REPRINTED FROM THE "MEDICAL INDEX." 
Electric Light Bug 
OR 
Belostoma. 
THEODORE WILLIAM SCHAEFER, M. D., 
KANSAS CITY, MO. 
PEARL PTG. CO., 17 A 19 E. SIXTH, K C.. MO. THE POISONOUS STING OF THE "ELECTRIC LIGHT BUG" 
OR BELOSTOMA, AS IT IS CALLED BY 
ENTOMOLOGISTS. 
THEODORE WILLIAM SCHAEFER, M.D. , OF KANSAS CITY, MO. 
Professor of Dermatology in the Woman's Medical College, Kansas City, Mo., late Assistant 
Superintendent of the Milwaukee County Hospital, Milwaukee. Wis. 
Since the medical profession has been paying so much attention 
to the study of ' 'bugs' ' for the last ten years or more by means of 
the microscope, I thought that it were not out of place to give some 
of my personal observations and the results of my study of one be- 
longing to the larger family of ''bugs''-without the aid of the 
microscope-which, I hope, wrnuld prove entertaining as well as 
instructive. Of course this communica- 
tion is out of the common rut and con- 
ventional style of medical journal articles 
and is entirely devoid of the dominant, 
popularized surgical jargon of the day. 
There is quite a lull in the medical litera- 
ture of the day in regard to the ' 'big 
bugs''-the stinging and biting Ilexa- 
poda -most of them 
being pedantically enumerated in the 
books, the list being considered as closed, 
as no new additions have been made for 
some years. I do not remember of ever 
having seen a description of the belos- 
toma or an account of its sting in any of 
the medical books and journals. During 
the warm, sultry nights of the months of July, August and Septem- ber the electric lights on the streets attract swarms of insects. 
Among the multitude of squirming, fluttering insects there is often a 
very large-sized bug, in fact, larger than any one belonging to the 
insect convention, making a grand whirl around the bright globe of 
light, casting its large, dark shadow in every direction. The large 
bug adverted to is either the so-called ' 'electric light bug, ' ' Ameri- 
can belostoma, Belostoma americana, or Belostoma griseus. as it is 
called by The American belostoma, as well as its 
partner, the Belostoma griseus, are quite common in this part of the 
country (Western Missouri) during the summer. The Belostoma 
griseus looks exactly like the American belostoma, but differs from 
it, in not having a groove on the front joint nearest to the body. 
It is somewhat larger and darker than the former. The Ameri- 
can belostoma, I find, is about 5 centimeters long, whilst the Belos- 
toma griseus measures nearly 6 centimeters in length. The American 
belostoma is brownish-black in color (erroneously described as black 
in the books) and belongs to the group of insects called Heteroptera 
by entomologists. 
American works on entomology give but a very meager account 
of the bug. Prof. Clarence M. Weed is the best authoritative writer 
on the belostoma and its species in this country. The belostoma has 
two pairs of wings and is armed with two large front legs, well 
adapted for catching and holding its prey. A strong, sharp claw is 
attached to each front leg. The four other legs are thick and flat 
and are used as paddles for swimming purposes. Along the sides of 
the four legs are fringes and each limb ends in two sharp claws. 
The belostoma is an aquatic bug and of course lives also in Kansas! 
In the good, olden times the belostoma spent its leisure time in ponds 
and pools, where it led a predatory life, but the nineteenth century 
electric light has somewhat reformed its mode of living and now 
takes nightly trips to the cities and often ' 'stays there, ' ' as they 
have the vernacular, being frequently killed by pedestrians who 
walk unconcernedly over it. 
Some four years ago I happened to pick up carelessly, on one 
of my nightly entomological expeditions, a belostoma that was 
struggling on the ground. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain shoot up 
my left arm, starting from my middle finger and was obliged to drop 
the bug at once and had to nurse my finger. On looking at the 
painful finger under the rays of the electric light I noticed an 
erythematous coloring at the point where the finger was stung. In 
the centre was a minute dot, marking the point of entrance of the 
sting. I immediately sucked out the minute wound, thereby re- 
moving a part of the venom. The stinging pain was much relieved 
by the application of a solution of sodium biborate. The finger smarted for a few days. A papule marked the point of ingress of 
the sting, which dried and scaled off in ten days. 
Later on I carefully caught another belostoma and examined it 
more closely. I found that it possessed a piercing dagger-like beak 
which was provided with poison glands, operating on the principle of 
a hypodermatic syringe. I propose at some future time to make a 
micro-chemical analysis of the poison and give a description of the 
anatomy of the poison glands and beak. The belostoma is a carniv- 
orous bug, living from insects and tiny aquatic animals. It seizes 
its victims by means of its strong, rough forelegs and then stabs its 
beak deeply into them, permitting the poison to enter the prey, 
which at once paralyses the unfortunate captive, and adds the finish- 
ing touches to it by sucking out its blood or juice. 
When I was at the World's Fair in 1893, I visited all the ento- 
mological exhibitions of the different countries. The Japanese ento- 
mological exhibit had some very large specimens which were four or 
more inches long. They were of a yellowish-brown color. The 
Brazilian exhibit had also some very large specimens. The large 
species is called Belostoma grande, or, as its name indicates, the 
great belostoma. No doubt its sting occasions considerable pain and 
swelling. Before closing I would like to relate my experience with 
the common undulating back-swimmer {Notonecta undulata.) I 
was bathing in the River Blue and noticed some back-swimmers 
swiftly gliding over the surface of the water. They are quite difficult 
to catch. I succeeded, however, in catching one, but it gave me a 
sting in the wrist, the mark of which remained red for a few hours. 
I at once sucked out the poison, which operation gave me prompt 
relief. Stings of insects are painful and inconveniencing. Occa- 
sionally they give rise to serious if not fatal consequences. In these 
days of inoculation and immunization against infectious diseases the 
thought very naturally arises whether the toxicological effects of 
stings and bites of poisonons hexapoda and arachnoidesLConld not be 
neutralized or rather antagonized by the attenuated poison obtained 
from their venom? 
Dr. A. Calmette, of Paris, France, has been making extended 
inoculation experiments against snake poisons. Speaking about 
scorpions, tarantulas, centipedes and poisonous insects, he remarks 
that he cannot understand why their venom should not yield to the 
same treatment. Mineral agents have been the sheet anchor, so to 
speak, in the treatment of these kinds of poisoned wounds, but the 
future has more ideal remedies in store in the form of anti-toxins 
derived from the venom of hexapoda and arachnoidea.