What should you do if you get stung by a stinging caterpillar, and can you eat it?

The scientific name of the stinging caterpillar is the slug moth caterpillar, commonly known as the itch caterpillar. It likes cool, shady places and has an instinctive aversion to strong light, heat and water. It is usually gregarious, and its larvae like to gather on plants such as apple, pear, apricot, peach and cherry trees. So what should you do if you get stung by a stinging caterpillar? Can you eat it?

What is a stinging caterpillar

The brown-edged green slug moth caterpillar, commonly known as the stinging caterpillar, is an insect of the class Insecta, subclass Pterygota, order Lepidoptera, family Limacodidae. It is distributed in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Anhui, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places.

Limacodidae is 1 family under the order Lepidoptera. The adults are stout-bodied and medium-sized, with the body and forewings densely covered in fine hairs and thick scales, mostly yellow-brown, dark gray and green, interspersed with red, and a few with a pure white ground color and markings. They are active at night and are phototactic. The mouthparts are reduced, and the labial palps are short and small, though a few are longer. The antennae of male slug moth adults are generally bipectinate, and the wings are relatively short and broad.

The larvae are flat-bodied and slug-shaped, bearing branched spines and venomous hairs; touching the skin immediately causes redness and swelling with exceptional pain, commonly known as “itch caterpillar”, “fire caterpillar” or “stinging worm”, which is also where the name slug moth comes from.

Most slug moth larvae feed on the leaves of broad-leaved trees, while a few damage bamboo stems and rice; they are pests of forests, gardens, street trees, orchards and many economic plants (such as coffee, tea and mulberry).

Common slug moth pests include the oriental moth, the flat slug moth, the brown-edged green slug moth and the clearly veined globular slug moth, among others.

What are the treatment methods after a stinging caterpillar sting

What we usually call being stung is because most larvae of the family Limacodidae are brightly colored and have venomous hairs on the body surface, in the form of fine hairs or spines. After the venomous hairs pierce human skin, they often break off immediately and release toxins. After the sting, the skin develops a stinging, burning sensation, and after a period of time the pain and itching at the affected area worsen, the skin surface turns red, and it may even ulcerate. In severe cases it can also cause systemic reactions such as urticaria and arthritis.

1. After the sting, use adhesive tape to stick to the injured area; this can remove the fine hairs that have pierced the skin, and it is the most direct method.

2. Because the venom is acidic, you can apply a dilution of edible alkali or baking soda, or use essential balm. If conditions are limited, you can also apply soapy water, which helps treat the rash, blisters or pain caused by the venom.

3. After being stung, you can use a stick to split open its body, and you will find one green (or blue-green) and one black vessel. Take out the green (or blue-green) one, crush it, and apply it to the stung area.

4. After being stung, you can apply some toothpaste to the affected area. After applying the toothpaste, the affected area will feel cool, and after about 5 minutes the pain will be reduced. Once the toothpaste quickly solidifies, after about half an hour to an hour, peel off the solidified toothpaste and the venomous spines can be brought out.

Reminder: if after being stung there is severe itching and pain, or systemic symptoms such as fever and swollen, painful joints, you need to go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible.

The stinging caterpillar becomes a bold-flavor delicacy

The larvae of the stinging caterpillar are rich in high protein and are called stinging caterpillar pods. The most common preparation is salt-blasting them in the shell, and the taste is in no way inferior to eating crab roe and crab paste.

Some people take down the stinging caterpillars that make cocoons and hang on trees in winter, open the cocoons, take out the larvae inside and put them in a pan, without oil, and dry-fry over low heat; once the skin cracks they are ready to eat.

Another way to eat them is to roast the stinging caterpillar pods over fire; the shell will burst open, revealing the delicious meat inside. This needs to be eaten while hot, otherwise the deliciousness will be greatly reduced. At rural markets some people buy these eggs; roasting them over fire makes the shell burst open, revealing the delicious meat.

Now some restaurants also sell stir-fried stinging caterpillar eggs, dry-fried with chili peppers, and many people are still willing to eat them.

Because it is now rare to find stinging caterpillars that have not yet hatched, this wild delicacy is even harder to come by, and the price has risen accordingly; on some websites a jin sells for 200 yuan, not inferior to other precious ingredients.

Control methods for the stinging caterpillar

1. Manual control: hand-pick and kill the larvae during the period when they gather in groups to do damage.

2. Black light control: use black lights to trap and kill adults.

3. Biological control: in autumn and winter pick the cocoons and put them in gauze cages to protect and release parasitic wasps; use 0.5~1kg of Beauveria bassiana powder containing 10 billion spores per gram to control 1st~2nd instar larvae under rainy and humid conditions; purple ichneumon wasps and parasitic flies.

4. Chemical control: during the occurrence period of the larvae, promptly spray 90% crystalline trichlorfon or 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate, 50% malathion emulsifiable concentrate, 25% phosmet emulsifiable concentrate, 50% fenitrothion emulsifiable concentrate, 30% acephate emulsifiable concentrate, 90% cartap wettable powder and other 900~1000 times dilutions. In addition, you can also choose 50% phoxim emulsifiable concentrate at 1400 times dilution, or 10% bifenthrin emulsifiable concentrate at 5000 times dilution, 2.5% rotenone at 300~400 times dilution, or 52.25% chlorpyrifos-chlorfenapyr emulsifiable concentrate at 1500~2000 times dilution.

The above is an introduction to the stinging caterpillar. If you are accidentally stung, be sure to treat it promptly.