I’m lucky enough to have never been stung by anything major. While I’ve had plenty of bees, wasps, and mud daubers buzzing around my head, none have landed and taken their vengeance out on my skin. Mom always said it was because I was so sweet, and I still believe that. You see, it’s a scientific fact that I have sweet nectar under my skin that really grosses out insects with stingers. They all know to stay far away from me. You may not be so lucky, however, so take a look at the Schmidt Sting Pain Index.
The Schmidt Sting Pain Index was created by Justin Schmidt, an entomologist looking to categorize the “relative pain caused by different Hymenopteran stings.” Here’s what he came up with, ordered by not-so-bad to oh-my-god:
- 1.0 Sweat bee — common throughout most of the world, save for Australia and Southeast Asia.
- 1.2 Fire ant — over 280 species exist worldwide.
- 1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant — found in Mexico and Central America.
- 2.0 Bald-faced hornet — mostly in North America and parts of Canada.
- 2.0 Yellowjacket — commonly mistaken for bees.
- 2.x Honey bee and European hornet — there are roughly 20,000 known species of bees.
- 3.0 Red harvester ant — common in Southwest United States.
- 3.0 Paper wasp — (pictured) can mostly be found in Western Hemisphere tropical areas.
- 4.0 Pepsis wasp — found all over the world (including the U.S.); can hunt and kill tarantulas.
- 4.0+ Bullet ant — can be found along the Atlantic coast of South and Central America.
The bullet ant is named so because its sting gives the “sensation of which has often been likened with that of being shot with a bullet by those who have had the misfortune to be at its receiving end.” Yeah, stay away from that one.
[via kottke]