Caterpillars

Urticating lepidopterism is a severe skin irritation and inflammation caused by the stinging hairs found on some caterpillars. These caterpillars are known as urticating (irritating).

The order Lepidoptera includes caterpillars, butterflies, skippers, and moths. It is the second largest insect order and comprises of around 130 families and 160,000 species.

Related Venomous creatures

• Arthropods, Australian

Books

• Schön, J., Beitrage zur Praktische Augenheilkunde, Deutschmanns, Hamburg, 1861, 183 pp. [ Details... ]

Book Sections

• Spencer, W. B. and Gillen, F. J., in Across Australia, 1912, pp. 70-71. [ Details... ]

Conference Papers

• Cleland, J. B., 'Insects and Their Relationship to Injury and Disease in Man in Australia - No. 2', in Australian Medical Congress, Transactions of Eleventh Session, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1921, pp. 258-265. [ Details... ]

Journal Articles

• Bänziger, H. and Büttiker, W., 'Records of Eye-Frequenting Lepidoptera from Man', Journal of Medical Entomology, vol. 6, 1969, pp. 53-58. [ Details... ]
• Bishop, J. W. and Morton, M. R., 'Caterpillar-Hair Kerato-Conjunctivitis', American Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 64, 1966, p. 778. [ Details... ]
• Bishop, J. W. and Morton, M. R., 'Caterpillar-Hair Kerato-Conjunctivitis', The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 2, 1968, pp. 995-997. [ Details... ]
• Campbell, K. G., 'The Biology of Roeselia lugens (Walk.), the Gum-Leaf Skeletonizer Moth, With Particular Reference to the Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Dehn.) (River Red Gum) Forests of the Murray Valley Region', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales., vol. 87, no. 3, 1963, pp. 316-338. [ Details... ]
• Cheverton, R. L., 'Irritation Caused by Contact with the Processionary Caterpillar (larva of Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams) and Its Nest', Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, vol. 29, 1936, p. 555. [ Details... ]
• Cleland, J. B., 'Papulo-Urticarial Rashes Caused by the Hairlets of Caterpillars of the Moth (Euproctis edwardsi Newm.)', The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 1, 1920, p. 169. [ Details... ]
• Cleland, J. B., 'Insects in Their Relationship to Injury and Disease in Man in Australia. Series IV', The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 1, 1944, pp. 7-10. [ Details... ]
• Common, I. F. B., 'A Study of the Ecology of the Adult Bogong Moth, Agrotis infusa (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), with Special Reference to Its Behaviour During Migration and Aestivation', Australian Journal of Zoology, vol. 2, no. 2, 1954, pp. 223-263. [ Details... ]
• Flecker, H. and McSweeney, A., 'Irritation Produced by the Processionary caterpillar (Ochrogaster contraria)', The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 2, 1944, p. 137. [ Details... ]
• Foot, N. C., 'Pathology of the Dermatitis Caused by Megalopyge opercularis, a Texan Caterpillar', Journal of Experimental Medicine, vol. 35, 1922, p. 737. [ Details... ]
• Froggatt, W. W., 'Bag Shelter Moths of the Family Liparidae that are Reputed to Kill Stock', Agr. Gaz. N. S. W., vol. 22, 1911, p. 443. [ Details... ]
• Gilmer, P. M., 'A Comprehensive Study of the Poison Apparatus of Certain Lepidopterous Larvae', Annals of the Entomological Society of America, vol. 18, 1925, pp. 203-239. [ Details... ]
• Goethe, H., Brett, R. and Weidner, H., ''Butterfly Itch', eine Schmetterlingsdermatose and Bord enies Tankes', Zeitschrift fur Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie, vol. 18, 1967, pp. 5-16. [ Details... ]
• Goldman, L., Sawyer, F., Levine, A., Goldman, J., Goldman, S. and Spinanger, J., 'Investigative Studies of Skin Irritations from Caterpillars', The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, vol. 34, 1960, pp. 67-79. [ Details... ]
• Hellier, F. F. and Warin, R. P., 'Caterpillar Dermatitis', British Medical Journal, vol. 2, 1967, pp. 346-348. [ Details... ]
• Marsh, N. A. and Arocha-Pinango, C. L., 'Observations on a Saturniid Moth Caterpillar Causing Severe Bleeding in Man', Proc. Roy. Ent. Soc. Lond. Journal of Meetings, vol. 36, 1971-2, pp. 9-10. [ Details... ]
• McDonald, S. F., 'Irritation Produced by the Procession Caterpillar', Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 2, 1944, p. 262. [ Details... ]
• Musgrave, A., 'Some Caterpillars Injurious to Man', Aust. Mus. Mag., vol. 2, 1924, p. 35. [ Details... ]
• Musgrave, A., 'Harmful Moth Caterpillars', Aust. Mus. Mag., vol. 7, 1942, pp. 391-396. [ Details... ]
• Palmer, E. G. W., 'Title not recorded (In Notes and Exhiits)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, vol. 10, 1885, p. 248. [ Details... ]
• Parsons, J. A., 'A Digitalis-Like Toxin in the Monarch Butterfly, Danaus plexipuss L.', The Journal of Physiology, vol. 178, 1965, pp. 290-304. [ Details... ]
• Randolph, H., 'Allergic Response to Insect Dust', Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 103, 1934, p. 560. [ Details... ]
• Viallernot, H., 'Keratite par Poils de Chenille', Arch. Soc. Sc. Med. Biol. de Montepellier, vol. 17, 1935, p. 96. [ Details... ]
• Villard, H. and Dejean, Ch., 'Deux Observations d'Opthalmies par Poils de Chenille des Pins', Arch. Soc. Sc. Med. Biol. de Montepellier, vol. 15, 1933, p. 75. [ Details... ]
• Watson, P. G. and Sevel, D., 'Opthalmis Nodosa', Britsh Journal of Opthalmology, vol. 50, 1966, pp. 209-217. [ Details... ]
• Ziprokowski, L., Hofstii, E. and Tahori, A. S., 'Caterpillar Dermititis', Israel Medical Journal, vol. 18, 1959, pp. 26-31. [ Details... ]

Pamphlets

• New South Wales Department of Agriculture, 'The Bag-Shelter Moth Ochrogaster contraria', Insect Pest Pamphlet, No 93, Entomolgy Branch, 1965. [ Details... ]

Reports

• Büttiker, W., Do Eye-Frequenting Lepidoptera Occasionally Trouble Man?, EBL, vol. 29.64, World Health Orgaisation, 1964. [ Details... ]