Paederus
| Paederus | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shore fledglings ( Paederus littoralis ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Paederus | ||||||||||||
| Fabricius , 1775 |
Paederus is a genus of beetles from the family of the short-winged species (Staphylinidae) within the subfamily Paederinae with worldwide distribution. It occurs in Europe with 16 species, 10 are also native to Central Europe.
features
The beetles are relatively large and mostly colored relatively brightly. The basal shiny pronotum is structured little point-shaped. The head is rounded and stalked, with strongly narrowed temples and very short cheeks. The fourth tarsal link is bilobed. The wing panels of the Central European species are all blue, their pronotums are red.
Occurrence and way of life
The animals live on sandy banks of water and on moist meadows. You can watch them on sunny days walking around quickly with their abdomen curved upwards. The species Paederus Sabaeus lives in West and Central Africa and Paederus eximius in East Africa . Both species, known locally as champion fly or nairoby fly , are feared as causes of contact dermatitis . The aggressive, 7 to 13 mm long insects, when they feel threatened, secrete the pederin , which causes Paederus dermatitis on the skin. A specific antidote does not exist, at the moment (2019) Paederus eczema is treated with a combination of cortisone and antibiotics . Both species occasionally tend to mass reproduce.
Types (selection)
- Paederus melanurus Aragona , 1830
- Paederus brevipennis Lacordaire , 1835
- Shore fledglings ( Paederus littoralis ) Gravenhorst , 1802
- Paederus riparius ( Linnaeus , 1758)
- Paederus caligatus Erichson , 1840
- Paederus sabaeus Erichson , 1840
- Paederus eximius
Medical importance
About 30 species of the genus Paederus are known to cause skin lesions or dermatitis in humans; this is known as dermatitis linearis, alternatively Paederus dermatitis. A few hours after contact, the skin becomes reddened, accompanied by itching, edema and flaking. This can last for a long time, up to several weeks. Later, a scar or a yellowish pigmentation spot often forms in the same place. It can also cause conjunctivitis of the eye called pederosis (or “Nairobi eye”). Pederin , a complex amine found in the beetle's hemolymph, is responsible for the symptoms . Most contact occurs when beetles are accidentally squeezed, often at night after beetles have flown to the light in human dwellings. Cases of Paederus dermatitis are known from Asia, Africa, South America and Australia, from Europe cases from Italy have become known.
Pederin was first isolated in Italy in 1953, when millions of beetles were killed and extracted. The poison occurs in high doses, especially in females before they lay eggs, and they pass it on to the eggs. Only low concentrations can be detected in larvae and males, which are due to the amount given to the egg. For reasons unknown, about a tenth of the females do not carry any poison. The biological purpose of the poison is the protection against predatory wolf spiders (Lycosidae). Structurally, pederin is almost unique in the animal kingdom. After similar toxins could be isolated from marine organisms such as some species of sponges , the suspicion quickly arose that it was a bacterial toxin; This was later confirmed, among other things, by infection tests in which the poison could be transmitted to poison-free females via infection, but only if antibiotics were not given at the same time. According to this, pederin is synthesized by a Pseudomonas species that has not yet been cultivated. Pederin blocks protein synthesis on the 80S ribosome of eukaryotes . The substance is pharmacologically interesting and is u. a. tested for tumor suppression.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Paederus. Fauna Europaea, accessed May 31, 2009 .
- ^ Karl Wilhelm Harde, Frantisek Severa and Edwin Möhn: Der Kosmos Käferführer: The Central European Beetles. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-06959-1 .
- ↑ Alexander Davydov: An insect that one would rather not meet. In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 9, 2019, accessed on September 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Reinhard Krippner, Guillaume Dzikouk: Toxic contact dermatitis caused by Paederus sabaeus ("bladder beetle"): An epidemic in Africa south of the Sahara. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt 2000; 97 (16). Deutscher Ärzteverlag GmbH, 2000, accessed on September 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Brienne D. Cressey, Alberto E. Paniz-Mondolfi, Alfonso J. Rodríguez-Morales, J. Manuel Ayala, Antonio Augusto De Ascenção Da Silva (2013): Dermatitis Linearis: Vesicating Dermatosis Caused by Paederus Species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Case Series and Review. Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 24: 124-131.
- ↑ Rupert LL Kellner (1998): When Do Paederus riparius Rove Beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) Biosynthesize Their Unique Hemolymph Toxin Pederin? Journal of Nature Research 53c: 1081-1086.
- ↑ Konrad Dettner (2007): Poisons and pharmaceuticals from insects - their origin, effect and ecological significance. Therein chap. 2.2. The polyketide pederin. Entomology Today 19: 3-28.
literature
- Karl Wilhelm Harde, Frantisek Severa and Edwin Möhn: The Kosmos Käferführer: The Central European Beetles. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-06959-1 .
- Edmund Reitter: Fauna Germanica - The beetles of the German Empire. 5 volumes, Stuttgart KG Lutz 1908–1916, digital library volume 134, Directmedia Publishing GmbH, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89853-534-7 .