Honestly speaking, most of us would have come across insect bites or stings in some part of our lives. Unfortunately, some of them would have experienced the bites of these insects listed here. The pain caused by them will be a serious concern and not all can bare it. Can you imagine some of the insect bites are as much comparable to that of a shotgun?
Further, it is unbelievable to note that these tiny insects are known to defend themselves against bigger animals. The pain caused by these special insects is based on the Schmidt pain index that is categorized according to the index levels. Upon these index levels, we have come up with the 10 most painful insect bites and stings from around the world that can psych in no time.
10. Honey Bee
Most of us would have come across this tiny insect in life. We all are aware of honey bee for two reasons, one for the honey and the other for its sting. Comparing with all the insects listed here, the honey bee can cause comparatively lesser pain than others, but they too match up the pain index. The honey bees are known to have originated in South and Southeast Asia. The stings from them are known to cause potential skin irritation and damage. Once the sting is implanted on to the prey’s skin, the honey bee tends to subsequently die due to loss of abdomen.
9. Bald-faced Hornet
The bald-faced hornet is one of the most dangerous stings, also recognized as “white-faced hornet”, “blackjacket” and “bull wasp”. Residing majorly in the regions of the United States and southern Canada, the hornet is known to be very aggressive by nature. Additionally, the white marking on the hornet’s face makes it unique in terms of looks. The venom in them is known to cause irritation, however, is known to not cause intense damage to the skin. Unlike other insect stings, the bald-faced hornets are known to spray venom against their intruders. They use these venom spray as a defence mechanism, which particularly sprays on the intruder’s eyes. The sprayed venom into the eyes is known to cause temporary blindness and continuous eye-watering.
8. Red Harvester Ants
Red harvester ant is one such ant species listed in the top lists for most dangerous ants. Residing majorly in parts of Southwestern United States, the red ants are more often mistaken with any fire ants. The venom content in the red harvester ants can directly hit the lymphatic system of the victim to cause dangerous reactions. Additionally, the effects are more to be seen on people with greater prone to sensitivity and allergies.
7. Bulldog Ant
Bulldog Ant is a large ant known to cause painful stings of life. Also recognized as “jack jumper” and “bull ants”, they are generally aggressive by nature. Further, the stings by the bull ants are known to cause immense pain with no irritation. Distributed in the states of Australia, they are known to have incredible vision. Not most of the time, but the stings are known to be life-threatening due to potent venom sustained in them. There have been many records of human deaths due to the bulldog ant stings. The stings can be as large to a size of 6 millimeters making it a concern if stung on humans.
6. Paper Wasp
Very famous for the nests they build, the paper wasps are one among the most painful stings in the world. Also recognized as “umbrella wasps”, the paper wasps are known to build their nests in a very peculiar form. Additionally, they are very aggressive by nature and can be dangerous if they are threatened. Further, most of the paper wasp species are bright in color, which indicates that they are more venomous than usual. A single sting from them can be hammering and cause fatal symptoms in some individuals.
5. Yak-Killer Hornet
Also recognized as the “Asian giant hornet”, the yak-killer hornet is comparatively like that of the Japanese giant hornet. As they fall under the same subspecies of the Japanese giant hornet, the stings sustained by them are very painful and dangerous. The yak-killer hornets reside majorly in tropical and temperate regions of Eastern Asia They consist of 6mm long stinger, which harms the human skin intensively. A person stung more than 10 times would require emergency medical assistance. Finally, to be very curious about how dangerous the stings are, there have been 35 kills accounted to date.
4. Spider Wasp
Also recognized as “tarantula hawk”, the insect is one of the deadliest insects to cause pain just with a single sting. Spider wasps are found in most places across the globe. While most of the pain caused by insects is calculated based on the Schmidt pain index, the spider wasp is rated at 4. The rating at 4 means that the pain is relatively too much. The stings of spider wasps are considered painful which is as much comparable to that of an electric shock.
3. Japanese Giant Hornet
Japanese giant hornet is a dangerous insect, whose sting is as much comparable to that of the bullet ant and the executioner wasp. Beautiful in terms of looks, the hornet is also recognized as “great sparrow bee”. Japanese hornets are very aggressive by nature if provoked. The stinger is at a length of 6.23 mm in length. Further, this long stinger consists of venom that directly affects the nervous system and produces intense damage to tissue. Additionally, the pain can be unbearable, which would need hospitalization. Finally, every year about forty people die in Japan just being stung by wasps.
2. Bullet Ant
Perfectly named “Bullet Ant”. Can you just imagine if an ant bite is an as much power as that of a gunshot! Bullet ant is one such ant species that can produce the effect the same as that of being shot by a gun on the body. Next time when you ever, unfortunately, get bitten by them, then don’t wrongly imagine yourself being shot by a gun. Residing majorly in the rainforest of Nicaragua, the east of Honduras, and south Paraguay.
Additionally, the sting is known to produce a burning sensation in terms of waves with stagnant pain for over 24 hours. The venom injected by them basically causes damage to the central nervous system and blocks to the synaptic transmission. Locals call the ant as “Formiga Cabo Verde”, which means “the one wounding deeply” in Portuguese.
1. Executioner Wasp
While there is always a dispute between the executioner wasp and the bullet ant, the executioner wasp wins the race. Also recognized as “Polistes carnifex”, this insect sting is considered the most painful out of all the insects discovered to date. The executioner wasps reside majorly in Central and South America.
The sting was much highlighting when it was hit on a YouTube personality, Coyote Peterson. Through his career, he was involved in deliberate exposures to numerous stings. Further, he had once conveyed the message that the sting of an executioner wasp is way powerful and painful than the Bullet Ant and the Japanese Giant Hornet. Additionally, the sting can cause potential damage to tissue by ingested venom that may result in swollen arms and punch hole mark at the site. The pain can even sustain for many days.