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Author: Subject: beware of getting stung by a matavenado
shari
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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 02:34 PM
beware of getting stung by a matavenado


A couple days ago, my sister in law got stung by a matavenado which is a very small wasp, kind of reddish brown in color and about an inch and a half long...almost looks like a big flying ant. These critters kill deer and she was in very rough shape for a couple days but luckily she got to the hospital right after she was stung where they gave her antivenom and some other injections and had her on IV all day. It was very painful and dangerous. she thought it was a black widow spider bite as it was very painful and swelled up and was tingly but they found the wasp that stung her. After only a few minutes she had trouble breathing as she was stung in a vein on her left arm. So if you get stung, make sure you get to a hospital immediately...don't be macho!



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Cypress
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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 02:42 PM


Jeez!!:no:That's one bad bug.:wow:Hope she makes a full recovery!:) Wish I knew what they looked like in order to avoid 'em.:?:
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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 02:55 PM


Thanks for the info Summanus!:) Eight legs! It isn't a wasp.:o
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Bajagypsy
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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 02:57 PM


Oh my hope all is well with your sister in law, what a horrid thing to have happen.
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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 03:05 PM


Shari, could be a wasp, Avispa, a hornet, vitachi but most likely a Tarantula Hawk. Ask some of you Mexican neighbors to make you up some Guaco in a jar with tequila, mezcal or alcohol (the drinking kind). There's always a jar under our sink and it has saved us pain and trouble on every insect bite. Some wasps down here are deadly -- on one bite I almost passed out, the next one was a breeze cause by then I had some Guaco.
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pargo
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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 03:06 PM


Yeah, I know the wasp Shari speaks of. I could be wrong but that wasp is not the Matavenado. It is the black tarantula hawk or something along that line. It is quite aggressive and produces a loud buzz when in flight which makes it even more terrifying. They,re big and probably have killed a dear(venado) or two.The Matavenado I know of is not a wasp at all. It is a relative of the scorpion non venemous and quite harmless to humans. Known here in the U.S. as whipscorpion.

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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 03:16 PM


matavenado

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=17467#pid1507...

and also:
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=3608#pid26802

[Edited on 1-2-2007 by Natalie Ann]




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Dave
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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 03:29 PM


Shari, has she ever had the same symptoms from a bee or wasp sting? Sounds like a classic anaphylactic reaction. If so, it can happen again and she needs to carry an adrenalin syringe or inhaler.



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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 03:36 PM


Yes Summanus, that is the critter that chased me!

[Edited on 1-2-2007 by pargo]
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Cypress
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[*] posted on 1-2-2007 at 03:37 PM


Black Tarantula Hawks must be real potent!:o Some folks are more sensitive than others to insect bites. :no:
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[*] posted on 1-3-2007 at 10:55 AM


shari - DAVE is absolutly right, I think the quite serious reaction is pointing out a allergic reaction - can be found out by a simple bloodtest. Better to have antihistamine stuff at hand as well for any case! Beside Adrenaline! Also a Oxygen Kit can be good, to have available.



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[*] posted on 1-3-2007 at 04:17 PM
Tarantula hawks and their admirers


I observed some wasps several years ago near Calle Elias that elgatoloco identified for me when I asked Nomads for help. Here is the story that accompanied his identification. (And now I know why I should NOT have been going barefoot on the patio where I saw the wasp...where there are tarantula hawks, there are also tarantulas...to step on!)

Hemipepsis spp. (from elgatoloco)
When I was a kid there would be years in our campo when the tarantula population would explode. At night we would put a kerosene lamp in the road in front of the house and come back a bit later and it would be surrounded by 5-6-7-8-10 tarantulas. We would put them on a string and walk them thru camp the next day to impress (scare) the girly girls. In the next months the population of a BIG shiny black flying bug with bright orange/red wings would also explode. At the time I had no idea that the two events were connected. The Tarantula Hawks would slowly and what seemed awkwardly fly into a group of people casually sitting on the porch enjoying the ocean view and everyone would leap out of there chairs and vacate the area. I was fascinated by these bugs. One particularly bountiful year I collected 10-12 and made a hanging mobile out of them to compete in the 'driftwood' mobile contest my mother had organized for the kids in the campo. My mom was the unofficial contest director, she had a sand castle building contest every summer and a seashell decorating contest and a beach glass mosaic contest and kite flying contest and more, I think I got DQ'd from the contest because I did not use driftwood but I freaked out a few of the girlie girls and I'm sure one was impressed enough that five years later she was somewhat eager to go with me on that moonless night to the bluff outside camp to watch the submarine races and the next thing you know.........oops I digress.

So the deal with the Tarantula Hawk is that it has one of the most interesting methods of reproducing. When it is ready to lay its eggs it finds a tarantula and stings it, paralyzing it, drags it into its burrow and lays the eggs, the larvae hatch and eat the tarantula while it's alive! COOL!

The deal is no Tarantulas, no Tarantula Hawks. So next time you come across a tarantula in Baja let it go on its way so it may soon become a nice meal for some larvae!

You can read all about the Tarantula Hawk and see photos by going to google and typing in Tarantula Wasp

Zoe, was this the insect you saw when you attended that wedding??

Have Fun!
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[*] posted on 1-3-2007 at 04:49 PM


That form of reproduction complete with the first meal is rather common in many types of wasps. One of the most amazing evolutionary adaptation there is, IMO.

Ranging over the desert southwest for many years (BTW, they also occur in coastal scrubland and savannah areas of SoCal), I have seen many a tarantula hawk as I was told they were called. But we never really believed they attacked tarantulas UNTIL one day when we were driving around just outside of Death Valley and came across a T-hawk dragging a tarantula along on the ground at a fairly good clip, really. We never doubted the name after that.

Easily the scariest flying insect in these parts, including those mondo moths that look like small mice with wings. Always saw lots of those in the summer at Jack Murphy in the lights.

These things are in a class by themselves.

[Edited on 1-3-2007 by Hook]




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[*] posted on 1-3-2007 at 05:25 PM


Several years ago I read an article in Outside magazine written by some crazy scientist type who had allowed himself to be bitten or stung by just about all the scary/toxic bugs and snakes of North America.
His opinion was the pain of the sting from a Tarantula Hawk was number two on the list right behind the bite of a rattlesnake. :O
Now THAT'S gotta hurt.
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[*] posted on 1-3-2007 at 05:27 PM
Bad @ss Bugs...


I see them all over the place in Northern and middle baja buzzing around looking for whatever (tarantulas I guess). I have even seen them in San Diego. Several years ago I was stung on the tip of my index finger by one and I gotta tell ya... This thing put me out of commision in seconds and the pain kept me out of commision and rockin back and forth on the floor for hours holding my finger. The tip of my finger swelled up to about triple its regular size and turned blue, looked like a cartoon finger. I have stiched myself up a few times, had my day with fire coral, been stung by sting rays and even biten by a black widow spider...nothing compared to that demon!



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[*] posted on 1-3-2007 at 05:37 PM


bajabum - you are one Lucky Guy. :biggrin: gosh - wouldn't want to walk in your shoes!



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[*] posted on 1-3-2007 at 05:38 PM


My son and I fought this one all day in the heat of the East Cape @ Verdugos. Only the cheering from the bar area kept us going.......

He now lives in a foodsaver bag on the wall of memories, Baja section.

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[*] posted on 1-3-2007 at 06:14 PM


At least I was able to kill the little bugger before it drug me off to its nest to feed to its young!



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[*] posted on 1-3-2007 at 06:27 PM


Deborah got hit with a Black Widow (male) Black Widower?

Bad news! Three days pain, with pain meds. pain traveled, foot, hand, arm, leg etc. etc. not nice.

watch out for those buggers.




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[*] posted on 1-4-2007 at 10:15 AM


Thanks to everyone who has given information. This is one of the best things about Nomads. There is so much practical advice and in depth knowledge available and freely offered. The critters are fascinating, and so are Nomads!
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