One of the extreme cases on record is that reported by Shipley (1914). Specimens of Geophilus gorizensis (= G. subterraneus) "were vomited and passed by a woman of 68 years of age. Some of the centipedes emerged through the patient's nose, and it must be mentioned that she was also suffering from a round worm. One of her doctors was of the opinion that the centipedes were certainly breeding inside the lady's intestines, and as many as seven or eight, sometimes more, were daily leaving the alimentary canal."
"According to her attendant's statements those centipedes had left the body in some hundreds during a period of twelve or eighteen months. Their presence produced vomiting and some hæmatemesis, and treatment with thymol, male-fern and turpentine had no effect in removing the creatures."
The clinical details, as supplied by Dr. Theodore Thompson were as follows:
"Examined by me July, 1912, her tongue was dry and glazed. There was bleeding taking place from the nose and I saw a living centipede she had just extracted from her nostril. Her heart, lungs and abdomen appeared normal. She was not very wasted, and did not think she had lost much flesh, nor was there any marked degree of anemia."
Shipley gives the following reasons for believing it impossible that these centipedes could have multiplied in the patient's intestine. "The breeding habits of the genus Geophilus are peculiar, and ill adapted for reproducing in such a habitat. The male builds a small web or nest, in which he places his sperm, and the female fertilizes herself from this nest or web, and when the eggs are fertilized they are again laid in a nest or web in which they incubate and in two or three weeks hatch out. The young Geophilus differ but very little from the adult, except in size. It is just possible, but improbable, that a clutch of eggs had been swallowed by the host when eating some vegetables or fruit, but against this is the fact that the Geophilus does not lay its eggs upon vegetables or fruit, but upon dry wood or earth. The egg-shell is very tough and if the eggs had been swallowed the egg-shells could certainly have been detected if the dejecta were examined. The specimens of the centipede showed very little signs of being digested, and it is almost impossible to reconcile the story of the patient with what one knows of the habits of the centipedes."
In none of the observed cases have there been any clear indications as to the manner of infestation. It is possible that the myriapods have been taken up in uncooked fruit or vegetables.
Lepidopterous Larvæ
Scholeciasis—Hope (1837) brought together six records of infestation of man by lepidopterous larvæ and proposed to apply the name scholeciasis to this type of parasitism. The clearest case was that of a young boy who had repeatedly eaten raw cabbage and who vomited larvæ of the cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassicæ. Such cases are extremely rare, and there are few reliable data relative to the subject. In this connection it may be noted that Spuler (1906) has described a moth whose larvæ live as ectoparasites of the sloth.
Coleoptera
Canthariasis—By this term Hope designated instances of accidental parasitism by the larvæ or adults of beetles. Reports of such cases are usually scouted by parasitologists but there seems no good basis for wholly rejecting them. Cobbold refers to a half dozen cases of accidental parasitism by the larvæ of Blaps mortisaga. In one of these cases upwards of 1200 larvæ and several perfect insects were said to have been passed per annum. French (1905) reports the case of a man who for a considerable period voided adult living beetles of the species Nitidula bipustulata. Most of the other cases on record relate to the larvæ of Dermestidæ (larder beetles et al.) or Tenebrionidæ (meal infesting species). Infestation probably occurs through eating raw or imperfectly cooked foods containing eggs or minute larvæ of these insects.