Tomcat (Paederus littoralis) in Bali

[BKT]

Bali News: Tomcat on the Prowl

Just found one of these little suckers crawling across my bedroom floor. If that wasn't bad enough my brother in law found one in the bathroom a few hours later. My wife said she found one a few days ago in the bathroom as well but I wasn't convinced, she washed it down the sink hole before I got a chance to take a look. I know their in Denpasar at the moment, not just from the article either, my wife's cousin came into contact with one a few days ago and has come in an itchy pussy rash. Just wondering if anyone else has come across any.

 

[mat]

Bali News: Tomcat on the Prowl

Just found one of these little suckers crawling across my bedroom floor. If that wasn't bad enough my brother in law found one in the bathroom a few hours later. My wife said she found one a few days ago in the bathroom as well but I wasn't convinced, she washed it down the sink hole before I got a chance to take a look. I know their in Denpasar at the moment, not just from the article either, my wife's cousin came into contact with one a few days ago and has come in an itchy pussy rash. Just wondering if anyone else has come across any.

Explains a lot. My wife and brother in law have recently had these rashes and we couldn't work out where they had come from, Seems like this little monster may well be the culprit.

 

[gilbert de jong]

three nights ago, I came across a couple of them in the house..
ofcourse, like I am, I didn't believe all the ruckus on the news and the photo's of blisters,
so I picked them up and let them crawl around on my arm for a while...nothing happened.
Not convinced yet, I killed them on my arm by rubbing them in..again nothing happened.
maybe it's the same as with mosquitos, only one gender can give an itch/rash and I had the wrong gender on my arm...
By the way, I did had the cream on standby just in case

 

[ronb]

.............
so I picked them up and let them crawl around on my arm for a while...nothing happened.
Not convinced yet, I killed them on my arm by rubbing them in..again nothing happened.
..........................

I admire your healthy skepticism. Nothing like some experimentation.

 

[gilbert de jong]

I admire your healthy skepticism. Nothing like some experimentation.

hahaha..yeah I am a bit crazy like that

 

[BKT]

Are you sure it wasn't an earwig

 

[davita]

I became a victim of a Rove beetle (Tomcat) last night, in our villa in Kerobokan.
No idea how..... but the lesion on my hand is the same as I've seen searching for pictures of the rash they cause.
It isn't too painful, more annoying and looks a bit like a burn blister. I have three and believe it is because I put my hand on the other parts of my body and the toxin transferred...at least that's my theory.
I've seen a couple in our garden area but think I must have been infected from the toxin left on a coffee table as I don't recall actually contacting one.
According to my search the best remedy is soap and water and a little antiseptic cream, which I've done...just wish I'd known to have done that before touching other parts of my body.

We've had our new villa fogged and sprayed a couple of times in the last fortnight but doesn't seem to get rid of Tomcat...as my rash proves.

Just a heads-up for others.
Anyone else have a better remedy or advice?

 

[davita]

Update
I'm back in Jakarta and just learned that those pests (Tomcats) have been seen in my apartment block and they had to fog the whole area. Someone reported seeing one on his verandah on the 20+ floor level. I thought they normally lived in paddy fields so I'm surprised they are in Permata Hijau...there hasn't been a paddy field here in a hundred years.

It has been 5 days since my encounter and I still have the scabs to show....they are healing but the skin is peeling, just like a burn, so I keep applying Polysporin.

I'm bumping this post as advice to parents.....if your kids show they have a rash I suggest an immediate shower to dispose of the toxin and prevent transfer...I'd hate to see kids touch the rash and put their hands on their eyes or in the mouth. According to many sites the toxin is 10-12 times more poisonous than a cobra's bite....I can see the results on my hand, and can just imagine if it got into the blood stream.

 

[BKT]

Our back yard was crawling with them last week, one of the workers here picked one up and let it crawl on his arm before spraying it with fly spray. He had no itchiness or rashes. Maybe Gil is right about the gender thing.

We eventually sprayed the whole back yard with Baygon, haven't seen one since.

 

[Annam]

so Gilbert, keep trying till you get the right gender and keep us posted please. Any other volunteers? ;-O

 

[Wikomac]

Gee, I found this ant thingy last night, just in front of my shop.