For me it’s been wasp stings. The first time was when I was about 12 and was trying to look over the rim of a corrugated iron farm dam without knowing the wasps were nesting there. I remember it being extremely painful and then a couple of years ago I took my dressing gown off the wash line and put it on. I had seen wasps around the wash line during the week but didn’t think they would hide in clothes. I thought my wrist was broken it was so painful and then came a week of swelling and itching so bad that I slept with a bucket of ice next the bed in case it started up in the night.
2 Likes
The worst animal bite or sting is the one that kills you. The most painful would presumably be the one that makes you wish you’d died.
7 Likes
That’s well put.
2 Likes
Although people definitely do exaggerate how bad the sting is, it does depend on the species. A sting from Dasymutilla Occidentalis (probably the most well known velvet ant species) is going to hurt worse than a sting from a Psuedomethoca Simillima or other similar species.
2 Likes
The animal that caused me the most pain, and painful it was, was a skate (or small ray) in shallow water in the Bahamas (south side of New Providence Island). That was a rough few hours waiting to see what happened (the pain did not go above my knee so my local colleague said I was fine….. and in the end, I was).
The sting that caused me the most “trouble” was from a European Hornet. I had a major anaphyllactic shock reaction and fortunately someone who recognized it was nearby and rushed me to the hospital. The ER doctor and nurses did what they had to do and afterwards the doctor said “That was a close call. You’ll be carrying EpiPens with you from now on”. That was 20 years ago and I do carry several EpiPens with me in the field (I still do a fair amount of field work).
I’ve had smaller bees and wasps sting me since and the reaction wasn’t too bad. Those European Hornets pack some serious venom. Ironically, about 2 years ago this month, I was collecting some pears from a few trees. I have an ongoing field project on private property and the owners let me stay in their Grandma’s house (she’s long since gone - empty house) and there are 3 big pear trees in the yard. So I’m knocking down pear fruits and their are bees, wasps, and European hornets all around, ha ha. I would simply tap the fruits gently to get any insects to fly off - there are a LOT of fruits so they have choices. (more than I because these are tall trees and I can’t reach very high up).
At one point I came upon a Euro Hornet on a fruit that was fairly low and so I got some of my best photos ever! I used the camera flash as it was fairly shaded where the wasp was sitting. They came out so nice that someone even chose one of them as “a favorite” here on iNat. How nice. 
5 Likes
I’m normally not too sensitive to insect stings. Sure, they hurt, but no serious reaction. Once, though, I got stung near the corner of the eye by a Venezuelan wasp - don’t know what kind. That blasted thing sure packed a punch. My face swelled up to more or less the size of a small watermelon, with one eye completely swollen shut. It took five days for my face to get back to normal. And it was painful, too.
4 Likes
Polistes really pack a punch, could be one of those. The polistes stings I had in Peru certainly packed a sharp punch. Polistes have quite complex venom with many compounds.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228354022_Polistes_venom_A_multifunctional_secretion
Very true. Working in Queensland Forestry I was stung with this species quite a few times. The pain will persist for several months and is exacerbated by cold. Although not as painful, the species Dendrocnide photiniphylla also known as the mulberry or shining leaf stinger is, in some ways more of a threat because the leaves are less conspicuously obvious and hence more likely to sting you
2 Likes