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NON-INSECT
ARTHROPODS AT THE RANCH
SCORPIONS
Dr.
Bush and Charles Gerardo, MD (Assistant
Professor, Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine,
Duke University Medical Center) reports that in 1999, 13,642
scorpion envenomations in the US were reported to the American
Association of Poison Control Centers.
Mastigoproctus
giganteus - Vinegaroon
SPIDERS
Brown
Recluse Spider - Dr.
Thomas Arnold, MD (Medical Director, Louisiana Poison
Control Center, Associate Professor, Department of Emergency
Medicine, Section of Clinical Toxicology, Louisiana State
University Health Sciences Center) states that brown recluse
spider (Loxosceles reclusus)
bites can cause significant cutaneous injury with tissue loss
and necrosis. Less frequently, more severe reactions develop,
including systemic hemolysis, coagulopathy, renal failure, and,
rarely, death.
CENTIPEDES
Robert
Norris, MD (Chief, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery,
Division of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center) that the
only reported fatality occurred when a 7-year-old Filipino girl was bitten
on the head by a centipede of the large species Scolopendra
subspinipes, which may reach 23 cm in length. Most species are
smaller and relatively innocuous.
Approximately 3000
species of centipedes are found in the class Chilopoda, phylum Arthropoda.
They are among the less well-studied arthropods. Centipedes are elongated
multisegmented arthropods with a single pair of legs on each body
segment. They are distributed widely, especially in warm, temperate,
and tropical regions. Centipedes spend much of their time
underground or in rock piles and usually come out at night to actively
hunt their prey. They are capable of very fast movement when
exposed. The most dangerous species belong to the genus Scolopendra,
with the largest members (Scolopendra gigantea) reaching lengths of 26 cm.
Giant
Desert Centipede - Scolopendra heros
If your
physician is not aware of the particular treatment for the
poison, contact the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information
Center at 1-800-432-6866.
A
good reference work for the poisonous animals of the desert is Hare,
Trevor, 1995, Poisonous Dwellers of the Desert. Southwest
Parks and Monuments Association, Tuscon, Arizona.
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