![]() Seek immediate medical attention for stings inside the mouth or throat (which might cause an airway blockage), for multiple stings that cause serious swelling, or if you suffer strong allergic reaction or anaphylactic shock. a tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.” How to treat a bee or wasp sting Sweat bees (small Halictus and Lasioglossum species) and red ants such as Solenopsis and Myrmica species. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.” pain level 1Īny pain is minor and short-lived, lasting five minutes or less. Honeybee, Apis mellifera, bumblebees ( Bombus species), social wasps ( Vespula and Dolichovespula species) and American bald-faced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata. Sudden stabbing pain, giving way to an aching throb. “After eight unrelenting hours of drilling into that ingrown toenail, you find the drill wedged into the toe.” Pain level 2 Paper wasps ( Polistes species), velvet ants (family Mutillidae, actually furry wingless wasps), very large bull ( Myrmecia) or harvester ( Pogonomyrmex) ants. Very strong pain that can last up to half an hour. “Like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel.” Pain level 3 ![]() Tarantula hawk (a large spider-hunting wasp, family Pompylidae), bullet ant, Paraponera clavata ( below), and warrior wasp, Synoeca septemtrionalis. Pain that makes you just want to lie down and scream. US entomologist Justin Schmidt formulated a pain index while studying the biology of stinging insects. Which species of bees and wasps have the most painful stings? But many more people get anaphylaxis from foods such as peanuts or from drugs, including penicillin, than from wasp stings. It can be fatal without immediate medical intervention – usually an adrenaline injection. Such a huge, overwhelming response by the body’s immune system, with its massive release of histamines and other inflammatory proteins, causes breathing difficulties, low blood pressure, interference with the heart muscles and internal bleeding. Thankfully, anaphylactic shock is extremely rare. Most people on the receiving end of multiple stings are rural farm-workers in underdeveloped nations who stumble upon a nest and cannot get away to find shelter. An average adult weighing 60–80kg would be lucky to survive 1,000 stings and there are regular reports of deaths beyond 1,200. There is no anti-venom like those used to treat snake bites, but dialysis can remove the toxins and stabilise a patient. Anybody receiving 100 stings should urgently seek medical attention to prevent kidney or liver damage from the venom circulating in the blood. Multiple stings can cause alarming swelling, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and confusion. Half a dozen stings and most people need a sit down with a cup of tea. A single sting may inject only 15µg (that’s 1/65,000 of a gram) of poison, and yet it still really hurts. Nettle guide: why it stings, whether dock leaves help, and foraging recipes.Do dock leaves really help nettle stings?.Why does a bee die after it stings you?.Can jellyfish sting even when they're dead?.
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