schmidt sting pain index

5 february 2025

i really should be working on my assignments, but instead i'm here trying to make a version of the schmidt insect pain index that doesn't have any close-up images of wasps. they're terrifying. they're cool as hell and very interesting and important creatures, don't get it twisted. i'm just a weenie.

all of these come from schmidt's two sources: the first 78 from 1990's paper "Hymenoptera Venoms: Striving Toward the Ultimate Defense Against Vertebrates", and a few more species in 2016's book "The Sting of the Wild".

the entire book is on the internet archive! i've got the entire list from it. now it's here for you. yippee!

not all of it, i got tired making this list at 11:51 pm. i'll update it eventually i think. numbered lists are incomplete, bulleted lists are complete.

anyway without further ado

Level Zero (3 entries)

Level One (20)

  1. Red Fire Ant: "Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch."
  2. Tropical Fire Ant: "You should have learned, but the carpet is the same, and when you reach again for the light switch, the shock mocks you."
  3. Southern Fire Ant: "It happens on the third day, as you reach for the light switch, and you're wondering when you will ever learn."
  4. European Fire Ant: "The prickle of stinging nettles against your skin on a hot, humid day."
  5. Bullhorn Acacia Ant: "A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek."
  6. Elongate Twig Ant: "Reminiscent of a childhood bully. Intimidating, but his punch only glanced your chin, and you live for another day."
  7. Slender Twig Ant: "A skinny bully's punch. It's too weak to hurt but you suspect a cheap trick coming."
  8. Delicate Trap-jaw Ant: "A tiny spark, just enough to rouse you from a dreamy stroll in the woods. A slight jolt as you return to reality."
  9. Indian Jumping Ant: "Ah, that wonderful wake-up feeling, like coffee but oh so bitter."
  10. Sweat Bee: "Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm."
  11. Urban Digger Bee: "Almost pleasant, a lover just bit your earlobe a little too hard."
  12. Cuckoo Bee (Triepeolus distinctus): "Touch of fear unrealized. Oh, and I wanted to show how brave I was!"
  13. Cactus Bee: "A skewering message: get lost. Surprising, because you did not touch a cactus spine, until you realize it’s from a bee."
  14. Giant Sweat Bee: "Size matters but isn’t everything. A silver tablespoon drops squarely onto your big toenail, sending you hopping."
  15. Little White Velvet Ant: "Deceptive, like the name. Immediate, rashy, you want to scratch away the kiss of itch. A sand crab pinched your toe while you tanned."
  16. Nocturnal Velvet Ant: "Itch, burn, and more itch. A toothpick dipped in both itch powder and hot sauce and stuck in your thigh."
  17. Pacific Cicada Killer: "Clean. Concentrated dish detergent seeps into a freshly cut finger."
  18. Western Cicada Killer: "Pain at first sight. Like poison oak, the more you rub, the worse it gets."
  19. Water-Walking Wasp: "Clever but trivial? A little magic in that you cannot quite figure out the difference between pain and illusion."
  20. Scarab Hunter Wasp: "Like a sip of tannin, bitterness lingers."
  21. Iridescent Cockroach Hunter: "Itchy with a hint of sharpness. A single stinging nettle picked your hand."
  22. Great Black Wasp: "Simple and presumptuous. Your younger sibling just nipped at your pinkie finger."
  23. Yellow Potter Wasp: "A surprising touch of nasty. Like a thorn hidden on the back of a rose stem as you clutch the bouquet."
  24. Mud Dauber: "Sharp with a flare of heat. Jalapeno cheese when you were expecting Havarti."

Level Two (10)

  1. Bald-faced hornet: "Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door."
  2. Yellowjacket: "Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue."
  3. Honey Bee: "Burning, corrosive, but you can handle it. A flaming match head lands on your arm and is quenched first with lye, then sulfuric acid."
  4. Honey Wasp: "Spicy, blistering. A cotton swab dipped in habanero sauce has been pushed up your nose."
  5. Long-Waisted Paper Wasp: "A robust, full-bodied wake-up call. Imagine a pair of pliers latched onto your upper lip."
  6. Glorious Velvet Ant: "Instantaneous, like the surprise of being stabbed. Is this what shrapnel feels like?"
  7. Golden Paper Wasp: "Sharp, piercing, and immediate. You know what cattle feel like when they are branded."
  8. Bumblebee: "Colorful flames. Fireworks land on your arms."
  9. California Carpenter Bee: "Swift, sharp, and decisive. Your fingertip has been slammed by a car door."
  10. Large Tropical Black Ant: "Exquisitely sharp and expertly clean. Sweeney Todd selects his next victim."

Level Three (7)

  1. Florida/Red Harvester Ant: "Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail."
  2. Maricopa Harvester Ant: "After eight unrelenting hours of drilling into that ingrown toenail, you find the drill is wedged in the toe."
  3. Paper Wasp: "Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of Hydrochloric acid on a paper cut."
  4. Black Polybia Wasp: "A ritual gone wrong, satanic. The gas lamp in the old church explodes in your face when you light it."
  5. Artistic Wasp: "The pain of a messy divorce."
  6. Red Headed Paper Wasp: "Immediate, irrationally intense, and unrelenting. This is the closest you will come to seeing the blue of the flame from within the fire."
  7. Huge Velvet Ant: "Explosive and long lasting, you sound insane as you scream. Hot oil from the deep fryer spilling over your entire hand."

Level Four+ (3 entries)