On
Monday night last week my dog, Megan, sniffed a rather large bug (about 3 inches
long) that was on our garage wall and immediately reeled back. She never made
contact with the insect. I checked her over and saw nothing wrong - she was
just pawing at her nose a little then seemed normal - just figured the bug smelled
bad like a stink bug. Tuesday morning when I woke up she has an eye swollen
shut. I irrigated it with saline and took her to the vet - she had a chemical
burn over 60% of her cornea. She spent a few days in agony, but is making good
progress toward complete recovery thanks to prompt and continuing medical treatment.
The bug is breed of walking stick, either Anisomorpha buprestoides (also known as the "Southern walking stick") or Anisomorpha monstrosa, a breed of walking stick insect imported from Belize and becoming more common on the Gulf coast. This is not the normal walking stick most people are familiar with (if you are familiar with them). The female is from two to four inches long and heavy bodied. It ranges from
weathered
gray to shiny black in color with a distinctive pattern on its back in dull
to bright orange. This insect has a pair of meta-thoracic defense glands which can spray an irritating secretion towards "attacking" objects. Temporary blindness has been recorded when the secretion contacts eyes. Even if washed out promptly with sterile saline there is literature evidence that this can cause chemical cornea abrasions. If not promptly treated these chemical burns can result in corneal ulcers.
Again, these are not the normal thin green or brown walking sticks you are familiar with - here are photos. The first one is the harmful import (the one labeled nasty is what got Megan, didn't mean to photograph a mating pair, but that is how I found it...) the second is the nasty Texas version and the last is the not so bad Texas native.
After checking my yard I found three more of these and killed them - don't let your kids near them if contacted rinse the eye and seek medical attention.