Effects on humans of bites of Australian non-bloodsucking reduviid bugs

Occasional reports are received of painful bites inflicted on humans in Australia by predatory bugs of the family Reduviidae. A compilation is made here of such reports, which were obtained from published sources and from the files of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and is accompanied by available data on the circumstances of the attack and the symptoms produced in the victim. Particular attention is given to two recent cases of reactions to bites of species of Piestolestes, an otherwise obscure endemic genus. It is suggested that the nature of reported reactions to bites of non-bloodsucking Reduviidae raises the possibility that they are a response to the injection of a toxin, and note is made of a study of an Israeli non-bloodsucking reduviid which produces a venom suggested to be potentially harmful to humans.