,
the editorial headlines, or scare
heads" as they are technlrgilY called
with unconscious humor,, atlnde to the
wosl: Of the kissing bug, the dread
Mclnnolestes." etc, although there Is
no warrant whatever for such charge
There are certain facts mentioned In
many other of the news Items that
clearly indicate to the pathol0gist the
work of common n.y." ills well
known, OF course, to ntl students of In
sects, that our common house fly, Mus
ca domesticA, Is incapable qfspunctur-
ing the human skin, and that its pro-
boscfs, n fiabby, weak structure, is on
ly adapted to sucking up juices. the hu-
man Precipitation being, unfortunately
FOR our comfort, choice tidbit In the
muscine menu. EEr
There is. however. a second cousin OF
ALusca, who is very differently armed,
and whose well developed proboscis Is
both sharp and quickly welded lance
and powerful pumping tube, whereby
blood Is drawn up. This species, the
stable fly" Stomoxys calcltrnns, while
remarkably like the house fly, at first
sight. may be distinguished from 1t by
the manner Of holding the wings rather
more spread apart, when Mt rest, and
by the more slender. straight, and rigid
prOboscls. On close examination, also,
the color pattern Of the thoraX will be
seen to be quite different from any spe-
Giles of Musca. StomOXys Is a famous
tormenter OF cattle, well knowing the
thinner points where their hides may
be pierced. and II has for them, what II
retains when attacking man. n fond
ness for easily reached surfaces OF the
mucous membrane. The inner curve Of
the lips being the most accessible point
OF that sort, 1t is well entitled by Its
fOndness for biting in that locality to
the name Of the kissing fly. The larvne
Of StomoxyB live in fresh horse ma
nure, and the adult insect spends
much of its time. according to It's sex,
in either slipping the moisture from that
substance or in laying eggs therein. It
tGus comes that its habits hardly ut 1t
for human ana especially not for os-
cutlery Companionship. Fortunately,
Stomoxys Is not very common vIsi-
tant to our homes, although II is spe-
cIes that IL excessively common and
multiplies by thousands. II prefers
stables and COW yards, md only be-
fore heavy storms and late In the fall.
when seeking shelter from cold nights.
Is It usually to be observed In dwell.
ings. There is a great diversity Of