VISIOCONFÉRENCE
ORSAY, 15 septembre 2014
INFLUENCE DU CHANGEMENT
CLIMATIQUE SUR LA
DISTRIBUTION DES
ESPÈCES VENIMEUSES
M. Goyffon, MNHN, Paris, mgoyffon@mnhn.fr
PROLIFERATIONS
SEASONAL
OCCASIONAL
INVASIVE SPECIES
1) SEASONAL
PROLIFERATIONS
ARTHROPODS
Urticant (sting) (Lepidoptera)
Vesicant (contact) (Coleoptera)
LEPIDOPTERA
LEPIDOPTERISM / ERUCISM
(urticant)
LEPIDOPTERISM
(adults)
- Less frequent than erucism (larvæ)
-Main families :
-Saturniidæ : Hemileucinæ : Lonomia, Hylesia,
South America
-Thaumetopoeidæ : Anaphe, Africa ;
Thaumetopoea, Eur., Euproctis, Asia
- Lymantriidæ : L. dispar, Eur., North Am.
ERUCISM (larvæ)
- frequent,
-17 families, about 140 genera, Heterocera & some
Rhopalocera,
-Main families :
-Saturniidæ, Hemileucinæ : Hylesia, Lonomia,
South America ;
-Notodontidæ : Thaumetopoea, Europe ; Anaphe,
Africa
-Lasiocampidæ : Dendrolimus, Asia ; Streblote,
Europe
- Nymphalidæ : Morpho sp.
Hylesia sp. (Sth Amer.)
Anaphe sp. (Africa)
Lonomia sp. (Brazil)
Thaumetopoea sp.
- Main species in Europa : T. processionæ,
T. pityocampa
- Among urticant Lepidoptera, only these
species seem in a phase of territorial
expansion [one cycle per annum],
- Nuisances concerning also animals (dogs,
cats, cattle)
Thaumetopoea
pityocampa
Thaumetopoea pityocampa
STAPHYLINIDÆ
(vesicant)
STAPHYLINIDÆ (rove beetles)
Characteristics
- Vesicant insects, ubiquitous (> 600 sp.)
- Main genus : Pæderus, toxin known
- Contact dermatitis known at least at the
beginning of the XXth century
- Attracted on evening by light in houses,
even in winter in the Mediterranean basin
- Maybe important increasing frequency of
accidents due to a climate change
PÉDÉRINE
- Produced by an endosymbiotic bacteria,
genus Pseudomonas,
- Chemical synthesis realized,
- Principally in females,
- Dead insects “active”,
- Hand palms insensitive  to rinse,
- Insects attracted by electric lights.
SYMPTOMATOLOGY
- One or several erythema (then systemic
signs possible),
- Appearing after one or several insects
crushed on skin,
- Transport of toxins by hand palms possible,
- Three grades : benign, moderate, severe
(rarely) with systemic symptoms,
- Secondary infection possible
OTHER SPECIES
(expansions)
Snakes
-Vipera aspis, H. viridiflavus
(Europa, latitude)
- Crotalus atrox which replaces
C. molossus
(North America, USA, altitude)
Hierophis viridiflavus (non venomous)
Whip snake
H.v.
Crotalus atrox
Crotalus molossus
Crotalus molossus
2) OCCASIONAL
PROLIFERATIONS
(not dependent of season)
- Cnidae (venomous)
- Iuliforms (millipedes, vesicant)
CNIDAE : JELLYFISH
P. noctiluca
[Sea nettle]
Physalia grounded on a beach (France)
Physalia grounded on a beach (France)
SYMPTOMS, TREATMENT
- Contacts painful, marks of contact often
persistent,
- Avoid rubbings,
- Take off the fragments of tentacles (if any)
with small tongs,
- Analgesic drugs.
IULIFORMS
- Diplopods : not venomous (as Chilopods,
for example), but “vesicant” as some
insects. Ex. : Ommatoiolus sp.
- Possible huge proliferations in some
countries, causes not well known,
- Nuisance rather than a health problem.
Anthropic environments (I)
Possibility for some venomous species to
adapt to various anthropic environments :
two examples of snakes (adaptation limited
in time and space)
Causus sp.
Causus maculatus (Africa)
- in banana plantations, especially if strawed
ground which retains moisture,
- Causus maculatus is an African viper which
causes severe non-fatal envenomings.
Echis ocellatus
ECHIS OCELLATUS
- Echis ocellatus is a dangerous African viper
- It is a consumer of venomous Chilopods
(Scolopendra sp.) which are themselves
consumers of small arthropods in rubbish
piles neglected, during the rain-season. So,
serious “domestic” envenomings may
appear during this season in some
countries of Black Africa.
URBAN SCORPIONISM
Benign (France) or dangerous (America :
Brazil, Argentina, USA)
Characteristics (in tropical regions) :
- Parthenogenesis (Tityus sp.),
- Opportunistic food : cockroaches,
- Ecological adaptability,
- Currently : only America (N. and S.)
Euscorpius flavicaudis (harmless)
Adaptation to anthropic
environments : urban scorpionism
Tityus serrulatus : Brazil (Brasilia)
Tityus trivittatus : Argentina (Buenos Aires)
Centruroides sculpturatus (Los Angeles,
USA), generally in gardens, not inside
Common characteristics : parthenogenesis
(only Tityus sp.)
Main food : cockroaches, various insects
Tityus serrulatus (Brazil)
Tityus trivitattus
(Argentina)
Centruroides sp.
INVASIVE SPECIES
- Hymenoptera (stinging),
- Vertebrates : amphibia, snakes,
fish (lionfish)
- Hornets
- Bees
- Ants
Vespa crabro
European hornet
Vespa velutina
Asian hornet
Map in 2012
VESPA VELUTINA
- Hornet Vespa velutina came probably from
China (marine transport),
- Rapid invasion of France up to Belgium,
- Predator of bees,
- Less diurnal than V. crabro,
- Some deaths registered in France, even if its
venom seems without particularities.
Apis sp.
Invasive bees
- Brazilian hybrids produced 50 yrs ago :
Apis mellifera ligustica x A. m. adansoni
- Hybrids better adapted to the tropical
climate, but more aggressive (“killer bees”)
- Invasion of the South America, then Central
America, and North America up to Texas
and Arizona. Many multiple stings recorded.
- No particularities in the composition of
hybrid venoms.
BEHAVIOR OF THE HYBRID
BEES (“killer bees”)
- They collect pollens whatever the weather,
even if clouds,
- In tropical regions, bees are active during
the year, not only in Spring-Summer.
- When a human is too near the hives, he is
attacked on 500 m or more (more than the
50-100 m for A. mellifera mellifera), with
multiple stings.
A.mellifera : swarm
INVASIVE ANTS I (7-8 sp.)
Commune characteristics :
- Polygyny (several queens), unicoloniality
(several nests, one colony),
- Mating in the nest,
- Omnivora,
- High aggressiveness,
- Rapid mobilization of the populations,
- Sudden population explosions,
- Not all species venomous.
INVASIVE ANTS (II)
- Not (or very rarely) a medical problem, but :
- Ecological problems, as a nuisance for the
natural populations (arthropods,
microvertebrates, plants) which are
eliminated by the invasive ants.
- Also : many damages in houses (electric
wire, plastic things).
Argentine ant
Linepithema humile
Yellow foolish ant
Anoplolepis gracilipes
Little fire ant
Wasmannia auropunctata
Fire ant
Solenopsis invicta
INVASIVE SPECIES :
OTHER EXAMPLES
I) SNAKES : Boiga irregularis Guam island
II) AMPHIBIANS : Lithobates catesbeianus
(Bullfrog)
III) FISH : Pterois sp. (Lionfish)
Boiga irregularis
INVASIVE SNAKE
- One example : Boiga irregularis, introduced
possibly by US Army in Guam Island after
the World War II
- It is an opisthoglyphous snake, i.e. a
venomous snake, not dangerous for adults
but possibly dangerous for children.
- Destroyer of the microendemic vertebrates
fauna : rodents, bats, birds, lizards.
Lithobates catesbeianus
AMPHIBIA
- As snakes, the invasions of vertebrate
species result from a human introduction,
voluntarily or not, sometimes with the idea
of the elimination of a “vermin”
CONCLUSIONS
- Role of climate changes limited, except in
some arthropods (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera),
and some vertebrates (snakes)
- Role of human factors important concerning
invasive venomous species (arthropods but
also vertebrates), including some cases of
adaptation of venomous species to
anthropic environments.