The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1901-08-27
THE POISON OF INSECTS
BEES AND SPIDERS CAN KILL, BUT
SUCH CASES ARE RARE.


Helped by Fear-Our Most Dangerous
Spider-lFncts About Scorpions.
DR.. l.. o. Howard. Chief Entomolo-
gist of the Department of Agriculture.
writes as follows in the New York
Sun: The danger of insect poisons Is
very generally overestimated in the
popular mind. Everywhere among
civilized people. as well as among un.
civilized races, there exist suDerstitions
regarding perfectly harmless insects.
For example. the common dragon flies.
or devils darnlng needles, are feared
very generally by English-spealling
races, and children I'm this country
think that these harmless insects will
sew up their ears. The common to-
mato worm, or tobacco worm. a per-
fectly harmless insect. is considered
to be fatally poisonous by many peo-
pie.
Much OF the common superstition
about spider bites Is totally unbound
ed, while the stories about scorpions
and centlpedes are grossly exagger-
ated. The effects of intense nervous
fear. following a physical injury OF
an Insignificant nature. are we'll un-
derstood by the medical profession.
Hence 1t is not difficult to understand
cases of severe nervous proStration,
and even death following n sting or
bite from n comparatively harmless
insect.
Nervous breads are contagious. and
psychologists will admit that the ta-
rentism, or tarantula frenzy of South
Europe. ascribed to the bite of the
tarantula, which has been repeated at
long intervals within the past few cen
turtles, was largely n dread, or panic
epidemic. Entomologists know that
there is nothing in the poison OF the
tarantula to produce the symptoms
described. such as the prolonged
dances, ending in coma. The sO-called
kissing bug epidemic of two years ago
was probably in minimized form in
Guenced by one of these psychological
crazes.
The truly poisonous insects, that Is,
insects which possess poison glands
and secrete poison with their bites or
stings, belong in the main to two
classes. Either they sting for protec-
ton, as with the bees, certain ants
and certain wasps, or they use the
poison to assist in the capture of their
prey, as with the digger wasps, GER
tain predaceous bugs and all spiders.
The mosquito belongs to q third
class, and the purpose of the poison
which 1t injects is not fully under
stood. 1t may render the blood of It's
victim more dlgestible and less liable
to coagulation. or it may have some
other unexplained use
Insect poisons, as a rule, were I'M
doubtedly developed for use against
other insects. Therefore, they are
small In quantity and, generally speak
Ing, are serious in their effects only
upon other insects. The exact nature
of the poison is not we'll understood.
In some instances 1t IS combination
OF an alkali and an acid which become
effective only when they are COM
bined. In ants. wasps and bees 1t con
sists OF formic acid and n whitish,
fatty, bitter residue in the secretion
of the glands. The corroding formic
acid Is the essential part of the poison.
Cases are on record of the death of
human beings rs result of the injec-
ton Of poison with the stings OF bees
and wasps, as well as with the bites
of spiders.
The stings Of bees and wasps have
very different effects on different peo-
pie. and without doubt persons who
habitually handle bees become i'm
mupc to their poisons. That this i'm
munity Is produced by innoculation
cannot be doubted, but there must be
an almost continuous reinoculation.
Herbert II. Smith. who is n profcs-
sional collector of insects. catches bees
and wasps in his net and removes
them with his thumb and fOrefinge~.
In his case. the forefnger is stung so
often that 1t has become thoroughly
inoculated. and stings upon this finger
produce no effect, but If he is stung
on the back of the neck or in some
other part OF the body the sensation
is as painful as it Is with another per-
son.
Authentic cases OF dean from soi-
der bites are rare. although cases re-
ported In the newspapers are of al
most weekly occurrence. l have in.
vestigated more than a hundred such
reports In the United States I'm the
past ten years. In many cases the re-
ported facts were entirely erroneous;
In the majority Of cases no spider was
been TO inhict the bite; there were al
most no eases in which the spider was
seen to bite and was saved for exam
inatlon.
1 have been unable TO authcr tcate
u single instance Of death from the
bite of the large spiders known as tar
antulas, although c.rcumstandaliy re-
ported cases a.e frcQucLt in Tie news
papers.
Thcre IS q little FrcU3 OF catcrp,l-
lars armed with sharp hairs which
viii pierce the skin and produce some.
time an intense irritation much like
that which Is produced by the nettle
The cOmmOnest of these caterplllars
are the so.Called saddlc-back caterpil-
lars and the catcrpillGrs of the To or
corn emperor moth The irritation
produced by these creatures Is some
times MS severe as the sevcrcst cases
q poisoning from ncttlcs
The caterpillar OF the so-called
brown-tailed moth q recent importa-
ton from Europe which exists ln
numbers about Boston. has this pecu
liar quality, and the laborcrs engaged