The Mighty Ant

Ants might be some of the smallest insects out there, but they are also some of the strongest! Did you know an ant can lift more than 50 times its own weight?!

To put this feat of strength into perspective, the average adult male weighs 191 pounds. Fifty times his weight would be 9,550 pounds; that's roughly the equivalent of lifting two mid-sized cars! Think you could do that?

Want to see an ant in action? That watch this short video we found of an art hauling off a large crumb he found on the sidewalk - and check out how fast he moves with it!

That Stings!

No one likes the idea of being stung by a bee, wasp, hornet, or any other insect for that matter, but in reality the thought of getting stung is usually worse than the pain. Unless you’re the type who gets allergic reactions, stings from sweat bees or even yellowjackets aren’t that terribly bad.

However, there are a few insects you really do want to steer clear of, and some live closer than you think. Entomologist Justin O. Schmidt published a paper in 1990 known as the Schmidt Sting Pain Index that rates the stings of 78 species of insects on a scale of 0-4, 0 being completely ineffective against humans and 4 describing excruciating, debilitating pain. He also describes in vivid detail the experience of being stung by these insects. So if you’re wondering what bugs to really avoid this spring and summer, here are the top 3 most painful stings you can get.

3. The Paper Wasp

Photo: Joaquim Alves Gaspar

These common wasps rate a 3.0 on the Schmidt Index. He describes their sting as being “Caustic and burning….Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.” Ouch! There are over 300 species of paper wasps worldwide, with 22 species in North America alone. These wasps can be identified by their grey or brown honeycomb nests, which appear paper-like. Unlike yellowjackets and hornets, paper wasps are not known to be aggressive and will only attack if they feel threatened. Due to the potency of their sting, this is a very good thing!

2. The Tarantula Hawk

With a two inch-long body and 1/3 inch stinger, this giant wasp certainly lives up to its ominous-sounding name. Tarantula hawks are distributed worldwide and are common in the southwestern United States. As you can probably guess, they are named as such because they hunt the massive, hairy spiders we know as tarantulas; and their bite is as bad as their bark. Rating a 4.0 on the Schmidt Index, their sting is said to be “Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped in your bubble bath.” Luckily, the pain is said to only last about three minutes, and stings are rare unless provoked.

1. The Bullet Ant

Photo: Hans Hillewaert

The insect that tops the pain scale isn’t large, doesn’t fly, and looks relatively harmless; it isn’t. Also known as conga ants, bullet ants have the most painful sting of any insect on the planet, rating a 4+ on the Schmidt Index and described as “…waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours…Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.” The bullet ant is distributed throughout forests of Central and South America. Its wrath can luckily be easily avoided simply by not attempting to handle it!

Suicidal Ants

Malaysian ants are committed insects. If they sense a threat from a predator, they will do anything they can to protect themselves and their colony. These ants have large glands of poison inside their bodies, and when they contract their abs, they can cause either side of their body to explode, resulting in death for the predator and the ant, itself.

"March"-ing Animals

Ants march. Perhaps the most well-known marching ants are Army Ants or Eciton burchellii as scientists call them.

Army ants form huge colonies (300,000 – 700,000) and they need to "march" or migrate to find food. Most ant colonies send out "scouts" or individual ants that seek food and bring it back to the nest. Army ants don't work that way. Every few weeks, army ants enter a "nomadic phase" and leave the nest they've created. The entire colony sets out, en masse, to find a new area flush with food resources and a suitable nesting site. They march at night and camp during the day. When they have found an area where food is plentiful, they will begin their "stationary phase" and make a new, temporary nest.

Nest established, the colony sends out a swarm raid – a group of 200,000 or more ants – that take up an attack position resembling an open fan. This swarm position can extend over 15 yards. Army ants are blind, but by marching together, their numbers easily overwhelm any creature that may fall into their path. The swarm is seeking spiders, scorpions, insects and other ant colonies to kill and bring back for food. Regardless, if lizards, frogs, mice, or other creatures fail to get out of their way, the army ants will kill them as well, they just might not eat them. Army ants generally kill tens of thousands of animals a day!



Interesting Fact: Sometimes army ants will raid other colonies for slaves.