5 of the World’s Most Painful Insect Bites

Have you ever tried walking barefoot on hot charcoal? Of course not, because you can’t imagine the immense pain that will follow. But did you know that there are some painful insect bites that will suddenly make you kneel and pray for your life not to vanish too soon?

Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist who was crazy enough to come up with a pain scale rating dubbed the Schmidt sting pain index, lists some of the worst insect bites that cause unbearable pain. Here is a look.

1. Bullet Ant

The bullet ant has the world’s most agonizing sting ever! According to the Schmidt Pain Index, it inflicts a level 4 plus pain and its bite is “pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch rusty nail in your heel.”

The name is derived from the feeling one gets after a sting, which is likened to being shot with a gun. There have been accounts of victims stung by the ant claiming that the pain lasts for up to 12 hours!

Thank God if you are far from the jungles of Central America for these insects make their nests near the canopies of the rainforests in parts of Nicaragua to Paraguay. But if you happen to encounter one, please don’t breathe, that’s what triggers their attack.

2. Tarantula Hawk

Schmidt gave the tarantula hawk the highest rating in the rating index; Pain Level 4. He described this insect’s bite “blinding, fierce and shockingly electric.” The bite doesn’t last long and it goes on for about 5 minutes. The composition of the bite remains unknown but it is one of the most painful stings.

Tarantula hawk wasps are found in South America and it has more than 250 identified species. Some of the varieties are found in Africa, India, Asia, the U.S, and Australia. They are hardly active in the afternoon.

3. Warrior Wasp

The warrior wasp’s sting gets a level 4 rating in Schmidt’s index. The pain is unbearably crazy and for a man who has been stung accidentally and intentionally for more than 1000 times, Schmidt described the pain as “Torture. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano.” The pain is said to last for up to two hours!

The warrior wasp and the first two make the worst kinds of insect bites ever recorded. Fortunately, you are safe if you are not in South or Central America; that is where they are predominantly found.

4. Paper Wasp

According to the pain Schmidt pain index, wasps that inflict level 3 pain include the red paper wasp, the metricus paper wasp, and the velvet ant (which is actually a wasp, not an ant). Pain from their bites can last for at least one minute.

Paper wasps have a sting described as “Caustic and burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.” But when it comes to the red paper wasp, the pain is “the closest you will come to seeing the blue of a flame from within the fire.”

There are more than 1000 species of paper wasps found worldwide. Unless you can make it to the South, that is Antarctica, there is no escaping their stings.

5. Red Harvester Ant

They may resemble the red ants, but trust me, they are not. They live in forests where they build nests for their colonies underground. If you happen to disturb their homes, better be prepared for several bites associated with excruciating pain that will last for hours.

Schmidt says that the red harvester ants’ sting is “bold and unrelenting, like somebody using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.” They are right up there on level three on the pain scale. These ants are found in Southwest U.S, where 22 species of these ants are found.

Considering how they can bite you severally, should you find a colony on your backyard, please relocate your family and your home, they can outlive you.

Other painful insect bites that will bring out the worst and the ugliest painful scream you have ever made include the European Hornet, Yak-Killer Hornet, German Yellow Jacket, Fire Ant, the Common Honeybee, and the Amazon Giant Centipede in that order.