Evening star., 1901-07-16
KISSING BUG BACK
"Melanolestes Picipes" Resumes Bus
mess at the Old Stand.
HAS REAPPEARED ELSEWHERE, TOO
Prof. Howard, the EntomoIogist,
Describes the Noisome Insect
SOME SPECIES HARMLESS

! The kissing bug" otherwise known to
| entomology by the alarming titles of Meia-
nolestes picipes and Reduvius personatus,
| has made his temperance in these parts
| and has resumed business at the old stand.
| Up to date his nefarious work has not been
performed to any appreciable extent, but
| there Is no telling just how far he will go,
and perhaps we may have a scare similar
! to that of two years ago, when the treach-
| erous and Unsuitable insect proceeded to
| busy himself in the self-appointed task of
disfiguring goodly proportion of the popu-
lation and worrying the remainder until the
| kissing bug and his methods became the
sole topic of the day.
A few days ago a young man laboring
| under great excitement appeared at one of
the local hospitals with his upper lip swoI-
len to gigantic proportions He told the
physicians that he lust knew he was gon'
to die, and die quick" but after the doctors
diagnosed 1t they found that 1t was simply
| a rehabilitated case OF kissing bug, and
that the lip had been punctured by the pen
etratfng beak Of that insectile nuisance
Within the past few days several cases
have been reported at Philadelphia and a
score out in Illinois. Other sections where
| in the bug busted himself two years ago
report the recurrence of the pest, and pre-
cautions are being taken to avoid the at
tack.
At the Agricultural Department Prof. l..
y. Howard, chief entomologist, recently
prepared paper on the subject Of the
kissing bug, which gives some interesting
information concerning the insect The pa
per says:
Many Harmless Forms.
while very many different insects have
been brought to entomologists as un-
doubted specimens of the kissing bugs, in
| cluding a large number Of perfectly harm
less forms, several species of heteropter-
Gus insects, each one of which is capable
of inf1icting a more or less severe wound
with its beak. have helped to authenticate
the scare, and 1t seems true that two OF
them, namely, Melanolestes picipes and Re-
duvius personatus. have been abundant
around Washington. They have been cap
tured In a number of instances while bit
ing people, and one or the other of them
Is undoubtedly responsible for the original
cases in the Emergency Hospital at Wash
1ngton, which gave rise to the first news
paper stories.
THE writer has thought it advisable to
bring together account of six of the
most prominent OF these bugs, which with
greater or less frequency pierce the skin
matter of record
'Ops1coetes personatus, also known as
heouVius personatus, and which has been
termed the 'cannibal bug is an European
some unknown date, but possibly following
close In the wake of the bedbug In Eu-
rope this species haunts houses for the pur-
pose , OF preying upon bedbugs. Riley in his
Well-known article on Poisonous Insects
states that II a fly or another insect is Of
Tered to the cannibal bug 1t is first touched
with the antennae, sudden spring follows
and at the same time the beak is thrust
into the prey. The young specimens are
! covered with a glutinous substance to
"n1Gh ,!o, plts or dirt and dust adhere.
Ihey move deliberately, with a long pause
between each step, the step being taken in
Jerky manner. The distribution of the
species Is given as follows: Europe to the
miaaie aiaen;s OF Sweden Caucasia, Asia Minor,
A1ls.s Aiseria. MADEIRA; North America-Canada,
New York. Philadelphia Indiana; Tasma.
ma; Australia; from which it appears that
the insect Is already practically cosmopoli-
tan' and In fact, may almost be termed a
household insect.
Bite Is Painful.
The bite of this species is said to be
very painful. more SO than the sting of a
pee' ana to be followed by numbness. One
OF the cases brought to the writer's atten-
tion was that Of a Swede servant girl, In
which the insect was caught, where the
sting was upon the neck and was followed
py considerable swelling. LIE Conte In de-
scriblng an Insect of this species under the
synonymical nome Reduvius pungens gives
Georgia as the locality, and makes the fol-
lowing statement This species is remark
able Tor the intense pain caused by its bite
l do not know whether it ever willingly
plunges its rostrum into any person, but
when caught or unskillfully handled il al
ways stings. In this case the pain is al
most equal to that of the bite Of a snake,
and the swelling and irritation which result
from 1t will sometimes last for week In
very weak and irritable constitutions it
may even prove fatal
The second eastern species is Melanoles-
tes picipes: This and the closely allied and
possibly identical NJ. abdominalis are not
rare in the United States and have been
found all through the Atlantic states in
the west and south, and also in Mexico
They hide underneath stones and logs and
run swiftly.
This insect has been mentioned several
times in chronological literature. In Mary
land NJ. picipes is found under stones
moss, logs Of wood. etc. and is capable
trum or piercer. DR.. Lintner, New York
state entomologist, quotes from a corre-
spondent in Natchez. Miss, concerning this
insect: I send a specimen of fly not
known to us here. A few days ago it
punctured the finger OF my wife, inficting
painful sting. The swelling was rapid,
and for several days the wound was quite
annoying. Until comparatively recently
this insect has not been known to the
writer as occurring in houses with any de-
gree or frequency. In May, 1895, however.
! received specimen from DR.. ]. NJ. Shat
fer of Keokuk, Iowa, together with a let
ter in which the statement is made that
four specimens flew into his window the
night before. The insect, therefore, Is at
tracted to light. or Is becoming attracted
to light, is a night flyer, and enters houses
through open windows. Among the several
cases of bites by this insect, coming under
the writer's observation, one has been re-
ported by Mr.. Charles Dury Of Cincinnati,
Ohio, in which this species bit a man en-
the back Of the hand, making a bad sore.
In another case, where the insect was
brought for our determination and proved
n he this SnaciaS hitp We ho
cheek and the swelling was said to be
great but with little pain. In the third
case, occurring at Holland, s. c., the symp-
toms were more serious The patient was
bitten upon the end of the middle finger,
and stated that the first paroxysm of pain
was about like that resulting from a hor-
net or bee sting, but almost Immediately
it grew ten times more painful and feel
ing of weakness followed with vomiting
The pain was felt to shoot up the arm to
the under jaw, and the sickness lasted for
number Of days. A fourth case, at Fort
Bliss, Tex, Is interesting as having occur
red in bed. The patient was bitten on the
hand with very painful results and bad
swelling.
A Third Snocfoa