第 1387 號，共 1 402 號

Striped blister beetle

Epicauta vittata

名字的由來： The name 'blister beetle' refers to the blisters its poison causes on skin.1

只是會痛不要碰會痛，但不會對你造成嚴重傷害。

其他有毒動物

皮膚裡有毒吃：植物有毒（碰或吃會中毒），不是有毒液

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

The striped blister beetle is a slender black and yellow beetle that lives in eastern North America. It is a crop pest that can damage vegetable and field plants. Its body contains a poison that blisters skin and can kill livestock, so it should be left alone.1

有毒還是有毒液？有毒液的動物會用咬或螫把毒液注入身體。有毒的動物則是碰到或吃下去會有害。這種動物是有毒的（碰或吃會中毒）。

分布在

Eastern North America, including eastern Canada and the eastern United States1

北美洲

首頁

It feeds on crop plants on farms and in gardens, where it is considered an agricultural pest. Adults are most active in the morning and late afternoon and shelter during the heat of midday.1

長度

9 mm 到 1,7 cm (0,4 in 到 0,7 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,5 km/h（0,31 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

Adults feed on plants, with a preference for solanaceous plants such as potato and tomato, and also for amaranths. The larvae feed on grasshopper egg pods.1

Striped blister beetle 的照片 — Striped blister beetle。照片：Will Kuhn。 CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Adults are 9 to 17 millimetres long, long and slender, with a hairy body.1
The body is black and yellow.1
It has two black spots on the head and two black stripes on the thorax (the middle body section).1
It has two or three black stripes on each wing cover. Northern beetles have two stripes and southern beetles have three.1
Adults often form swarms that travel together.1

毒素力量

皮膚裡有毒

牠的皮膚有毒。碰、舔或吃牠都很危險。

牠的毒素有什麼作用？

This beetle is poisonous rather than venomous, as it does not bite or sting. It contains cantharidin, a toxic compound that causes blistering of the skin and mucous membranes. In horses, a dose of about one milligram per kilogram of body weight is toxic, and eating 30 to 50 beetles can be fatal. Symptoms include blisters and ulcers of the mouth, pawing, stretching, diarrhoea, and low blood calcium and magnesium.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

Cantharidin has been known to cause deaths, particularly of horses. Even two to five beetles can cause colic in horses, and hay containing crushed beetles can make animals ill. Cattle and sheep are less affected but can still show some symptoms. Frogs that eat these beetles keep the poison, so eating frog legs from beetle-fed frogs could cause poisoning, as little as 200 grams could contain a potentially fatal dose.1

如果有人碰了或吃了牠

如果有人吃了牠，或吃了之後出現症狀：立刻打緊急電話或打給毒物諮詢中心。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果你碰了或吃了牠：不要揉眼睛或摸嘴巴，把手洗乾淨，並且就醫。

牠不是想來抓你。牠的毒只是為了不讓別的動物吃掉牠。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

比你的小指頭還短

Striped blister beetle 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

Striped blister beetle 大約 0,5 km/h (0,31 mph)

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Frogs can eat blister beetles without harm, but they store the poison in their tissues and mucus, so predators that eat the frogs can be poisoned.1

Its larvae live on grasshopper eggs, which they find and feed on.1

Some ecologists consider it one of the most problematic pest blister beetles in its range, because it feeds voraciously, damages fruit and forms swarms.1

The beetle changes its appearance as it develops. The newly hatched larva is whitish with long legs, and later becomes a reddish-brown grub with shorter legs.1

Predators include robber flies and birds such as the western meadowlark, eastern bluebird and scissor-tailed flycatcher.1

給毒液專家

學名: Epicauta vittata
類群: 其他有毒動物
家人: Meloidae2
排序: Coleoptera
各大洲: 北美洲
寶寶: The female lays eggs in masses of 100 to 200 in a chamber a few centimetres deep in the soil, and each egg is about 2 millimetres long. The eggs hatch within 16 days, and there are one or two generations per year.1
對人的危險: 2 / 5: 疼痛3