MALIGNANT INSECTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20586, 8 December 1928, Page 14

MALIGNANT INSECTS.

IN JUNGLES OF BOLIVIA,

In the jungle along the .-River Beni, in are found some of the most; malignant ■ blood-sucking insects in the , world. ; Here lives tlft apasana, a : bird-eating spider, attaining a .length of trove ,eight to ten inches,whose .poisonous bite is sometimes fatal. It has a body resembling a hall of wool with black-hairs on its body and red.ones on its legs. Its. eyes are black and quick moving, with a most malevolent expression. • It is very active ■ and jumps about . two; feet at a ; single bound. ■ . , ’ ■ The palo santo ant, a fire ant, which lives in - hollow-stemmed trees, is common here. A touch on this tree brings down a shower of the ants, whose bites feel like red-hot coils, ■ the • sting lasting * for' hours. ■ ,: - : . . J .

Other plagues are the xaputama,. .an almost invisible , insect which lies in the' grass, bites the Tegs : of ■ men,'' and causes an almost intolerable- itching; the guanaco, a bug which lives in the sand,'and whose bite is usually fatal; the baregdi, a sand fly with a painful sting; sweat bees, which suck - the- perspiration - from the hair; the anopheles, or malariec a trying mosquito, and wasps ticks and jiggers. '