PARAPONERA

There is a creature (genus: paraponera) that lives in the tropical lowland regions of the Americas from Nicaragua to Paraguay that is commonly called the bullet ant. It looks like a wingless wasp but has a sting much worse...like being shot with a bullet. Some locals call it the "24 hour ant" because that's how long the intense pain of its sting lasts. The Schmidt Sting Index lists it as the most painful in the world. Its description of the pain is "waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours." or "fire walking on a bed of red-hot charcoal in your bare feet for a day with a 3-inch nail stuck in your heel." There is an indigenous tribe in Brazil that uses the sting of the bullet ant as an initiation rite for boys moving into manhood. Ouch!