chochajin Wrote:Some "mukade" (centipedes) can be very dangerous for human beings here in Japan. Well, they can kill people. Usually only kids, adults only if they shoot their poison into a vein directly, but still .....

I looked it up a long time ago, but I remember finding that there is no record in Japan (in recent years) of a grown person having died of a mukade bite. Also, the only recent report of a mukade having killed a young child was not in Japan, although it's basically the same bug. I believe it was a Thai girl that was four years old, who got bit on the back of the neck. Even that was 20 or so years ago.

Though, I'm not really sure on the reliability of the source, since I don't remember where I found it. However, I did find some medical websites that do recommend a doctor visit, since it can cause damage around the bite site.

I agree with your too-many-bugs observation! I have a rather large lawn, and live in the countryside. I have to borrow a machine to cut my grass from my school, and I only do so once every three or four weeks. Whenever I do, bugs go EVERYWHERE. There are always about 300 or so spiders, five or six centipedes (normally the ones with black legs, not the bigger red-legged scary-ass ones), and lots of other random stuff.

I also get quite a few huntsman spiders, as well as those big yellow and black spiders, every year. The yellow and black ones make HUGE webs. I have a shed next to my house, maybe 8 feet away, and they make a giant web bigger than me that stretches from my shed to my house.

Killing both types of spider is disgusting, because their legs curl up as soon as you kill them and it looks nasty. I generally avoid doing so.

chochajin Wrote:A few weeks ago, I saw this on a wall of our apartment building:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd164...90987b.jpg

I think I won't be able to sleep tonight.

Evil_Dragon Wrote:

chochajin Wrote:A few weeks ago, I saw this on a wall of our apartment building:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd164...90987b.jpg

I think I won't be able to sleep tonight.

Ich hab sowas aber bei uns noch nie gesehen. Sollte also okay sein

And I couldn't sleep, when I met my first cockroach here!! ;___;

chochajin Wrote:I'm not a fan of cicadas either, because I hate noisy things, but I do hate all the insects in summer here!!! Horrible!!
A few weeks ago, I saw this on a wall of our apartment building:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd164...90987b.jpg

(Only click if you have strong nerves! You have been warned! XD)

How is that scary? Look how harmless it is. It's carrying it's babies in a sack under its abdomen. If anything it's cute.

chochajin Wrote:I'm not a fan of cicadas either, because I hate noisy things, but I do hate all the insects in summer here!!! Horrible!!
A few weeks ago, I saw this on a wall of our apartment building:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd164...90987b.jpg

(Only click if you have strong nerves! You have been warned! XD)

OH my god. Oh it's so big. Oh wait, I can't help but use my brains again and the obvious question pops in: why do people think this spider is big? Everyone keeps posting it: yuck, it's so big, yuck, yuck. Omg. Just because it's big on that god damned picture, doesn't say ANYTHING about the size of that insect to me. Nothing at all. Why? Because I can't compare it to anything else on the picture but the white wall under it. And that's not enough. Also it's not clear whether the picture taker found this inside or outside of that apartment.... or maybe I'm blind and can't comprehend basic english
Anyway, next time you want to show how big sg is on a pciture use something ordinary to compare it.... like put your hand next to it, your cellphone whatever....
Icecream: considering the aforementioned posts about the overwhelming quantity of insects in Japan, you might want to consider to change you field, istead of mammals, into insects Or you could analyse the obvious question: do chimpanzees snore? If yes, how is it related to human snoring? Or bodyfat? I would read a study about this

@Raschaverak: Are you ok? XD
Sorry, I was not brave enough to put my hand next to it. I used superzoom, so I didn't have to go too close to it (>_>)
It was a little bit bigger than an average adult's hand, I guess.

Blahah Wrote:

chochajin Wrote:I'm not a fan of cicadas either, because I hate noisy things, but I do hate all the insects in summer here!!! Horrible!!
A few weeks ago, I saw this on a wall of our apartment building:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd164...90987b.jpg

(Only click if you have strong nerves! You have been warned! XD)

How is that scary? Look how harmless it is. It's carrying it's babies in a sack under its abdomen. If anything it's cute.

Actually, in my logic, that would make it even more dangerous: think about it, the chances that it's aggressive than usual (whatever that might be) are high, since it has it's eggs with it, and it probably want to protect them.

Raschaverak Wrote:Actually, in my logic, that would make it even more dangerous: think about it, the chances that it's aggressive than usual (whatever that might be) are high, since it has it's eggs with it, and it probably want to protect them.

That's correct!

Also, some huntsman spiders (it's not really just one species) are actually venomous, and their bites are supposed to hurt a lot either way.

captal Wrote:Is it hard to move up through the "belt" system- and do you get to start higher if you have experience teaching/certification/etc?

Everyone starts out at 1,500yen/40 minute lesson regardless of experience or education. The highest pay rate is 2,200yen per lesson. How many lessons you teach per day is dependent on how popular you become with the students. There are two routes to becoming popular: Being a very solid teacher or being an entertainer. Of the two, being an entertainer will get you the most clients. Though there is a series of essay exams, where grammar, penmanship and spelling are major factors in your score(You must pass to keep working).
How quickly one moves up the pay scale factors in quality of lessons taught, how many instructors Gaba feels like rewarding in a given month, and luck. For non-native speakers looking for a visa, only half of the instructors at my Kyoto branch speak English as their first language. You could not tell it from their accents though.

chochajin Wrote:It was a little bit bigger than an average adult's hand, I guess.

yikes! If I had encountered one of those, chochajin, I would have left the country. (They can eat small geckos!) I can barely even view photos of them - the visceral reaction is that intensely uncomfortable.

Tried to find out if they exist where I live and ended up on this illustrated spider chart. Unexectedly, the huntsman spider at the bottom started wiggling! I nearly fell off my chair! lol guess I'm a complete spider wimp. (It appears they don't live in Canada- phew!)

Happy 海の日everyone!

bodhisamaya Wrote:Happy 海の日everyone!

Not happy at all.
I'm sick with fever and all and have to move my ass to work in a few hours (x_x).
That's already the second time I got sick in July. Sucks!

You people have never seen a Huntsman before???????????????

*shocked face*

I'm in Kyoto too! The rainy season (supposedly) ended today with 海の日. Yay!!!

OsakaDan Wrote:You people have never seen a Huntsman before???????????????

*shocked face*

Nope, The Netherlands feels kinda boring, bugwise. 'Freakiest' thing I saw here was a hornet, we thought two dragonflies where above our umbrella mating or something, until the dragonfly's head came rolling down... :X

Tzadeck Wrote:

Raschaverak Wrote:Actually, in my logic, that would make it even more dangerous: think about it, the chances that it's aggressive than usual (whatever that might be) are high, since it has it's eggs with it, and it probably want to protect them.

That's correct!

Also, some huntsman spiders (it's not really just one species) are actually venomous, and their bites are supposed to hurt a lot either way.

In my experience of spiders, most gravid or carrying females are much more likely to run when they have eggs. If they engage with a threatening predator there's a much higher chance that their eggs will be damaged than if they run. With other animals whose young aren't so easily mobile (like birds) the females are more aggressive with young.

Having said that, the huntsmen spider family are particularly known for the females being agressive when carrying eggs. But there are no known severe or painful effects of huntsmen bites - they are pretty harmless.

Blahah Wrote:Having said that, the huntsmen spider family are particularly known for the females being agressive when carrying eggs. But there are no known severe or painful effects of huntsmen bites - they are pretty harmless.

Neosparassus huntsman spiders are known to have really painful bites, actually, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus in the scientific community about to what extent that's true. There's certainly been reports of painful side-effects from their bites.

I have no idea if there are neosparassus huntsman spiders in Japan, either. I'm relying on crappy internet research, so I can't really be specific or sure.

I do know that certain species of huntsman have a reputation of getting pretty much all over the world thanks to shipping, but I didn't find anything about neosparassus.

I'm pretty lazy, you know.

Tzadeck Wrote:

Blahah Wrote:Having said that, the huntsmen spider family are particularly known for the females being agressive when carrying eggs. But there are no known severe or painful effects of huntsmen bites - they are pretty harmless.

Neosparassus huntsman spiders are known to have really painful bites, actually, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus in the scientific community about to what extent that's true. There's certainly been reports of painful side-effects from their bites.

We have a fridge magnet at home (Australia) that says Huntsman spiders aren't poisonous to humans but will inflict a painful bite.

OsakaDan Wrote:We have a fridge magnet at home (Australia) that says Huntsman spiders aren't poisonous to humans but will inflict a painful bite.

Yeah, that's right, but 'painful' is vague. For example, on wikipedia it says "local swelling and pain may cause nausea, headache, vomiting and heart palpitations." In other words, bad enough that you don't want to put your hand next to it when it has a tendency to be aggressive with its babies.

That description is just for a neosparassus huntsman bites. The rest of them are just like a regular spider bite.

Painful is a loose description, but all the studies I could find characterised the effects of bites of all Sparassidae including genus Neosparassus as mild and transient (i.e. the effects are very short lived). They also found occurrence of rashes and redness were significantly lower in cases of bites by Sparassidae than other spiders. All reports in the literature say that Neosparassus species have shown no more toxicity or major effects of a bite than other genera.

Their fangs are pretty large, so the pain would be equivalent to being pricked with any sharp object of the same size.

Basically, you don't want to be bitten by them but it's nothing to be particularly scared of. It's common for people to pick them up when they aren't carrying egg sacks, presumably because squishing them would make a huge mess. Wasps cause much worse pain and you're much more likely to have an allergic reaction.

chochajin Wrote:

bodhisamaya Wrote:Happy 海の日everyone!

Not happy at all.
I'm sick with fever and all and have to move my ass to work in a few hours (x_x).
That's already the second time I got sick in July. Sucks!

Me too >_<. Strange. I went my last two years in Hawaii without ever getting sick and now I have been sick twice this month.

Tzadeck Wrote:'painful' is vague.

What you need is something like the Schmidt Sting Pain Index...

pm215 Wrote:

Tzadeck Wrote:'painful' is vague.

What you need is something like the Schmidt Sting Pain Index...

That sting pain scale is very amusing and is almost like descriptions by some whiskey connoisseur. I've somehow managed to avoid being stung by a bee or wasp so far.

Tzadeck Wrote:I have no idea if there are neosparassus huntsman spiders in Japan, either. I'm relying on crappy internet research, so I can't really be specific or sure.

The Huntman Spider in Japan is 'Heteropoda venatoria' and isn't considered dangerous, although it's certainly big enough to deliver a painful bite. The Japanese name 足高ぐも (アシダカグモ) literally means "high-legged" spider which is very descriptive.

Tzadeck Wrote:I do know that certain species of huntsman have a reputation of getting pretty much all over the world thanks to shipping, but I didn't find anything about neosparassus.

A Japanese friend once told me that the Australian redback spider has made an appearance in the Osaka area - believed to have been introduced by plane. A close relative of the black widow, it is very poisonous. I've seen it in Australia but hope not to encounter it here in Japan.

gavmck Wrote:That sting pain scale is very amusing and is almost like descriptions by some whiskey connoisseur. I've somehow managed to avoid being stung by a bee or wasp so far.

I like that somewhere between 1.2 and 1.8 is the different between a static electric shock, and someone stapling your cheek.

Anyway, thanks for the more full and correct info everyone.

I'll try to avoid redback spiders whenever I'm chowing on some takoyaki in Osaka.
Also, anybody in the kansai area, the Tenjin Matsuri is this weekend in Osaka, and I'd recommend it! I had a blast last year.

Tzadeck Wrote:

gavmck Wrote:That sting pain scale is very amusing and is almost like descriptions by some whiskey connoisseur. I've somehow managed to avoid being stung by a bee or wasp so far.

I like that somewhere between 1.2 and 1.8 is the different between a static electric shock, and someone stapling your cheek.

Might as well put it up- it is pretty amusing:

Quote:1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet and reaching for the light switch.
1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin.
3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.
3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic and burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath.
4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.

I love the descriptions- has he really walked across flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in his heel? And not just a normal nail- a rusty one!