Most people avoid bugs and creepy crawly things that can bite or sting with good reason.
Dr. Schmidt, a scientist at Arizona’s Southwestern Biological Institute, however, has been stung
countless times by at least 150 different insect species.
Some of these were accidental and chance encounters but others were deliberate.
Under the circumstances, he is quite an authority on the subject.
He has created the Schmidt Sting Pain Index ranking each sting by its level of agony.
Bullet Ants, the largest ants in the world, top it.
Knowing this, we will consider a rather unfortunate scenario on this episode of the Infographics
Show, What if You Were Bitten by 100 Bullet Ants?
Dr. Justin Schmidt is an entomologist who specializes in the study of stinging insects.
His research spanning the last 30 or so years has taken him all over the world, including
to far off and obscure locations.
And, once there, he collects live bug nests.
It is in these circumstances where he is often stung.
His pain index was first created in the ‘80s, but has since been changed so it now ranks
the pain of 78 species in the Hymenoptera group.
This includes wasps, ants, and bees.
At level one, the lowest on the scale, are fire ants and sweat bees.
Level 1.5 includes the bullhorn acacia ant.
Honey bees, yellow jackets, and bald-faced hornets score mid-way on the scale at level
2.
Just above these are the paper wasp and harvester ant at level 3.
Then comes the top, or level 4, which according to Dr. Schmidt, is a feeling you don’t want
to know.
It includes the bullet ant and the tarantula hawk wasp, though between the two, the wasp
sting ranks a bit lower because it doesn’t last nearly as long.
This is in part due to the purpose of the wasp’s poison, which is to prevent it from
getting eaten by things like birds.
Strong, intense, and immediate pain for about three minutes is more than enough to discourage
a would-be predator and give the wasp time to escape somewhere far away.
Its poison is also potent enough to paralyze tarantulas which become food for its offspring.
Dr. Schmidt describes it as 20,000 volts from a snapped power line coursing through your
body.
But the bullet ant venom serves a different purpose and it is used in defense of the ant’s
home and to protect the other thousands in its colony.
It is meant to not just temporarily discourage an intruder but make it so whatever it was
would never even consider coming back again.
Dr. Schmidt. who was stung by an ant on his finger, said it was like putting it in an
electric socket.
Or the feeling you could expect after throwing a hairdryer in your bath.
The sensation traveled upwards so his entire arm was shaking.
However, though it has systemic effects, hence his shaking, it was also localized to the
general area where he was stung.
But the pain lasted for hours.
Those who would know say it’s like getting hit by a bullet and that feeling continues
in endless waves of agony from 12 to 24 hours.
Beyond just rating the pain, Dr. Schmidt uses his knowledge to hypothesize about the function
of pain in insect life.
As we mentioned, it helps with defense and also allows them greater resources as they
can explore large areas without the fear of being eaten.
It lets them thrive in groups as well.
For example, Bullet ants live in a colony of one to three thousand.
Therefore, it is entirely possible for some very unlucky person to stumble upon a nest
and get stung by many of them several times.
Especially since, according to experts, they can signal to others nearby to start stinging
along with them.
The question is what would happen next.
To explore this answer, we must first discover what takes place when one is bitten by several
ants and not just one, which was Dr. Schmidt’s experience.
Steve Backshall, for example, described shaking, sweating, and an increase in pulse as the
sensation travelled his entire body.
In his opinion, in the case of multiple stings, many people would go in and out of consciousness.
He claims you will know nothing else but pain for hours.
However, even Backshall like Schmidt is but a novice when it comes to the bullet ant sting
when compared to the indigenous Satere-Mawe people of Brazil.
The custom is for young teenage boys to wear gloves that are covered with hundreds of bullet
ants for ten agonizing minutes at a time to prove their manhood.
These gloves are first made by sedating the ants in a herbal liquid and then weaving them
into palm leaves in the shape of a large mitt.
The boys must keep it together and remain as calm as possible with their hands inside
these gloves while they are stung repeatedly.
They must do this, not just once, but a total of twenty times.
You heard that right, they must reach into these ant-filled gloves twenty different times.
It leaves their hands swollen and unable to move.
However, as gruesome as this sounds these effects don’t last very long and eventually,
they go away.
Of course, one wonders if they have some kind of an ancestral immunity to the sting.
For example, Hamish Blake of the Australian show Hamish & Andy wore the gloves just once
and then immediately went through what he called the six stages of sting pain.
Step one was shrieking which he did quite nicely and far from stoically.
The second was a departure from tradition as he either refused or was unable to dance.
Stage three was screaming and swearing, which again, he did brilliantly.
Then he began to sweat, shake, and use a biting stick to complete the last three stages.
After two hours of thrashing around in pain he was taken to a hospital and received morphine.
It was 18 hours before he was able to talk normally again.
Though, he came out a winner in the end.
His friends commented that he looked more like a man and he claimed the experience had
grown him another testicle.
However, despite his shrieking and swearing and at times lying prone on the ground as
if dead Hamish was not truly in danger of dying.
In fact, there has never been a documented report of death due to bullet ants, ever.
This is despite this local ritual that countless young boys have participated in as well as
anyone else unlucky enough, or in Hamish’s case curious enough, to be stung.
In fact, it is estimated that a vertebrate would require 30 stings per kg of weight to
be killed by these insects.
That is 30 stings for each 2.2 pounds.
In other words, 2,250 stings would be needed to kill a human weighing (74.8 kilograms)
165 pounds.
And, though it is painful and enduring, within twenty-four hours all signs of the potent
neurotoxin will completely vanish.
You will be left with only your memories.
Which just might keep you up at night.
The fact that the bullet ant’s poison is virtually pure neurotoxin is key.
It has no allergens within it so there is no risk posed by some type of histamine reaction
that could prove deadly, such as with the bee.
And, get this, a day after you are stung by a bullet ant you actually feel amazing.
That’s right, you are basically high off of the adrenaline.
Backshall said he felt so great it was like he was a god or could fly if he wanted for
a good week after.
Still, one wonders if it is worth a full day of agony to get to that point.
Surprisingly, that is not where the benefits of the ant venom end.
It has potential uses as an effective insecticide and, oddly, similar synthetic substances have
shown pain relief properties on rats.
In fact, scientists believe that with some adaptations the bullet ant’s toxins can
be used as a painkiller instead of a source of pain.
And we can turn to the Central American Indians for further proof of bullet ant benefits.
Stings have been used by them as a type of treatment for rheumatism and its mandibles,
or jaws, have worked as sutures.
An ant can bite a wound closed after which its head is snapped off.
It then continues to hold the skin tightly together.
Further, its saliva causes swelling of the area which helps to seal it off and promote
healing.
We didn’t see that one coming.
So, the answer to our original question of what would happen if you were bitten by 100
bullet ants is somewhat anticlimactic as really the answer is likely nothing.
Unless you are very, very small you will not die, but oh, you will suffer.
You will likely join Hamish in the six stages of sting pain or maybe even create a seventh
all your own.
You will swell and shake and sweat and possibly even pass out.
But, as long as it is short of the thousands of stings you need to die, you will live on.
And, after the pain has ended, you will find glory all your own.
You will likely emerge high as a kite with an additional testicle or two.
Now it’s our turn to ask you a question.
Since you know you’ll live, would you be willing to get stung by a hundred bullet ants
to prove you can and that you are really a man?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video called What if You were Attacked by 100 baby
sharks!!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!