Paraponera

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iBullet Ant

Secure

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Paraponerinae
Genus:	Paraponera
Species:	P. clavata

Binomial name

Paraponera clavata
F.Smith, 1858

Paraponera (F. Smith, 1858) is a genus of the paraponerine ant. The most infamous member species is the so-called bullet ant (P. clavata), named on account of its powerful and potent sting, the sensation of which has often been likened with that of being shot with a bullet by those who have had the misfortune to be at its receiving end, and, presumably, having also been shot with a bullet. It is called by the locals, "Hormiga Veinticuatro," from 24 hours of pain that follow a stinging. The bullet ant inhabits Atlantic coastal lowland rainforests from Nicaragua southward to the Amazon basin. Workers are 18-25 mm (up to 1 inch) long and look like stout, reddish-black, wingless wasps [1].

1 General facts
2 Species
3 See also
4 External links
- 4.1 Images
5 References

[edit] General facts

The pain caused by this insect's sting is the highest among all known insect bites and is ranked as the most painful according to Schmidt Sting Pain Index. It is said that it takes a full 24 hours for the pain to recede. A paralyzing neurotoxic peptide isolated from the venom is poneratoxin. The Paraponerinae is a primitive subfamily and their stings are morphologically similar to those of some solitary wasps - the ancestors of ants - and hence are often most severe, being intended as multi-purpose defensive tools rather than the more specialized weapons of more advanced ants.

Paraponera is predaceous and, like all primitive ponerines, does not display a great deal of polymorphism. Colonies consist of several thousand individuals, and are usually situated at the bases of trees, workers foraging arboreally in the area directly above the nest for insect prey and nectaries, often as far as the upper canopy. The genus is found along the Atlantic coast of South and Central America, including Costa Rica, and coincides with the range of the closely related Dinoponera.

Bullet ants are used by some indigenous people in their initiation rites to manhood (Bequaert, 1926). They are first knocked out by drowning them in a natural chloroform, and then hundreds of them are woven into sleeves made out of leaves, stinger down. When the ants come to, boys slip the sleeve down their arm. The goal of this initiation rite is to keep the sleeve for a full ten minutes without showing any signs of pain. When finished, the boys' (now men's) arms are temporarily paralyzed because of the venom, and may shake uncontrollably for days.