The Schmidt Sting Pain Index or The Justin O. Schmidt Pain Index is a scale rating the relative pain caused by different Hymenopteran stings.

The most infamous member species is the so-called bullet ant (P. clavata), 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. Some species listed in the Schmidt sting pain index: Stung: How tiny little insects get us to do exactly as they wish, The Chemical Compositions of Insect Venoms, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Schmidt_sting_pain_index&oldid=985727910, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Conniff, Richard. Apamin is a neurotoxin that augments polysynaptic reflexes. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail. [2] Composition of tarantula hawk venom is unknown. The Schmidt Sting Pain Index or The Justin O. Schmidt Pain Index is a scale rating the relative pain caused by different Hymenopteran stings. Their chief food source usually consists of seeds, which they hoard in great numbers, hence their name.

Many of these bites or stings can cause pain, death or reactions to our systems that can be mild to extreme. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. 2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy.

Coyote Peterson used it as a basis for the sting part of the Brave Wilderness series, until he conquered and surpassed it. Watch full episodes now. Schmidt also rates the sting of the warrior wasp as a 4, describing it as "Torture. *3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Later revised versions of the index added Synoeca septentrionalis, along with tarantula hawks as the only species to share this ranking. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt (born 1947), an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona, United States. Their sting hurts, but the pain only lasts around 10 minutes. One of the kinins found in wasp kinin, "polistes kinin 3", is found to lead to similar effects on smooth musculature and circulation as bradykinin. They can be identified by their distinctive combination of black-and-yellow color, small size (slightly larger than a bee), and entirely black antennae. New episodes of "Kings of Pain premiere every Tuesday at 10/9c on HISTORY.

It was the result of spending more than a decade being purposely stung and bitten by bugs, then describing the pain and experience. Schmidt later gave the sting of the tarantula hawk a rating of a 4, which he described as "blinding, fierce [and] shockingly electric"[3], though the duration of pain from the sting is short-lived, lasting only approximately 5 minutes.

1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. The Pain Index of Stinging Insects. [6] Pain is an advertisement of damage in the body, but molecules that produce pain and those that are toxic, and actively cause damage, are not the same. Entomologist Justin O. Schmidt created this index. It was compared to by Schmidt to feeling as if you’re walking over burning coals with a nail in your foot. Yellowjackets are black-and-yellow wasps of the genus Vespula or Dolichovespula (some can be black-and-white, the most notable of these being the bald-faced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata). Paper wasps are also sometimes called umbrella wasps, due to the distinctive design of their nests.

4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Fire ants often attack small animals and can kill them.

It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist for whom the index is named. He published his "Schmidt Pain Index" in 1984 (refined in later papers, eg 1990), which ranked the sting-pain on a scale from 0 (completely benign) to 4 (mostly dead). But after realizing the value in measuring the pain of those stings, he started actively seeking to induce the creatures’ defensive reaction by placing them on his arm and gently pressing down until they felt threatened enough to plunge their stinger into his flesh. [7], Feeling only slight pain, Schmidt has described the sting of a digger bee, categorized into Pain Level 1, as "almost pleasant, a lover just bit your earlobe a little too hard. The index contained in the paper started from 0 for stings that are completely ineffective against humans, progressed through 2, a familiar pain such as a common bee or wasp sting, and finished at 4 for the most painful stings. [2], The sting of a termite-raiding ant, categorized as a pain level of 2, has a similar feeling as "the debilitating pain of a migraine contained in the tip of your finger," according to Schmidt. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. It is called by the locals, “Hormiga Veinticuatro,” from 24 hours of pain that follow a stinging. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath (if you get stung by one you might as well lie down and scream).

The Bald-faced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata is not a true hornet at all. However, with the evolution of sociality where many Hymenoptera cluster together in colonies, nests become a nutritionally rich and therefore worthwhile target.

Although the painful signal acts as a deterrent, intelligent predators will learn the dishonesty of this signal with repeated exposure – that there is no real damage being done. When Justin Schmidt started studying insects four decades ago, the University of Arizona entomologist was originally only interested in the social lives of ants, wasps and bees. The ants live in the hollowed-out thorns for which the tree is named after. For humans, this is a painful sting, which leaves a sensation similar to what one feels when they get burned by fire — hence the name fire ant — and the aftereffects of the sting can be deadly to sensitive individuals. The duration of the pain of the stings in this level is generally between five and ten minutes long. “And foolish enough.”. Schmidt has published a number of papers on the subject and claims to have been stung by the majority of stinging Hymenoptera.

It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt (born 1947), an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona.

With large amounts of honey in an average honey bee nest, the main purpose of a bee sting is to defend the nest and the colony against any attack, from mice and other animals, right up to humans. "[3] Also rated into Pain Level 1, Schmidt has described the sting of the sweat bee as "light, ephemeral, almost fruity. [3], An entry in The Straight Dope reported that "implausibly exact numbers" which do not appear in any of Schmidt’s published scientific papers were "wheedled out of him" by Outside magazine for an article it published in 1996. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano. To give a sense of what those numbers mean, the sting of the average honey bee or wasp is rated at a "2". In addition to their potent sting, Red Harvester ants can bite ferociously. The Sting of the Wild includes the complete Schmidt Sting Pain Index, published here for the first time. Notably, Schmidt described some of the experiences in vivid and colorful detail: The pain caused by this insect’s sting is greater than that of any other Hymenopteran, and is ranked as the most painful according to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. Below, a sampling of entries from Schmidt’s pain index: Like any intrepid bug researcher, Schmidt suffered his share of accidental stings while observing his subjects and collecting samples. Sweat bee is the common name for bees that are attracted to pollen and the salt in human perspiration. : "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. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch. The insect pain index is a common name for the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. It will, however, attempt to describe the different problems encountered by humans and domestic animals that are caused by insects, reptiles, and others.