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+--- Thread: Mysterious Bug bites...... (/showthread.php?tid=1244)
Mysterious Bug bites...... - noelm - 07-27-2007
aloha punatics.
Silly me...I spent the day pulling off some ferns, moss off the lava rocks and long blade grass in the wild jungle areas from my property and got the usual mosquito bites but for some reason i have some mysterious bug bites that unlike the afteraffects of a swollen mosquito bite these bites are a series in a line/row of mosquito type bites but in a line, I have at least five line/row bites and one over two inches long but with the average about 1/2 long.
Not brave enough to wait the long lines at the clinics I decided to try some topical hydrocortisone and neoprenes but to no avail....i think i may in turn go to the hospital unless some of you may have come across other mysterious bites that have similar effects? The only other thing i could think of were spider bites?
Thanks for any input, before i brave a call to my doctor.
Noel
noel morata
RE: Mysterious Bug bites...... - Mitzi M - 07-27-2007
Noel,
I went on a super-jungle-hike this week and thought I just had mosquito bites my legs but they didn't go away. Turns out I went through a bunch of thimbleberry (and also some cane grass) which left some irritating thorns and scratches. Not that you wouldn't know the difference...but it itched and was irritating just the way a bug bite is - so it took me a while to figure it out. One other thought...the stinging nettle caterpillar loves to eat monocots like grasses and honohono and there are more of them in the summer. Maybe you came in contact with one of those awful buggahs when you were weeding - check out this link.
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/haraa/documents/nettllequadfold1.pdf
Hope you feel better!
Mitzi
Uluhe Design
Native Landscape Design
uluhedesign@yahoo.com
RE: Mysterious Bug bites...... - emorata - 07-27-2007
hi mitzi,
thanks for the heads up on the awful buggas....those were the caterpillars - i've heard that they were rampant in puna, but wasnt thinking about it when i was weeding the grass and weed plants....hopefully the pain will subside soon-i've already tried the hydrocortisone, neoprene, advil...you name it.
best,
noel
RE: Mysterious Bug bites...... - JerryCarr - 07-27-2007
Noel,
Those stinging caterpillars are the bane of my garden existence, and they are particularly bad right now. One thing I have found helpful, other than the obvious need to avoid them, is to keep some baking soda handy. If you rinse off the sting with running water and then apply a paste of baking soda and water, the inflammation tends to be less severe in my experience. I think the soda neutralizes the acid component of the sting and/or draws the toxin out of the skin. Once the paste dries, gently brush it off and rinse again. This only works if you do it within a minute or two of the sting. If I don't do this, I end up with blisters the next day.
Hope this helps,
Jerry
RE: Mysterious Bug bites...... - rbonplaza - 07-27-2007
Sounds like keeping some OTC Benadryl around would also be a good idea. And don't forget ice....
RE: Mysterious Bug bites...... - emorata - 07-27-2007
thanks for the baking soda suggestion jerry...unfortunately i'm already in the blistering stage and it looks scary - like i was doing alot of drugs and creating alot of tracks on my arms...yeesh....didn't think gardening would be this treacherous.
RE: Mysterious Bug bites...... - Les C - 07-27-2007
I don't know if this catepillar has the same kind of venom, but for Portuguese Man-o-War (and other) stings, a paste made from meat tenderizer will neutralize the venom. The active ingredient is papain (a papaya enzyme).
RE: Mysterious Bug bites...... - Scott_S - 07-28-2007
One of the best remedies for bee stings and other venom type stings is a vinegar, meat tenderizer, and baking soda paste. It takes a few minutes to kick in but will provide relief for along time. I also read toothpaste works well also.
Scott
RE: Mysterious Bug bites...... - punafish - 07-28-2007
Thanks to everyone for sharing your knowledge. Really good stuff to know if you spend any time in the Puna jungles (=my garden). Haven't had any bad experiences yet, but now I'm more prepared if/when it happens. Thank you Noel for posting this.
Aloha,
Tim
RE: Mysterious Bug bites...... - Carey - 07-28-2007
I think I finaly figured out a strange bite I had months ago!
I remember as a teen, there was a lot of magazine stuff about useing mushed papaya for skin (never tried it 'cause papaya in Chicago in the early '70s was a very exotic find!). Would using papaya mush on the bite help? Only reason I ask, we usually have ripe papayas in the garden, it would be quick & easy way to treat a bite for us.