centipede "sting"

[Duncan Sivell]

I've had an e-mail from someone who has been bitten by Lithobius forficatus on a couple of occasions and they comapred the effect to a bee sting.  This made me wonder - is there advice on how to treat a centipede sting; would either bicarbonate of soda or vinegar neutralise the venom?  Can you compare a centipede bite to either a bee or wasp sting?

[A BARBER]

I have been bitten by a Cryptops anomalans - it was a bit like a nettle sting; Steve Hopkin told me about being bitten by a centipede in the field whilst explaining to students that they could not penetrate the skin - when I asked which species he explained in a slightly colourful manner that he did not know because he immediately threw it down.  There is one report in the literature of someone going into anaphylactic shock when bitten by L.forficatus (France) - I think we put a note in the Bulletin but can't find it rapidly. A "Google" search will yield data about centipede "bites" but these almost always refer to the big 'uns in the States or elsewhere. John Lewis (in his Biology of Centipedes) devotes a chapter (p156-166) to the poison glands & says that in S.viridicornis the venom contained 5-HT (serotonin) a pain producer - inflammatory effect.  If this is the case then, unlike bees & wasps, alkali or acid may not have much effect. TB --- On Mon, 7/3/11, Duncan Sivell <dsi...@googlemail.com> wrote:

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[Ken Hill]

I too have been bitten by L. forficatus, I was amazed that the beastie was able to penetrate the skin, although it was the soft part between the first and second fingers, I dropped it after a second or two, it caused a slight inflammation and the pain had gone overnight, the “pain” was only like a needle prick, but if someone was susceptible, then it could be worse than I experienced. Certainly the wasp sting I had searching my father’s pear tree, was much more painful, and the wasp sting I had from a hibernating queen was very much more painful, but again the pain had gone overnight, leaving just a pin prick feeling.

 

Ken Hill  

 

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