one of the hazards of Hawaii

[Sasquatch Jim]

 04:00AM,  Woke up with a stinging sensation in my upper leg.  It quickly turned to fire at a spot about 4   inches below my crotch on the inside of my thigh.
 I turned on the light but did not see the perpetrator which means the bastard is still in the room some where.
 As the pain worsened I recognized the two puncture marks that are the signature of a centipede sting.  I soaked it with a rag wet with vinegar and then dabbed on some orajel.  No more sleep this night.
 This is the second time in two years I have been stung in my own house by these monsters.  I killed the first one but couldn't find this one.
 The sting caused a half dollar sized swelling with a black spot the size of a pencil eraser with the two puncture marks looking like fang bite of a small snake.  Damn those things hurt.

[lucydad]

Jim of the far flung island,

Had the same critters in North Africa.  Just plain nasty.  Worse were the little dark brown/black scorpions.  Worse than that were the cobras, but they mainly hung out in the cities and oasis areas. 

Go see a doctor and perhaps anti-histamines?

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Nothing for it but what I have done and wait for it to heal.

[Rotten Ralph]

You could always move to Fairbanks.

[Tom]

Y'ep, they're all over the islands.  We get them here too.  They have nice blue/orange colors......"don't stare at the light".    BTDT with the stings. Small ones only.

[charlie b]

They are all over, just about everywhere it gets hot.  Tons out here in the deser.

Now for Cam, who will tell us about all the different varieties.  And along those lines, are all insects sensitive to hot temps, ie, above 150F?  Do they die at that temp or just go into a coma like state?

[Tom]

We get the beeg ones out here.  Longer than 6".

[charlie b]

Yep, one on the porch the other day was about 8".  Most of the time they are 4"-6".

[Chuck in Indiana]

Well, at least you're not in Australia..

[Sasquatch Jim]

  But in Fairbanks even the frost will bite you.

[balvenie]

Well, at least you're not in Australia..

You're safe from those nasty things here Jim, just keep away from the dirty water in the Top End

[Lannis]

We're going to hear about this next time we hear about the wonderful riding weather and the tropical life of luxury on the islands.

Trust me!   

Lannis

[Rich A]

I ate some fried scorpions on a trip to China. Not bad. Best use for them. I think that you can find them with a UV light.

Rich A

[normzone]

The predator in me wants to know what kind of traps they like.

There's probably not a good answer to that question, or we wouldn't be reading this.

[rboe]

They give me the heebie jeebies. Saw one at the Honolulu airport on the walkway we had to go down to get to our plane. Damn thing needed a leash it was so big. Over a foot long and fast. Could have feed a family of four.

[donn]

They're predators, so you'd have to find some likely victim to stake out in your trap.  I would think something like a crab trap, where the entrance is fairly natural but not the exit.

[not-fishing]

Good Lord!

Why'd you guys have to post this?  Now I'll have nightmares.

why'd it have to be centapedes?  The one thing that could give me nightmares.

Mark

[Sasquatch Jim]

They give me the heebie jeebies. Saw one at the Honolulu airport on the walkway we had to go down to get to our plane. Damn thing needed a leash it was so big. Over a foot long and fast. Could have feed a family of four.

 Could feed on a family of four.  Fixed it for ya.

[travelingbyguzzi]

 Jim, we had our Deep Forest campout this weekend. As you recall, no snakes, no ticks, chiggers, scorpions or centipedes. We did have about 3 mosquitoes Friday evening and rain, sweet rain. You were discussed fondly.

Bill

[Sasquatch Jim]

 I am so sorry I couldn't attend.  Deep Forest is my favorite.
 As I remember those grounds they are not so good for a wheelchair so I will just have to read your reports on it.  I still ride the 750 Honda with sidecar but never for more than about 40 miles max.
  Trust me, getting old ain't all it's cracked up to be.

[DaSwami]

04:00AM,  Woke up with a stinging sensation in my upper leg.  It quickly turned to fire at a spot about 4   inches below my crotch on the inside of my thigh.

Look on the bright side.  At least he didn't getcha 4 inches higher.....

[RANDM]

Well, at least you're not in Australia..

Ummmm - Big, Blue/Orange and fast? I think we gottem
to too Chuck or something close. Had one in the house
Years back - badass looking thing ......... It was too fast
for me.

Maurie.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Okay, here,  http://hubpages.com/travel/Big-Centipedes-in-Hawaii-Paradise-Anyone

  This guy is braver than me, or the centipede is dead.

 

[Tom]

Kind of takes the edge off of fearing them when you put it in the food category.  Sharkfin soup gave me a different perspective as a kid towards sharks.

[coastdude]

When living in central Australia (Yulara) we had a plague of centipedes following heavy rain. There were so many that they blocked up the drains in the resort lift wells causing them to flood, the road beneath a street light got slippery with their dead bodies and airport staff were piggy backing female passengers from aircraft to the terminals. Despite there being millions of them I only heard of one person being stung (on the face while sleeping). That's not my arm in the profile picture, I would only pick them up with my secateurs.

[Lannis]

I can say with certainty that the presence of such creatures in any area would be an absolute determinant in whether I would live there or not, no matter what the other benefits, nice climate, chance of a job, scenery, etc. might be!   

Just a thing for me.   Apparently doesn't bother others!

Lannis

[Rich A]

We have these in addition to rattlesnakes:



(Very few mosquitos or ticks though)

Rich A

[O]

I can say with certainty that the presence of such creatures in any area would be an absolute determinant in whether I would live there or not, no matter what the other benefits, nice climate, chance of a job, scenery, etc. might be!   

Just a thing for me.   Apparently doesn't bother others!

Lannis

Agreed.  I have no issue with spiders or snakes, and do my best to save them whenever they're in the house or the yard, but for some reason, even the relatively small centipedes we have in the northeast skeeve me out like no other creature, and I dispatch them with extreme prejudice.  If I had to deal with the jungle-sized variety, I'd rethink my location.

[sib]

They are all over, just about everywhere it gets hot.  Tons out here in the deser.

Now for Cam, who will tell us about all the different varieties.  And along those lines, are all insects sensitive to hot temps, ie, above 150F?  Do they die at that temp or just go into a coma like state?

Well, just to be pedantic, I'll point out that scorpions are arachnids, not insects.  To verify this assertion, the next time one is stinging you, count the number of legs.

As for high temperature tolerance, one species of Saharan desert ant (an insect) remains active even above 50C (122F) and can live to 55C (131F).  Don't know about >150F, though.  Also don't know how they taste.

[JJ]

Here is one of the hazards of living in "Red Rock country" (northern Arizona) - the dreaded Bark Scorpion!

My wife was stung on her left hand while sleeping in bed the very first week we moved in back in April!! 

Not good...she was in intense pain, (neurotoxin venom...), up and down her arm for 8 hours and almost had to go to the hospital! She said it felt like someone had hit her arm with a baseball bat!  Nasty little things!

Since then, we have killed 4 in the house.  Must be vigilant, shaking out blankets and shoes all the time now!