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!

Worker Bees Stay Busy

Out of approximately 30,000 species of bees, only 4 species can make honey. Social bees, like honeybees and bumblebees, are the only types that can. They live in colonies with one queen bee, some male bees, and several other female bees known as worker bees. To make just one pound of honey, worker bees fly 55,000 miles and collect nectar from two million flowers.

Animals at War - Strange but True

Ever heard of bomb sniffing rats? Or Frogman killing dolphins? How about landmine detecting bees? Humans have a great appreciation for the natural abilities of animals. That appreciation can lead to bizarre, inhumane and occasionally, benignly beneficial uses of animals in wartime.

The Bizarre: History is replete with tales of dolphins rescuing humans from the perils of the sea. Relying on the dolphin's natural curiosity and affinity to humans, the US Navy began the "swimmer nullification plan." Attaching hypodermics filled with compressed CO2 to the dolphin's nose, the marine mammals were trained to find divers swimming in restricted areas and inject them. Getting injected with compressed CO2 kills you, and it also makes your body float to the surface so you're easily retrievable. Supposedly 40 Viet Cong frogmen were killed this way.

The Inhumane: Over the course of thousands of wars, numerous types of animals have been used as living incendiaries. Cats, dogs, pigs, rats, even camels have all been lit on fire and pointed at the enemy. Of course nothing prevented these animals from turning around and running back through the host forces (makes you cheer a bit). Needless to say, the practice ultimately fell out of favor.

Unfortunately, militaries discovered safer (for them) ways to use animals to decimate enemy forces. What did they do? They strapped bombs to them. Tank dogs were trained to run under enemy tanks where their bomb harnesses would be detonated. Free-tailed bats were strapped with timed incendiary devices. The plan was to release them over Japan where their natural instinct would cause them to roost in the eaves of factories and warehouses. Once there, the timing devices would go off, causing the bat, and hopefully the building, to catch fire. Cats, wearing small explosives, were to be dropped over enemy ships. With their natural dislike of water, the cats would be sure to land on the ships and then could be exploded. Thankfully, most of these projects went nowhere. The bats escaped, burning down an Air Force hanger and blowing up a general's car. The cats, mercifully, lost consciousness soon after they were ejected from the planes.

The gathering strength of worldwide Animal Rights Groups has largely brought an end to such schemes.

The Benignly Beneficial: Glow worms were used in the trenches of WWI to create enough light for soldiers to read maps by. Gambian Pouch Rats, with their incredible sense of smell, are being used to sniff out landmines. Their small size protects them from triggering the mechanisms. The rats are currently clearing mines from much needed farm land along the coast of Mozambique. Bees are also helping to find long buried landmines. Having been fed trace elements used in the making of explosives, the bees naturally swarm around buried mines that leak these elements into the atmosphere. Small "backpacks" attached to the bees help humans determine where the bees are congregating. Once the humans arrive, they can dig up and dispose of the mine. The amount of bees needed to create a hive of landmine seekers costs about $100. The bees can be trained in less than 3 hours and have a 98% success rate of finding long buried and forgotten landmines.

Of course we know what would be best for animals as well as humans with regard to the practice of war, but conflict will occur. More than likely, our need for animal helpers in battles will also occur. Hopefully it will only be in a benignly beneficial way.

Pollinators - Honey Bees

The garden is beautiful. My lilies and roses are close to a first bloom. The lavender's beginning its wild rampage on the South side of our house and the sedum has claimed yet another acre of rock wall. Year after year these glories happen and, although I notice them and appreciate them, I never really notice or appreciate the little critters that make it all possible.

Over 80% of our food crops are dependent upon the help of birds, bats, bees or other insects for pollination. It is not a process we humans can replicate with tool or machine, and yes, we have tried. When humans attempt it, the process can only be accomplished on a small scale and is still not very successful.

Perhaps the most well-known pollinator is the honey bee. When my lavender blooms, their little black and yellow bodies are constantly weaving about the purple flowers. While searching for nectar, the honey bee dusts itself with pollen from one flower and transfers it to the next flower it lands on, thereby enabling the plant to reproduce and bear fruit, seeds or more flowers. Honey bees are responsible for the reproduction of apple trees, blueberry bushes, cucumber plants, sunflowers and many more crops we humans rely upon. In the year 2000, Cornell University conducted a study and found, "the direct value of honey bee pollination to U.S. agriculture is more than $14.6 billion." Let's hope the bees don't expect to collect.

That's a lot of bees

There are slightly fewer than 20,000 known species of bees.