(slow melodic music)
- [Narrator] If you're a fan of "Brave Wilderness"
then you are no stranger
to Coyote Peterson taking stings from terrifying insects.
(Coyote screaming)
(Coyote grunting)
Warrior wasp, tarantula hawk, bullet ant,
he's done them all.
These insects have helped bring "Brave Wilderness"
to millions of people around the world.
And to commemorate them,
we've created this bee-utiful poster
that highlights Coyote's painful
yet educational climb up the sting index.
To give back to these fascinating creatures
that have given so much to "Brave Wilderness,"
a portion of proceeds from the poster
will be donated to support native bees and other pollinators
in the United States.
In this episode,
we'll revisit these stings in order from very painful,
to more painful,
to the most extreme,
(Coyote screaming)
life altering,
mind bending,
agonizing pain that can be delivered
from the insect kingdom.
Inspired by entomologist Justin Schmidt,
grab your EpiPen and get ready
because we're about to watch
Coyote climb his own sting index.
- What I am standing in
is the attack zone of the harvester ant.
I'm basically just going to put my hands down
right here in front of their burrow,
and let them hop on.
- [Narrator] The harvester ant has the most potent venom
in the insect kingdom,
450 harvester ant stings could potentially kill
a 150 pound human.
Harvester ants can bite and sting,
but the bite contains no venom.
It's only used to hold the ant in place
so it can sting repetitively.
- I'm Coyote Peterson
and I'm about to enter the strike zone with the fire ant.
You guys ready?
Your shot good?
- [Cameraman] Yep.
- [Narrator] Fire ant venom is composed of alkaloids
that have neurotoxic properties,
and the white pustules appear
because of the insoluble nature of the alkaloids.
- [Coyote] Ow. Ow. Ow.
- [Narrator] Fire ants were accidentally introduced
into the U.S. from South America in the 1930's.
- That's a lot of stings already.
- [Narrator] The ants quickly spread
becoming a major agricultural and urban pest.
(Coyote hollering)
- I'm Coyote Peterson,
and I'm about to enter the sting zone
with the yellow jacket.
Here we go.
- [Narrator] Like many paper wasps,
yellow jackets gather fibers from wood and plant stems,
which they mix with their saliva
to create their paper-like nests.
- [Cameraman] Did you get it there?
- [Coyote] Got me there, yeah.
- [Narrator] Yellow jackets can sting multiple times
and have a smooth stinger,
unlike honeybees, which have barb stingers
and can only sting once.
- He got the singer like all the way inserted into my arm.
I'm Coyote Peterson,
and I'm about to be stung by the cicada killer.
Oh my goodness, that stinger is long.
Here we go.
- [Narrator] Cicada killer eggs hatch in one to three days,
then the larva eats the cicada over the course of a week.
Then, the larva forms a silk cocoon
and pupates for 10 months before emerging the next year.
(Coyote screaming)
A single female cicada killer can lay as many as 15 eggs
despite only living a couple of months.
(Coyote gasping)
- It got me more than once, too.
- [Narrator] Only female cicada killers
have the ability to sting.
- Long stinger. Oh yeah, it's throbbing.
I'm Coyote Peterson,
and I'm about to take on the bee beard challenge.
Let's do this.
- [Cameraman] No turning back now, buddy.
- [Narrator] European honeybees are responsible
for pollinating one third of all the food Americans eat.
- Ow, stung in the lip.
(bees buzzing)
- You got it. You got this.
- Getting stung a lot.
I've been stung about six times.
- [Narrator] A queen can lay up to 1,500 eggs
in a single day.
Wow.
Honeybees live in large colonies
ranging from 1000 to 60,000 individuals.
- I think I need to get them off.
That's a lot of pain.
- [Cameraman] But you've almost got it. You're so close.
- All right, you gotta get them off.
- Go ahead and just jump real hard and just knock them off.
(bees buzzing)
- They're all on my face.
- [Cameraman] Relax.
You all right?
(bees buzzing)
- I'm Coyote Peterson,
and I'm about to enter the sting zone with the cow killer.
Are you ready?
- [Cameraman] Are you ready?
- No, I'm never ready.
One.
- [Narrator] Despite being called velvet ants,
they're actually wasps.
- You good?
- [Cameraman] Yeah.
- Get your shot, I'm gonna place it right down on my arm.
- [Narrator] Females are wingless and have stingers,
while the males are stingerless and have wings.
That's pretty cool.
(Coyote grunting)
The oldest fossil evidence of velvet ants
comes from 40 million year old amber
discovered in the Dominican Republic.
- Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Okay.
(Coyote heavily breathing)
I'm Coyote Peterson,
and I'm about to enter the sting zone with the warrior wasp.
Here we go.
- [Narrator] Worker wasps will often
warn the colony of danger by scraping their mandibles
against the nest walls.
This behavior has given these wasps
the nickname drumming wasps.
Warrior wasps have an elaborate threat display,
which consists of several wasps beating their wings
in a synchronized fashion while guarding a nest.
(Coyote hollering)
Warrior wasps build nests high up in tree branches.
These nests are a single comb
and have a very distinct oval shape.
- Ah.
- [Cameraman] Talk to me, what do you feel?
- Oh man, yep, it's bad.
Oh man, it's getting a lot worse.
- [Cameraman] What's it feel like?
- I'm Coyote Peterson,
and I'm about to enter the sting zone
with the tarantula hawk.
Let's go for it.
- [Narrator] Tarantula hawks are the largest
spider wasp species in the world.
- [Coyote] Here we go.
Three.
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] I bet you didn't know that tarantula hawks
are the official state insect of New Mexico.
(Coyote hollering)
It takes about 35 days for a tarantula hawk egg to hatch,
once laid on a paralyzed tarantula carcass.
Gross.
(Coyote screaming)
Male tarantula hawks do not have a stinger
and are completely harmless to humans,
as well as tarantulas.
However, they are very territorial
towards other male tarantulas.
(Coyote grunting)
Roadrunners are one of the few animals
that will prey on tarantula hawks.
That is one brave bird.
(Coyote grunting)
- I'm Coyote Peterson,
and I'm about to take on the bullet ant challenge.
Are you ready?
- [Cameraman] Let's do it.
- [Narrator] At over an inch long,
bullet ants are one of the largest ant species in the world.
- [Coyote] Three.
Ah!
- [Narrator] The bullet ant is the only known living species
within the genus Paraponera.
- Okay, it's off. It's off. It's off.
Oh my gosh!
- [Narrator] The toxin in this ant's venom
is called poneratoxin,
which attacks its victims' pain receptors.
- Oh my God, it is really bad.
Oh my gosh, I think it has the tarantula hawk topped.
- [Narrator] Despite their powerful sting,
bullet ants live peacefully in large colonies
at the base of jungle trees,
where they forage for plant matter, nectars,
and small insects, which they feed to their young.
- Right into the vein.
There is the sting insertion point right there.
Oh my gosh. It is like, oh, it's hot.
Oh, I can feel the venom already,
right in my forearm.
(air whooshing)
I'm Coyote Peterson,
and I'm about to answer the sting zone
with Japanese giant hornet.
- [Narrator] Japanese giant hornets can grow
to nearly two inches long
and have three inch wingspans.
The venom attacks the nervous system
and can damage surrounding tissue through necrosis.
That sounds awful.
(Coyote heavily breathing)
These large hornets hunt for a wide range of insect prey
and often target colonies of European bees.
The worker hornets dismember these bees
with powerful mandibles,
and bring them back to their colony as a meal for the brood.
- [Coyote] There's where the stinger went in, right there.
Did you guys see how small the sting was?
(Coyote grunting)
- I see blood.
- [Narrator] In Japanese,
the giant hornet is known as osuzumebachi
which means, great sparrow bee.
- [Narrator] This is like the tarantula hawk.
Look at the swelling that's beginning to form on my arm.
My forearm is incredibly taught.
Only about 45 seconds have gone by.
I'm Coyote Peterson,
and I'm about to enter the sting zone
with the executioner wasp.
Here we go.
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] The executioner wasp
is one of the largest members of the paper wasp family
found in Central and South America.
Being a social insect, members of a colony cooperate
to take care of the brood
and defend the nest from potential predators.
- Oh my gosh.
That's really bad, really quick.
- [Narrator] Adult executioner wasps collect nectars
and insect prey to feed their larva.
- Oh, right there.
You can see the venom coming right out
of my arm right there.
You see that?
Oh my gosh. Oh, that hurts a lot.
- [Narrator] Similar to other wasp species,
executioner wasps can deliver multiple stings at once
and facing a swarm of these
would be anyone's worst nightmare.
(Coyote grunting)
Coyote, are you okay?
Yeah, I think he is.
At least for now.
If you liked this epic recap of these painful moments,
then you'll really like this epic poster
commemorating Coyotes excruciating journey
through the sting index.
Buy yours today at shopbravewilderness.com
To discover ways you can help native pollinators
in your own backyard,
check out these quick tips in the video description below.
(dramatic music)