12 replies to this topic

[neoponera]

This topic will let the people talk about the experience from a sting of a especific ant.

 

.Bites or formic acid do not count.

 

.Try to make a clear description

 

.The stings location must be included.

 

.The name shall include the scientific name of the species.

 

I am creating this topic because i am aware that many species of ants deliver a wide variety of toxins that can provoke a array of reaccions.Depending on the person of course.

 

 

 

I will start with the sting of Neivamyrmex pilosus, everything began with em wandering in a very humid forest, when i look down, i see a trail of Neivamyrmex pilosus, and me over it.

I quickly step off the trail and shook of the guards of my feet.20 minutes later i felt a stabbing feeling on my stomach, taking a look i see a neivamyrmex pilosus worker taking a rage sting at it.

i got it off and everything was back to normal, until 7 minutes later, when i start twitching. i took a look and the sting site was swelling, the twitching got worse every minute. until half an hour later.

when it stoped.

[Scrixx]

Seems like a fun topic. Let's use the classic pain scale of 0-10 to rate pain so we can quantify it. I like this description from the Obstetrics unit in the hospital. Might not fit because it's for labor but it's fine. 

0 being no pain

3 is uncomfortable

5 being moderate pain, clenching fists, obvious distress like sweating, change of breathing pattern

7 is so much pain you'd probably kill just to relieve some pain

9-10 is the worst possible pain anyone can ever imagine.

 

Pogonomyrmex subnitidus

I went anting a couple months ago and saw this giant Pogonomyrmex nest. I wanted to take a picture of it so I did. Well turns out there were more workers walking around than I thought because I felt this sharp pain on my Achilles tendon. I was wearing jeans so it was hard to get under there and remove the ant so I just squeezed from my knee to my shoe and scratched hoping to kill it. It worked out and the ant fell out. 

 

5 minutes in and it's a sharp stinging/stabbing pain. The initial bite was a 3/10 right away. No big deal right? Well over the course of an hour it got worse and worse. An hour later it's about a 5/10 pain. The bite was the size of a marble and there was an obvious red bump there. It wasn't that itchy but it was an awful burning sensation.

 

This went on for about 6 hours and the peak of the pain was around 6/10. I didn't want to walk and I almost wanted to just stop moving and sit down. At about 8 hours it started to hurt less but it was now the size of a large grape. After that it was just an uncomfortable bump with some pain in my heel. It took around 9 days for the bump to go away but it was probably due to location, we don't have a lot of circulation in the area of the bite so healing was probably longer than it would've been somewhere else.

 

I experienced this bite on my heel, I can't even imagine what Nurbs went through. 

 

Solenopsis invicta

Had a colony where I wanted to see just how fast this species actually grew. Needless to say they grow faster than expected. They broke the 500 worker mark within months and the test tube was halfway full of larva. Started starving them and got rid of it but not before I got stung on my right middle finger, the first joint past the knuckle. 

 

Pain was meh, only about 2/10 stinging type pain. Except it was the itchiest thing in the world. It didn't form a pustule, a pus filled bump, but it was still itchy and red. The redness didn't form a half circle like the Pogonomyrmex sting did but it was still elevated. It was probably the size of half a penny. The area was slightly raised and red. I soaped the area for 5 minutes with warm-hot water so I think it helped with the bite. 

 

It healed in a couple of days but it was itchy the whole time. 

[Ferox_Formicae]

Pseudomyrmex pallidus

 

A few months back I had broken open a hollow twig in my backyard to reveal a large colony of Pseudomyrmex pallidus. One of them walked onto my hand and I tried to get her off by getting her back onto the twig, but she was not having it. She curled her abdomen forward and stung me in between my pinkie and my ring finger. It felt like a 3 at first, but it slowly moved up to a 5. The sting zone swelled and turned red and it itched. There is still a little bit of a scar from the sting. I have heard that this sting rates a 3 on the Schmit Insect Sting Pain Index, but it felt more like a 2, comparable to a Solenopsis invicta sting. I wonder what a sting of 3 feels like?

[FeedTheAnts]

Solenopsis richteri

 

I'm going to sound like an idiot saying this, but I have stuck both of my hands into a Solenopsis mound for more than 20 seconds on at least two occasions. Not really sure exactly why I did it, probably just for the fun of it.

Surprisingly, I have no scars(anymore). I'd only rate the pain as having been a 6 out of 10... guess I have a really high pain tolerance.

[Leo]

Paratopula bauhinia:

No body has ever reported them having a sting before. And I had no idea they had a sting either. Until I accidentally pushed my queen against my wrist whilst it was crawling around. Then I noticed a small red lump and a dot in a middle, 3 out of 10. Then it began to throb and every 30 seconds or so, would randomly flare up in pain then die down. This happened for about 1.5 hours. They seem to be really reluctant stingers, because previously, I sometimes handled them roughly but was not met by aggression.

 

Leptogenys sp:

An individual sting feels like a needle stab you. And its still there. Until you realize that they can sting through tshirts and jeans. And that there a a few dozen on your legs and arms. And that they are gonna sting you. Again. At first its a 5. Then when the stings pile up you start shaking/quivering. and it rises to a 7. Then I had to pick them off 1 by 1 whilst constantly under assault. After a few minutes, the spots swell up until you look like you have acne on your limbs. Oh and the spots fade a few weeks later! Oh well, it was worth the colony.

 

harpegnathos and myrmecia:

I've kept these aggressive species for a year or two now. But never got stung. I do not hope to be stung either. So far I've been careful.

 

tetraponera rufonigra:

Like paratopula bauhinia, but much more aggressive, stings without hesitation and a solid 6 out of 10. Also the spot turns red and the swollen area is about the size of a penny. Was stung between thumb and index finger.

 

brachyponera obscurans:

Was assaulted on the hands. Stings were only about 2 out of 10. annoying but not exactly too painful.

 

Ectommomyrmex sp:

6 out of 10 for about half an hour. Very painful and memorable sting. Was stung on the palm when I grabbed a queen mid flight. Totally worth it. Until the queen died because it was infertile. First a 3/10 then begins to slowly rise to 6-7/10 and your hand starts shaking a bit and it gets hard to write. Then the teacher asks you why your hand it shaking and you can't answer cuz you said you were going to the toilet. not grabbing ant queens.

 

Diacamma rugosum:

Stung on the thumb. Immediately swelled up and turned red 5.5/10. My friend laughed his mom got scared and I went back to catch some more. With bare hands. And no container. Ah, my stupid childhood...

[Canadian anter]

Controversial opinion, but I will rate the Myrmica rubra(at least in my area) at a 5 or even 6. Maybe I'm just really sensitive to them, or maybe the strain here is particularly strong, but these guys HURT. In some occasions if they bite maybe the space between my fingers, it can hurt for up to two days, and a sizable part of my arm will be red (actually sounds like an allergic reaction now that I think about it). These guys hurt a lot more than Odontomachus, Diacamma, Tetraponera, and Solenopsis from experience.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Brachyponera chinesis

 

Ah the good old Asian Needle Ant, an invasive species that has been invading right under our noses here in the Southeast. I've had many run-ins with these girls, and I'll have to rate their sting as a 3. It's not too bad, but it hurts. I'd say i's a little worse hank Solenopsis invicta, but nowhere near as bad as Pseudomyrmex pallidus. When stung, the sting zone turns red and there is some moderate swelling, but nothing too serious. These girls rate a 1 on the insect sting pain index.

 

Pachycondyla harpax

 

A 6 for sure! I picked up one of these girls down in Texas mistaking her for a Camponotus species, and she gave my hand quite the shock! I immediately dropped the ant and screamed out in pain, but I was able to compose myself enough to pick up my phone and record a video of her, really bad quality though as she would not sit still. Needless to say, I left the rest of the colony alone and went over to check out a "big ant" that my sisters friend screamed out. It ended up just being Crematogaster laeviuscula however. These girls rate a 3 on the Insect Sting Pain Index.

[MegaMyrmex]

Don’t make fun of me I was still a young lad when this happened...
Tetramorium immigrans
Was getting rid of a nest cia excavation because the nasty little buggers were everywhere on my lawn and I hate using pesticides. Left for ten minites and came back and sat down on an old stump...right in the middle of the nest. I’d give it a 2.6 since it was momemtary but man fo they sting.

Stigmatomma pallipes
Picked a queen up and felt like a miniscule hot pin prick, so about a 3

[CoolColJ]

Myrmecia nigrocincta

 

Checked all round, didn't see any ants, poked a stick into hole in a ground, and the next thing you know felt a sharp stabbing pin prick type pain in my lower shin

maybe I was lucky, but there was no lingering after effects, no swelling or itch.

 

7/10 on pain scale I guess

 

Edited by CoolColJ, December 24 2018 - 4:03 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Solenopsis richteri

I'm going to sound like an idiot saying this, but I have stuck both of my hands into a Solenopsis mound for more than 20 seconds on at least two occasions. Not really sure exactly why I did it, probably just for the fun of it.
Surprisingly, I have no scars(anymore). I'd only rate the pain as having been a 6 out of 10... guess I have a really high pain tolerance.

I was stupid enough to do that to a Solenopsis invicta nest that had to at least had 200,000 workers under the mound... I was covered with maybe 100 ants. I'd rate maybe a 3 or 4.

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, December 24 2018 - 9:35 AM.

[Rstheant]

Solenopsis xyloni

I was filming some videos of my Solenopsis, when I realized there were about 3 super majors curling up, and stinging me on the back of my palm. It didn’t hurt too much, but they just wouldn’t let go! I had to wash them off, and still, I managed to save the workers.

Pogonomyrmex spp.

I was feeding a Pogonomyrmex queen when I noticed the queen had disappeared! Suddenly I felt a hot prick, on the back of my palm. I had to pull the queen out, because her stinger was stuck in my flesh.

[Rstheant]

Oops, Solenopsis is 4/10, and Pogonomyrmex was like, 8/10. I’m 11 by they way, so my pain intolerance is as high...

[Nylanderiavividula]

This subject is one of the things that led to me keeping ants. Growing up in the Southeast, Solenopsis invicta is just as much a part of life as the sun coming up in the morning. 2-3/10 depending on the amount that get you before you do the dance (Cloud knows the dance I’m referring to).

Several years ago, I was sent by my pest control company to go spray around port-o-lets for black widow spiders out at Savannah River Site (SRS). SRS is in/near Augusta, Ga. and is a very large/secretive place that supposedly works with nuclear waste disposal. It is like a city unto itself and one must go past gates with ex-military servicemen and dogs to check you and your truck and your badge-pass before entering... I was not a fan of that place because I was totally lost when going in and you could get into trouble just driving around out there without a purpose after entering. So I arranged to meet the port-o-let guy out there and ride with him on the giant sewer truck because he knew his way around the site very well and knew where all of the various (200) port-o-lets were located. To pass the time, I talked bugs!

I had been seeing interesting polymorphic ants at various stops coming and going in neat trails with seeds in their mouths. They would go down these little single crater-like holes... The sewer guy I rode with asked me about them and commented that he bet they could pack a sting...I replied that many ant species don’t even have a stinger and I bet those ants were among the stingerless types... So we poured a little water down one of the holes and had a decent number of these heretofore unknown ants running around in alarm when I, in a moment of the purest of pure on the stupidity scale, stuck my open right hand smack dab in them. I had around twenty ands on my hand and arm when I stood up and said, “See? They don’t sti...!” The only syllable of the word “sting” is was trapped in my mouth when the searing venom of Pogonomyrmex badius was pumped into the fleshy part of my right hand below my pinky finger...not quite dorsal nor ventral but directly on the side (lateral). 5-6/10

That was at least five years ago and it remains the worst sting I’ve ever had. As a beekeeper, I get stung often by honey bees. As a pest control operator, I also get stung yearly by things like yellow-jackets and polistes-type wasps. Pogonomyrmex. b. is a stronger sting. It hurt for around five days and did leave a marble-sized hard spot under the skin for over a week. Ironically, it made just depressing the handle on my pump -up sprayer to spray around the outhouses hard to do (it hurt to flex my hand at all). And in another twist of fate, it was a shovel-full of fuel on the fire of ant-interest that caused me to email UGA entomologist Dr. Daniel Suiter to ask for ID and a good field-guide for identification purposes. It may seem counterintuitive that a pest control technician would give two hoots about “bugs”, but many of the best of us care far more about them than the average “Joe”. I look at my job as an opportunity to mollify and educate those who are afraid of and ignorant to the entomological wonders of the world.

Sorry I have been prolix. It’s an inexorable part o of my nature. So: TL:DR = S. invicta 2-3/10. Pogonomyrmex. badius 5-6/10