Formiga-Cabo-Verde (Paraponera Clavata)
With only 30mm, the green-green ant has huge jaws and a larger sting than the body itself-which causes the most painful bite in the world. It is a “pure, intense and brilliant pain” that can last hours and, in some cases, until a whole day, says an entomologist who knows him from experience.
Some of the smallest animals in the world are dangerously misleading.
We all know that certain insects are painful, and most of us have already felt the wasp role or bee.
The Vennous Green Frog (Phyllobates awesome)for example, it is OE, in some cases, the amount of poison that segregates through the skin can kill up to 10 people.
These tall toxic enemies measure, on average, only 2.5 centimeters in length – something remarkable if we consider that this species is often pointed out as one, if not the most poisonous animal in the world.
Fortunately, the browsee-muddy frog exists only in a small zone of the Colombian tropical rainforest. But there are many other tiny creatures capable of provoking intense pains to humans.
Most people will never have to feel the bite of green-headwhich, according to an entomologist, is The most painful in the world – Although measuring only about 2.5 centimeters.
A formiga-cabo-verde lives nas Tropical Forests of Central America and southern and, although small in general terms, is one of the largest existing ant species.
Fellow between 18 and 30 millimeters length and weighs a maximum of 60 milligrams. With six paws and segmented body, It is unmistakably an antbut it has some characteristics that make it more imposing than the typical garden black ant.
Queens have wings to mating and are slightly larger than workers. The scientific name of the species is Paraponera clavatabeing “Clavata” a reference to head shape, similar to a pack.
We already know that ants have a Microscope terrifying aspectBut the green-green ant may be the most impressive-or scarier example, depending on the point of view.
The species has jaws disproportionately largewhich uses to feed and defend, as well as a large sting. As if it were a warningthe sting is long compared to the bodycan reach 3.5mm.
But “Powerful” is little to describe your action: The pain of the bite has been repeatedly compared to the impact of a shot – Hence the English name: bullet ant., or “ant bullet”.
The frog of this ant is considered The most painful in the worldprovoking uncontrollable tremors and immediately triggering intense pain which can last hours and, in some cases, until a full day.
And how do we know it’s really painful? Because a bold scientist subjected to the experience And described it as “pure, intense and bright pain,” says the.
Despite its threatening aspect, with large jaws and sting, it may seem unlikely that such a small insect causes such suffering. But it would be a mistake to think so. We are not talking about the little black ants that just bite, and this was proven by the entomologist Justin O. Schmidt.
Schmidt created the Schmidt bites pain indexa scale from zero to four that classifies the intensity of pain caused by different insects.
The late entomologist dedicated itself extremely to the investigationexposing yourself to 150 distinct species bite and registering your experiences in various articles, before compiling everything in the book The Sting of the Wildpublished in 2016.
Not total, Only three insects received the maximum classification on all fours, being the green ant-green the first to deserve such a distinction.
In an article of 1983 entitled Hemolytic activities of stinging insect venomspublished in the magazine Archives of Insect Biochemistry and PhysiologySchmidt described the bite of the green-green anti as provoking “Immediate longing is excruciatingnumbness similar to the pressure of a tip of pencil and tremors in the form of a totally uncontrollable impulse to shake the affected zone. ”
Later, in The Sting of the WildSchmidt characterized the sensation as “Walking on red -hot crorals with an eight centimeter nail nailed in the heel ”.
These ants produce a substance called Poneratoxinaa neuropeptide – that is, a molecule that acts on neurotransmitters and may increase or decrease the intensity of synaptic transmission.
In the case of the green-green ant, poneratoxin causes slow muscle contractions and binds to so-called voltage-dependent sodium channels in the neurons. A variant of these channels is known as Nav1.7present above all in the receivers of pain.
Poneratoxin alters the operation of NAV1.7 so that cells send a continuous sign of pain to the brain -And that is what gives the bite of the green-green ant its intense and relentless effect.
