The majority of insects will defend themselves if they feel at risk. This is quite amazing when you think about how small insects are likened to the mammalian interloper. Most insects will only bite if you roam into their territory.
There are also insects that have to drink blood and they actively seek their prey. This sort includes insects such as mosquitoes, bed bugs and fleas.
Ants make up the largest section of biters. All ants will try to bite if they feel the need, but most black ants simply do not possess big enough mandibles (or jaws) to get a grip.
The big exception in all ant and ant-like varieties are the soldiers, which have colossal mandibles when likened to the workers.
Red ants may bite with or without poison and some sting too. Formic acid is their usual chemical weapon. Some ants inject it, which is what we feel if we are bitten by red ants, but other ants squirt it into the eyes of its aggressors.
The most agonizing sting of any insect is provided by the Bullet Ant of Central and South America. The Bullet Ant’s sting has the top rating possible on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. The index ranges from zero to four; zero being painless (to humans) through two for bees and wasps to four for agonizing pain.
The Fire Ant, which is renowned for its painful bite ranks a 1.2 on this scale, but level 1.8 is likened to having a staple fired into your cheek. The European honey bee is on number two and the Red Harvester Ant is on level three.
Some bites and stings are not so high on the index but may still become fatal. The Jack Jumper Ant is in this group and individuals, particularly hypersensitives, have been known to die from Fire Ant stings, which inject piperidine alkaloids rather than formic acid.
The jaws of the Trap Jaw Ant are the fastest closing jaws in the animal kingdom. They have been measured at 230 KPH (143 MPH). Another curious ant defence is carried out by a Malaysian species: it ejects its stomach on to its aggressor.
The stomach acids contain acetophones which completely immobilize insects. Regrettably, the soldier dies because its stomach has been torn out.
Bees, ants and wasps are all related in the order known as Hymenoptera. Bees and wasps only sting although some wasps do have substantial jaws as well. One definition of a wasp is ‘any insect of the order Hymenoptera that is neither a bee nor an ant’ (Wikipedia).
Not all wasps are black and yellow. There are not a great deal of insects that do not have a sort of wasp preying on it, which makes them very important in the biocontrol of harmful insects. Far of wasps do not sting their prey to kill it for food, they sting it to paralyze it.
While paralyzed, the wasp lays her eggs in the prey, which becomes fresh food for her young when they hatch out. This is normally the only time that a wasp eats flesh in its entire life, because adult wasps eat nectar and honey the same as bees.
When a bee stings it gives off pheromones which encourage other bees close by to sting too. The most belligerent stingers though are vespid wasps (common black and yellow wasps).
Fleas, ticks and bed bugs, unlike mosquitoes, actually feed on blood, that is they use it for food, whereas the mosquito needs it as the ‘white’ of her eggs. There have been times in our history whilst losing a few drops of blood to a flea was not the worst thing about being bitten by them.
They also bore the Plague, which wiped out a large percentage of the population of Europe several times.
Spiders and scorpions make up the reasons for most insect bites but they are fairly uncommon.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on numerous subjects, but is at present concerned with Insect Removal. If you want to know more, please go over to our website now at Pest Management at Home.