Now that the warmer weather is here, there’s a good chance you’ll suffer a mosquito bite, a bee sting, or some other insect bite. And while some are just annoying, others can be quite painful. And now a new report reveals which are the most painful of all.
- Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist at the Southwest Biological Institute in Arizona, set out to determine which insect sting is the most painful.
- He did so by being bitten and stung almost a thousand times by a variety of creatures.
- He rated the stings of 78 species, giving the a rating of one to four, with four being the worst.
- In Justin’s expert opinion, the sting of a bullet ant is the absolute worst, and rates a four on the pain scale.
- He describes its sting as “pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel."
Top Ten Most Painful Insect Stings
(click here for the complete list)
- Bullet Ant
- Tarantula Hawk Wasp
- Warrior Wasp
- Maricopa Harvester Ant
- Trap-jaw Ant
- Western Honey Bee
- Western Yellow Jacket
- Large Tropical Black Ant
- Giant Ant
- Bulldog Ant