Pairing patient photographs of arthropods with expert identification to uncover causes of bites and stings

 

Pairing patient photographs of arthropods with expert identification to uncover causes of bites and stings

Abstract

BugGuide.net is a website where arthropod photographs submitted by the public are identified by professional and amateur entomologists. In April 2023 posts containing “bitten” or “stung” were reviewed. Of 39 verified bites, 10 were blood-feeding insects. Others included 9 Heteroptera, 6 spiders, 6 lacewings. 110 posts of stings included 44 social Hymenoptera, 33 solitary Hymenoptera, 5 Heteroptera, 20 caterpillars, and 4 scorpions. Injury from lacewing larvae, true bugs, solitary Hymenoptera, and caterpillars was unexpectedly common.

Sowmya Ravi, Katarina Stephanos, John C. Carlson, Pairing patient photographs of arthropods with expert identification to uncover causes of bites and stings, Toxicon, Volume 236, 2023, 107332, ISSN 0041-0101, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107332.

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041010123003185)