Can you imagine stepping on a flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel? This is how entomologist Justin Schmidt described the blinding pain of being bitten by a Bullet Ant (Paraponera clavata).
According to the website of the National History Museum, Schmidt volunteered to be stung by various Insects so that he could rate the pain and create the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. He rated the Bullet Ant as a 4, the highest level on the scale, alongside the Warrior Wasp (with a sting like being burned by an active volcano) and the Tarantula Hawk Wasp (with a sting akin to having a running hairdryer dropped into your bubble bath). Yikes!
A FEW BULLETS ABOUT THIS ANT
- Bullet Ants are one of the largest Ants in the world, growing up to 18 to 30 millimeters long or around as big as a bottlecap.
- They are not typically aggressive, but they will fiercely defend their nest when threatened.
MORE ABOUT THIS INTERESTING INSECT
According to a 2005 study in Revista Do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo by researchers Vidal Haddad Junior, João Luiz Costa Cardoso, and Roberto Henrique Pinto Moraes who were studying the effects of the Bullet Ant’s bite, the Ant stridulates and create vibrations to communicate with their fellow Ants.
Apart from having large mandibles that can cause painful bites, they use a stinger on their abdomen to inject their infamous venom. Colonies of Bullet Ants live in intricate underground nests that are built at the base of trees. They travel to and from the treetops, carrying droplets of nectar back to their nest. When roaming the forest canopy, they also search for small Arthropod snacks to eat.
WHAT’S THE SECRET TO THEIR STING?
The Bullet Ant’s venom contains poneratoxin, a neurotoxic peptide that causes extreme pain, paralysis, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, and an increased heart rate. The pain peaks 12 hours after being bitten and can remain for up to 48 hours after. This potent toxin is also being studied as an insecticide.
Another point of fascination is how this Ant’s other names are rather ominous. According to a 1994 study in Stuttgarter Beiträge Zur Naturkunde by Cesare Baroni Urbani, an Italian entomologist specializing in Ants, the Bullet Ant is also called the hormiga veinte- cuatro in Brazil as it implies that it can kill a man in 24 hours and the tucandy in Tupi-Guarani (one of the ethnic languages in South America), meaning “the one who wounds deeply”.
AN ANT-SIZED STEP INTO STARDOM
If you’ve watched Marvel Studios’ 2015 Ant-Man film, the Bullet Ant was featured along with three other species of Ants. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Geek Studies by Elidiomar R. Da-Silva and Thiago R. M. de Campos, biologists who enjoy pop culture, say that the film accurately represented size differences and some of the featured Ant’s behaviors. Here’s to hoping that more film representation will help Ants be captivating to more people.
TRIAL BY BITE
According to a short film from National Geographic, the Sateré-Mawé people in Brazil hold a ritual several times a year involving the Ants. Young boys being initiated into adulthood are tasked to wear gloves with Paraponera Ants woven inside it.
They have to wear these gloves for up to ten minutes, enduring the searing pain that will last the next couple of days. After doing this trial twenty times, they will finally be accepted as adults and leaders in the tribe.
WHERE SHOULD I WATCH OUT FOR THEM?
Bullet Ants live in the wet tropical forests of South and Central America, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Venezuela.
Thankfully, Bullet Ants can’t be found in the Philippines. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take care when outdoors. According to Perry Buenavente, an entomology researcher at the Philippine National Museum, there are several local ants with a painful bite. If you’re curious, you can check out the genuses Odontomachus, Leptogenys, Solenopsis, and Aenictus.
There’s loads of information about the famous Bullet Ant, but it’s a bit harder to learn about Philippine Ants. If you want to learn more about them, you can check out the Philippines section of antwiki.org, an online collection managed by Ant researchers around the world!
ALL BITE AND NO BEAUTY?
People tend to be extra wary of Ants. While there are many species that can hurt us, they play a vital role in the world.
TUNNELS IN THE SOIL
Ants are great at building tunnels to make different rooms for their colony and make pathways to frequented places. These tunnels help plant roots have better access to air and water.
NATURE’S CLEAN-UP TEAM
Ants eat other Insects and even help clean up organic matter — that is, dead plants, animals, and even garbage — on the ground.
CIRCLE OF LIFE
They act as a source of food for other Animals. Killing off Ants would mean disrupting the ecosystem in that area.
If you take some time to look more closely at them (a magnifying glass might help!), you’ll also see that they talk with other Ants using their antennae. Through this, and by using chemical and sound signals, colonies of Ants really show that teamwork makes the dream work.
A ONE-OF-A-KIND ANT!
According to the California Academy of Science, the Bullet Ant is the only living species that is under the genus Paraponera.
The only other species in the genus, Paraponera dieteri, is extinct and was only discovered preserved in amber found in the Dominican Republic. This extinct Ant likely lived during the Miocene era, 16 to 19 million years ago!
