- You know what I love about laying in the snow?
There aren't any ants, which is good news for me
considering what I had to endure in Arizona.
But stay tuned 'cause today we're talking about ant venom.
(dramatic, fast-paced music)
(growl)
Welcome back, coyote pack.
Man, it's just not getting any warmer here in Ohio,
and to keep my fingers warm,
I'm gonna mentally project myself
back to the scorching hot deserts of Arizona.
Oh, wait.
Last time I was there,
I was bitten by a Gila monster,
attacked by cactus, and swarmed by harvester ants.
Ah!
Ugh!
I guess there really is no place like home
even if it is freezing cold.
Okay, so we had several great questions
about the harvester ant episode.
Now, many of you wanted to know if the harvester ants
could only sting once or if they could sting repeatedly.
The simple answer is yes.
They can sting many times,
and, unlike a honey bee, they don't lose their stinger.
In fact, once an ant has latched on with its mandibles,
they swing their abdomen underneath their body,
where they will hold themselves in position
and inflict a sting over and over again
without letting go
all the while pumping more and more venom
into their victim.
This happened to me in several areas.
Where it wasn't a sting and go, it was a sting and stay,
and these sting zones were the worst by far.
(exhales)
Still one in my pants.
Ah!
This is truly the meaning of ants in your pants.
Honey bees are actually one of the only animals
that lose their stingers, and it's not for the better.
These stingers are barbed,
so when they sting, it gets stuck in the victim
and then gets pulled from the body when they fly away,
resulting in an abdominal rupture,
and sadly the bee ends up dying in the end.
Now, another question we had, asked by Christine two, was
"If a harvester ant's sting
"is 20 times more potent than a honey bee,
"what makes it bad?
"Is it the venom or is it how deep the stinger goes?"
Oh, that burns.
Ah, they're all over my hands now, look at that.
Well, Christine, when we're talking about venom,
it's all about the potency and the yield.
The potency is how toxic the venom is,
and the yield is the amount that's injected.
Now, it is true that harvester ant venom
is 20 times more potent than a honey bee.
However, their yield is rather low,
especially from a single sting.
This is how my body was able to take so many stings at once.
Ah!
Now, if I had been stung 60 times by honey bees,
which have a much higher venom yield,
I might have been in some serious trouble.
All venomous animals,
whether it be a Gila monster, a scorpion,
or a harvester ant,
are all ranked on the LD50 scale,
which means lethal dose of venom required to kill 50%
or half the members of a tested population.
It's a controversial test
as it's often performed on lab rats.
However, it does allow scientists to rank
venom toxicity in the animal kingdom.
So while the harvester ant is considered
one of the most toxic insects,
it has a rather low venom yield,
making it less dangerous to humans.
Hence why I was able to be stung so many times.
Make sense?
Ah.
- [Voiceover] I know it hurts.
(exhales)
Whoo!
Aw, man.
Arms, legs, neck, armpit all on fire right now.
Now, I know this could all be just a bit confusing,
so let's just remember one thing.
As long as you stay a safe distance
from animals in the wild, there's a good chance
that you won't end up in the strike zone,
pretty much guaranteeing that you won't ever be
bitten or stung.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you next week.
If you want to see me get swarmed by harvester ants,
make sure to check out the Ants Attack episode,
and don't forget.
Subscribe to join me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.
(bear growls) (rumbling)
(birds chirping) (howling)