The worst Hymenoptera sting in the world

[lucanidae25]

Myrmecia sp (bull ants from Australia) is the most paintful and the worst stings among all Hymenoptera in the world. Even worst than bullet ants and Pepsis heros from S. America. I got stung 3 times the 1st time it least 3 days and each time it gets worst, the last time I got stung it least for one week.

Attachments:

[hymenoptera117]

They are nasty vicious things, I am am fortunate enough not to have ever been stung but I hate it when I stumble on a nest.
I read somewhere that if you cut one in half the head will bite the abdomen and it will sting its head, but I have never tried this.

[steve]

We have these in our garden... need to be careful doing the weeding. Even the copperhead snakes are frightened of them !

[jamesd]

I've never been bitten, but you usually see a swell by several cm radius, for about a week. I remember hearing somewhere that a few people have died from some particularly nasty species, but I'm not sure if that is actually true.

[prillbug2]

Actually, I have been told that the worst sting is by the genus Pachycondola. A friend of mine who studies ants told me that he had been stung by them down in Venezuela and that the pain of the sting remained for about two months afterward, also that he had temporarily lost the use of one of his fingers. We encountered a nest of these ants in Belize back in 2008. We were walking on egg shells trying to avoid them crawling on us. The genus reaches southern USA through Texas, but is primarily tropical.
Jeff Prill

[wingedwishes]

I have read reports of Bullet Ants: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraponera

I thought they were the worst. I hope I never know first hand.

[lucanidae25]

The last time I got stung by the bull ant on my hand, I lost all feeling on my hand for 2 days and my hand swollen 3 time my narmal size for one week. It was so lucky it wasn't any where near my neck. I read some where one sp of bull ant from Tasmania is the worst sp in Australia.

[jackblack]

Everyone has a different reaction , I have been stung by Myrmecia nigrocincta in my garden several times during my work in the rainforest , I rate the pain , like having a finger chopped off and it lasts about one hour , cold/ice water can releive the pain a little .I have many breeder of ants around the world ask me for queens of this ant , but I`m reluctant to dig any for them .
These ants have one enemy in my rainforest , the green weever ants who come down from the canopy and attack them and drag their victims into the canopy.I had an entomologist come here to film them at my farm, Rud was his name , he was very brave ?? so it seems , he let the ants crawl on him and sting him for his documentary ,after many stings he was crying afterwards the pain was so bad , me I enjoy to watch the ants one nest of 4 years now near my back door of the house.Some nests I see in my forest are ancient.

[wingedwishes]

With some envenomations from animals like a lionfish, a product fromthe grocery store can help. Meat tenderizer apparently breaks up the proteins in the poison.

[johnnyboy]

Last year, while out on an organised trek in NE Peru, a Canadian woman died after stepping on a poisonous caterpillar from the genus Lonomia.

Apparently the poison caused internal haemorrhaging.

It shows the dangers of walking barefoot in tropical, or equatorial forests.

Johnny

[saturniidave]

Larvae of Lonomia have killed a few people Johnny. They rest in clusters at the base of trees during the day and climb up to feed at night. Their hairs contain a powerful anti-coagulant which causes haemorrhaging.
It is when they are resting that they get trodden on.

[jackblack]

I grew up in PNG as a boy , everyone ran around barefoot , I asked the natives aren`t you worried about being bitten by a venomous snake or something, they said no , as barefoot we can feel them underfoot and leap out of the way.
Me I always get around barefoot in my rainforest over 30 years now , we have some of the deadliest snakes in the world , so tread lightly.