What to Do If a Stinging Caterpillar Stings Your Hand? Seven Tips to Relieve the Pain
At the mention of the stinging caterpillar, many people, like this editor, are surely terrified. You should know that this kind of caterpillar was a childhood nightmare, found everywhere, and dropping onto your body would make it extremely itchy. So what should you do if a stinging caterpillar stings your hand? How do you deal with it?
1. Introduction to the stinging caterpillar:
1. What does the stinging caterpillar eat?
The stinging caterpillar eats the leaves, tender branches and tender shoots of many garden plants such as Chinese parasol tree, plane tree, hawthorn, Chinese ash, black locust, poplar, willow, mulberry, elm, redbud, apple, apricot, peach, crabapple, pear, jujube and persimmon. In severe cases it eats all the leaves bare, affecting the growth and development of the trees.
2. What are the natural enemies of the stinging caterpillar?
The main natural enemies of the stinging caterpillar are the purple ichneumon wasp of the slug moth, the Java slug moth ichneumon wasp, the slug moth broad-shouldered chalcid wasp, the Shanghai green wasp and the robust slug moth tachinid fly, among which the Shanghai green wasp is the most famous. Some species in the genus Cuculus of the family Cuculidae among birds also eat the larvae of the yellow slug moth.
2. What should you do if a stinging caterpillar stings your hand?
After a stinging caterpillar stings your hand, do not scratch it, to avoid breaking the skin by scratching and causing bacterial infection, and the more you scratch the itchier it gets. Specifically, the following methods can be used to relieve the itching.
Method 1: Remove the fine hairs with adhesive tape
After a stinging caterpillar stings your hand, some tiny hairs invisible to the naked eye will remain on the hand. These hairs are not easy to pull off, so you can use plastic tape from home or something similar to lift them out, then wash with soap and it will be fine.
Method 2: Apply saliva
If you are stung by a stinging caterpillar in the wild and there are no detoxifying plants around, you can first apply some saliva to the wound, which can relieve the pain.
Method 3: Apply and rinse with soap
If you are away from home and have nothing like adhesive tape, you can wash your hands with soap or other alkaline substances, which can wash off the venom and relieve the skin pain. Or else rub it hard on your hair a few times, which can also relieve it, but the hairs are still on the hand and it will still itch when touched.
Method 4: Apply toothpaste to the wound
Toothpaste, like soap, is alkaline. If there is no soap at home, you can also apply toothpaste to the wound, which can also relieve the pain.
Method 5: Wash with purslane juice
Purslane has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying. If you are stung by a stinging caterpillar while out and about, you can pick some purslane on the spot, then mash the leaves and apply them to the wound, which can have an itch-relieving effect.
Method 6: Use the stinging caterpillar's intestinal thread to relieve the itch
If after being stung by a stinging caterpillar you have neither toothpaste, soap nor purslane, you can use the stinging caterpillar's intestinal thread to relieve the itch. The specific method is to flatten the stinging caterpillar with a stone, squeeze open its belly, find the green thread inside and apply it to the wound to neutralize the venom. Never use the black thread, as the black thread contains venom.
Method 7: Take the Chinese patent medicine Houzheng Wan
If after being stung by a stinging caterpillar you feel unwell, you can crush Houzheng Wan, mix it with water and apply it to the wound. If there are systemic symptoms such as fever and swollen, painful joints, you should go to the hospital for treatment.
In general, after a stinging caterpillar stings your hand, you can apply saliva, rinse with soap or toothpaste, or apply purslane or the stinging caterpillar's intestinal thread to the wound, all of which can relieve the pain.