Cavedale RhônesCame across a Velvet Ant today. Cute little bug that is not an ant, but a wingless wasp with a serious sting. It is nicknamed “Cow Killer”, so you don’t want to mess with them! #Insects
AI6YR Ben@ai6yr You can test it if you want 🤣🫣. According to my 8 year old grandson, the African version which has red fur, is the real Cow Killer. He is a student of dangerous stuff in the world. 😉
W6KME@CavedaleRhones @ai6yr good thing they are such chill things, because they're everywhere here.
@W6KME @CavedaleRhones We have Tarantula Hawks, which I steer clear of. They have a reputation for dispensing immense pain.
@W6KME @silentLurker @CavedaleRhones
HAHAHAHA someone actually got stung by every single one of these insects for this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_sting_pain_index
h/t @emily
NilaJones@ai6yr @W6KME @silentLurker @CavedaleRhones @emily
The descriptions are amazing!
But also, this guy has the least reaction to stings that I have ever heard of
For him, the pain is incredibly brief. And he can't even tell the difference, it sounds like, between bees and yellow jackets, in pain level
'Schmidt set the sting of the Western honey bee at a pain level of 2 to be the anchoring value, basing his categorization of all other stings on it. He has categorized a variety of wasps, bees, and ants into pain level 2, including yellowjackets, the Asiatic honey bee, the trap-jaw ant, and the bald-faced hornet. The duration of the pain of the stings in this level is generally between five and ten minutes long'
For me, those guys are more like his description of the worst ever insect: "Paraponera clavata stings induced immediate, excruciating pain and numbness to pencil-point pressure, as well as trembling in the form of a totally uncontrollable urge to shake the affected part."In a later work, he described the sting as "pure, intense, brilliant pain...like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel."
And for me, the intense pain from bees and yellow jackets lasts about 3 days. Then there's another week or so of itching
(I did forget the little wild bees on my list last night. They aren't too bad)
@NilaJones @ai6yr @silentLurker @CavedaleRhones @emily That's always been my impression too, ain't no way a bee sting can be compared to a loving nip on the ear lobe.
@W6KME @ai6yr @silentLurker @CavedaleRhones @emily
People do vary a lot in their reactivity. I was working construction with a guy one time who got a yellow jacket inside the back of his shirt. He had like four stings on his back
I was like omg, do you want to go home for the day?! But he said he was fine. And the stings looked like mosquito bites look on me. Red about an inch across
On me, each one would be as big as the palm of your hand
there is beauty in simplicity@NilaJones @W6KME @ai6yr @silentLurker @CavedaleRhones @emily and the guy who sought out stings to document them is obviously into it