NationStates Jolt Archive

We can't all experience everything, so it's good that we have braver souls to chart the path ahead and report their findings back to us. Ever wonder, for instance, what it would be like to be stung by a Bald-faced hornet? Well, you do now.

You can thank one Justin Schmidt for that nugget of wisdom. Mr. Schmidt, an American entomologist, has had the dubious honor of being attacked by nearly every kind of bee, wasp, and ant yet known. Using this wealth of experience, he created the Schmidt Sting Pain Index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index), a handy chart that measures the relative amount of pain caused by various insect stings.

Its descriptions are almost absurd in their frankness:


1.0 Sweat bee: "Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm."
1.2 Fire ant: "Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet and reaching for the light switch."
1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: "A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek."
2.0 Bald-faced hornet: "Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door."
2.0 Yellowjacket: "Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue."
2.x Honey bee, Africanized bee and European hornet.
3.0 Red harvester ant: "Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail."
3.0 Paper wasp: "Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of Hydrochloric acid on a paper cut."
4.0 Pepsis wasp: "Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath."
4.0+ Bullet ant: "Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail in your heel."


Let's take a look at two of these creatures in more detail...

The Pepsis Wasp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk): The sting, particularly of Pepsis formosa, is among the most painful of any insect. Commenting on his own experience, one researcher said, "You will curse your mother for ever having you." Another described, "...immediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one’s ability to do anything, except, perhaps, scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations." Yet another said, "It's not like things that make you swear and say bad things about somebody's mother. These things, when you get stung, you might as well lie down and scream. Why not? It takes your attention off the pain."

And finally, the mother of all stingers:

The Bullet Ant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraponera): Named on account of its powerful and potent sting, 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, and, presumably, have also been shot with a bullet. The pain caused by this insect's sting is the highest among all known insect bites. It is said that it takes a full 24 hours for the pain to recede.

Sounds bad, eh? Well, take a look at this:

Bullet ants are used by some indigenous people in their initiation rites to manhood. The ants are first knocked out by drowning them in a natural chloroform, and then hundreds of them are woven into sleeves made out of leaves, stinger facing inward. When the ants come to, boys slip the sleeve down onto their arm. The goal of this initiation rite is to keep the sleeve on for a full ten minutes without showing any signs of pain. When finished, the arms of the boys (now considered men) are temporarily paralyzed because of the venom, and they may shake uncontrollably for days.

All I can say is ":eek:!"

So, got any hellish insect stories of your own?

[Quoted information courtesy of Wikipedia]

Bullet ants are used by some indigenous people in their initiation rites to manhood...
I prefer the good ol' fashioned western initiation into manhood, which is getting rotten drunk, vomiting onto oneself and having a mate tie your shoelaces together and shave your eyebrow whilst passed out.
Also lying one's way into a strip club at age 17.

Much better than screaming your head off from ant stings.

I love these descriptions of pain.

I saw a show on the National Geographic channel about that initiation rite, the boy's hands were beet red and swollen as if they'd been crushed in a winch or something horrible.

I saw a show on the National Geographic channel about that initiation rite, the boy's hands were beet red and swollen as if they'd been crushed in a winch or something horrible.

I want to know what sick sadist came up with this ritual. Every other brutal initiation rite I've heard of pales in comparison to this.

I'd opt for the Peter Pan route. The very idea makes me want to cry. :(

I want to know what sick sadist came up with this ritual. Every other brutal initiation rite I've heard of pales in comparison to this.

The only ones that I can think can compare to the ant-mittens would be the African tribe that forces its boys to jump off of rickety wooden towers with vines attached to their ankles, they're required to touch the ground with their head. Also another one from I think east Africa where boys are circumcised with a dull knife without anesthetic and forced to survive alone in the wilderness until their wound healed. Infection killed plenty of them.

The only ones that I can think can compare to the ant-mittens
Ant-sleeves, Pyotr. Ant-sleeves. :eek:

the African tribe that forces its boys to jump off of rickety wooden towers with vines attached to their ankles, they're required to touch the ground with their head. Also another one from I think east Africa where boys are circumcised with a dull knife without anesthetic and forced to survive alone in the wilderness until their wound healed. Infection killed plenty of them.

I don't understand these rituals. You'd think the most primitive societies would be the ones most in tune with the principle of "survival of the fittest". Unless by "fittest" they mean "whoever was lucky enough to fashion a rope of the precisely the right length". And it's not like those other rites weed the weak people out. Hell, it weakens most of the people, and kills the rest. Where's the sense in that?

[/rant]

I got stung on the eyelid by a yellowjacket when I was in third grade. I don't think I've ever experienced greater pain to this day, and that was nearly thirty years ago.

What good are these things if no pics were involved...

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/nathis/insects/mowasp/images/wasp9.jpg
1.0 Sweat bee: "Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm."

http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/education/stowawayskidspages/images/38day1fireant.jpg
1.2 Fire ant: "Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet and reaching for the light switch."

http://www.discoverlife.org/pa/or/polistes/pr/2005centers/images/Ant,Bullhorn_Acacia,food_bodies,EL_DP161.320.jpg
1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: "A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek."

http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/Insects/Bald-faced%20Hornet/bald_faced_horne-35.jpg
2.0 Bald-faced hornet: "Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door."

http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/good-bad/yellowjacket.jpg
2.0 Yellowjacket: "Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue."

image not used due to &#*@%$ 10 image limit
2.x Honey bee, Africanized bee and European hornet.

http://stephenville.tamu.edu/~fmitchel/insects/t_1140.jpg
3.0 Red harvester ant: "Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail."

http://www.cirrusimage.com/Hymenoptera/paper-wasp-05-02.jpg
3.0 Paper wasp: "Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of Hydrochloric acid on a paper cut."

http://www.aamsnakes.com/images/AZWildlife/pxth_PepsisWaspOrange-01.jpg
4.0 Pepsis wasp: "Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath."

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/goingplaces2/ecuador/slides/s-bulletant.jpg
4.0+ Bullet ant: "Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail in your heel."

FUCK!!! look at the size of the Bullet Ant! :eek:

What good are these things if no pics were involved...
Nice work. :cool:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/goingplaces2/ecuador/slides/s-bulletant.jpg
4.0+ Bullet ant: "Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail in your heel."

FUCK!!! look at the size of the Bullet Ant! :eek:

Question: What the HELL is he doing letting it crawl on his arm?!

Why weren't these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Giant_Hornet) included in that list?

Nice work. :cool:



Question: What the HELL is he doing letting it crawl on his arm?!

He's learning how to bite the bullet.

...okay, shoot me for that one, please!

Why weren't these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Giant_Hornet) included in that list?

The stinger of the Asian giant hornet is about a quarter-inch (6 mm) in length, and injects an especially potent venom that contains an enzyme so strong that it can dissolve human tissue. Masato Ono, an entomologist at Tamagawa University near Tokyo, described the sensation as feeling "like a hot nail through my leg." If a person is stung by the giant hornet and does not receive prompt medical treatment, he or she may die from a reaction to the venom.

http://home.blarg.net/~wayule/graphics/wasp.jpg

http://www.hemmy.net/images/animals/gianthornet00.jpg

*gibbers*

Question: What the HELL is he doing letting it crawl on his arm?!crawling is ok... it's the biting/stinging that you don't want.

He's learning how to bite the bullet.

...okay, shoot me for that one, please!maybe it'll just wing him. *Rim shot*

http://home.blarg.net/~wayule/graphics/wasp.jpg

http://www.hemmy.net/images/animals/gianthornet00.jpg

*gibbers*:eek:
...

boy am I glad that the insect world doesn't have plans for world domination.

Native Honey Bees

Although a handful of Asian giant hornets can easily defeat the defenses of honey bees, whose correspondingly small sting cannot inflict much damage against such a large predator as the giant hornet, the Japanese honey bee (Apis cerana japonica) has evolved a method of defending against the much larger predator.

When a hornet scout locates a Japanese honey bee hive and approaches the nest, the scout will emit specific pheromonal hunting signals. When the honey bees detect these pheromones, a hundred or so will gather near the entrance of the nest and keep it open, apparently to draw the hornet further into the hive or allow it to enter on its own. As the hornet enters the nest, a large mob of about five hundred honey bees surround the hornet, completely covering it and preventing it from moving, and begin quickly vibrating their flight muscles. This has the effect of raising the temperature of the honey bee mass to 47 °C (117 °F). Though the honey bees can tolerate such a temperature, it is fatal to the intruder, which can handle a maximum temperature of about 45 °C (113 °F), and is effectively baked to death by the large mass of vibrating bees. Often several bees perish along with the intruder in this way, having sacrificed themselves for the survival of the colony.

Fuck... or should I say "Gang Banged"?

boy am I glad that the insect world doesn't have plans for world domination.

Don't be so sure...

The insects are the largest class in the animal world, outnumbering all other animals. Some 1 million species have been described, and entomologists believe that millions more remain to be discovered. Estimates for the number of individual insects in the world range as high as 10 quintillion, and their total biomass is probably larger than that of any other class of terrestrial animals. The class Insecta is distributed throughout the world from the polar regions to the Tropics and is found on land, in fresh and salt water, and in salt lakes and hot springs.

Question: What the HELL is he doing letting it crawl on his arm?!
I'd say whatever the hell it likes.
An ant that size and with that sort of bite is the proverbial 800 lb gorilla.


the African tribe that forces its boys to jump off of rickety wooden towers with vines attached to their ankles, they're required to touch the ground with their head.
Pedant: It's not African, it's the tribes of Pentecost island which is part of Vanuatu in the South Pacific.
Discovery Channel's been showing a docu of the Bunlap tribe recently, which has been quite cool to watch.
Vanatu makes a pretty good beer, btw.
This sums up my entire knowledge of the place: Vine jumping, Disco docu and beer.

boy am I glad that the insect world doesn't have plans for world domination.
I for one welcome our insect overlords.

I don't understand these rituals. You'd think the most primitive societies would be the ones most in tune with the principle of "survival of the fittest". Unless by "fittest" they mean "whoever was lucky enough to fashion a rope of the precisely the right length". And it's not like those other rites weed the weak people out. Hell, it weakens most of the people, and kills the rest. Where's the sense in that?

[/rant]

I'm guessing its the judgment of the boy's skill in selecting a vine with the correct length, flexibility and strength to make sure he doesn't crater upon impact, also a test of their courage.

I'm guessing its the judgment of the boy's skill in selecting a vine with the correct length, flexibility and strength to make sure he doesn't crater upon impact, also a test of their courage.
more like a test of intelligence... where only the smart ones say "OH HELL NO!" :D

http://www.hemmy.net/images/animals/gianthornet00.jpg
*gibbers*

Saw a docu. on those hornets, for the love of god they're monsters, it showed them attacking a beehive, it was like an Insect version of the Somme, or maybe the Rwandan genocide. I can't decide which.

Saw a docu. on those hornets, for the love of god they're monsters, it showed them attacking a beehive, it was like an Insect version of the Somme, or maybe the Rwandan genocide. I can't decide which.
like the defense that the bees put up. to bad it's great against one or two of em, not a swarm.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Honeybee_thermal_defence01.jpg/800px-Honeybee_thermal_defence01.jpg
Japanese honeybees (Apis cerana japonica) forming a "bee ball" in which two hornets (Vespa simillima xanthoptera) are engulfed and being heated.

I for one welcome our insect overlords.

Simpsons, thats the second time I've seen the reference on this forum today.

Simpsons, thats the second time I've seen the reference on this forum today.

boy, you are new here arn't you. Welcome to NSG! :D

The only ones that I can think can compare to the ant-mittens would be the African tribe that forces its boys to jump off of rickety wooden towers with vines attached to their ankles, they're required to touch the ground with their head.
I think it is also practiced in America though by the name Bungee Jumping!