This Amazonian tribal ritual in which a man puts his hands inside of Bullet Ant Gloves is widely accepted to be the most painful experience known to man.
Given that experiencing this pain is nowhere near the top of my to-do list, an Australian comedy duo by the name of Hamish & Andy tried it out. After watching Hamish writhe in pain for a few minutes I can see how this is actually probably the most painful sting/bite in the world. Let’s take a look:
I recently experienced some of the worst pain of my life when my fiancee and I were making dinner. She was whipping up a chimmichurri sauce (red wine vinegar, lots of lemon juice salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, onion) which when broken into individual parts, each would burn your eyes. Yet somehow she managed to drop the Magic Bullet containing the sauce, the sauce proceeded to b-line it across the room at warp speed and hit me DIRECTLY in my eyes (as if it was thrown from a bucket). I was instantly blinded, writhing in pain, thought I might never see again.
In terms of a burning/stinging pain (not to be confused with a breaking/snapping pain) it was the worst I’ve ever experienced. So I feel this man’s feels, though I know my pain was probably only a fraction of what he went through.
This is a description of the ant’s sting according to Wikipedia, Paraponera clavata, aka the Bullet Ant
The pain caused by this insect’s sting is purported to be greater than that of any other hymenopteran, and is ranked as the most painful according to the Schmidt sting pain index, given a “4+” rating, above the tarantula hawk wasp and, according to some victims, equal to being shot, hence the name of the insect. It is described as causing “waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours”.
The ants themselves look pretty damn menacing too…
The ants themselves inhabit the rainforest from Honduras to Paraguay, so if you’re in to traveling the tropics it might be hard to avoid. Just be wise and don’t go trudging off in to the jungle trying to piss off any ants.
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