Animals develop various strategies, either to feed themselves or to defend themselves. In this way, they manage to obtain the necessary nutrients for their development and, on the other hand, they respond to possible threats that may put them at risk.
Insects have different options for both cases. Some while they feed generate damage at the same time, as is the case of those that have other animals or people as a source of food. Others, on the other hand, have a specialized way to respond to a danger such as stinging insects, which in many cases inoculate substances that are toxic. Keep reading this article on our site and learn about the biting insects, types and characteristics.
Do insects sting or bite?
Although we commonly use the expression “an insect stung me”, not all insects sting, as this is done only by those that have a structure such as a stinger, which can penetrate the skin. On the other hand, we can say that there are “biting insects”, since they are capable of using their mouthparts to cut the skin of an animal or a person by time to feed.
Certain species, when they bite or cut the skin, transmit pathogens such as viruses or bacteria. While the stinging insects, can cause allergic reactions in highly sensitive people due to the inoculation of toxic substances.
Let's get to know some of the species of insects that, either using their stingers or their mouthparts, can pierce the skin of people or animals.
Asian Giant Hornet
The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) is considered the world's largest hornet, since queens, for example, can exceed 5 cm in length and have a wingspan of up to 7.5 cm or more. Both males and females are the same colors, but only these are the ones that sting,since the males lack a stinger. The head is light orange, the antennae are medium to dark brown with combinations of yellow, the mandible is orange, the thorax is dark brown with a midline, and the wings are gray.
It is native to East and Southeast Asia. It is very common in Japan, where it even causes a few deaths a year as a result of its bite, since the females are insects that sting with a stinger.
African bee
The African bee (Apis mellifera scutellata) is an African subspecies of the common bee that was introduced in America and the hybrids are often called Africanized bees. They usually measure about 20 mm, their coloration is dark orange with black stripes and they have the peculiarity of having the body covered by a kind of fluff.
Although the bite of just one of these insects is not fatal, it is quite aggressive. However, when a group of these bees attack a person, the sting, being caused by many of these insects, can be fatal.
Scorpion beetle
The scorpion beetle (Onychocerus albitarsis) is a unique insect in that it does not spray toxic substances like other species, but is instead capable to sting using sting-like structures located on their antennae, which have poisonous glands.
It is native to countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay. Bites from this insect have been reported to cause various skin reactions in people.
Fire Ants
Fire ants (Solenopsis) have a dark brown abdomen, while the head region is lighter, the size of the workers can be up to 6 mm approximately. The genus Solenopsis corresponds to a group of ants that are characteristically stinging insects.
It is a species with distribution in various countries around the world and Its sting is quite painful and can cause death in sensitive people.
Jumping Ant
The jumping ant (Myrmecia pilosula) owes its name to the jumps that this biting insect manages to make. It is native to Australia, black or dark red in color with a dimension of 10 mm or a little more. She is an excellent hunter, for which she uses her senses and is capable of injecting a strong poison that completely paralyzes the victims she feeds on.
In the case of people, the poison causes a lot of pain and affects in various ways, to the point that in people with allergies it can cause death.
Bullet Ant
The bullet ant (Paraponera clavata) is a species with a wide distribution range from Nicaragua to Paraguay, with exceptions within the territories of some countries. The bullet ant is considered to be one of the stinging insects and causes the most painful sting within the Hymenoptera.
The bullet ant sting is similar to the pain caused by a bullet impact, lasting up to 24 hours. In this way, the victim is strongly affected by the substance that he inoculates with his poisonous apparatus.
Triatoma infestans
Depending on the region, this species is known in different ways: chipo, black bug, whistle, kissing bug, among others. This is an insect of the group of the order Hemiptera and measures about 35 millimeters It is native to South America and one of the transmitters of Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes the disease known as Chagas disease.
This insect is hematophagous, so to feed it uses its mouthpart, which is a piercing-sucking device, for which it pierces the victim's skin and sucks the blooddirectly from a blood vessel in the skin. After feeding, it is forced to defecate and it is in the feces where the parasite is, so because of the irritation, the person scratches, involuntarily incorporating the parasite into the affected tissue.
Tsetse fly
The tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans) is a species of African diptera, which together with several others of the same genus are capable of transmitting the protozoan Trypanosoma brucei, causing diseases in animals, in addition to causing sleeping sickness in people, which affects many individuals annually.
This fly can measure up to about 14 millimeters long, so it is quite large. It has specialized mouthparts to bite or cut skin and then suck blood.
Tropical bug
The tropical bug (Cimex hemipterus) belongs to the order Hemiptera and is a species that feeds particularly on the blood of people, so it is specifically associated with humans.
It is mainly found in tropical areas, although it can inhabit certain more temperate areas. They are reddish brown and measure about 8 millimeters in length Their mouthparts are designed to bite or cut the skin and then suck the blood of the person they feed on.
Plague Flea
The plague flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) is a parasitic insect of both rodents and humans, capable of being the vector of important diseases such as bubonic plague and murine typhus. It can measure from 1.5 to 4 millimeters. Its coloration is brown, which facilitates camouflage.
Both females and males feed on the blood of their victims, biting or tearing the skin. Unlike other insects, they do not suck directly from a blood vessel, but rather wait for the blood to spread over the skin before sucking it.
Other stinging insects
- Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula)
- Asian hornet (Vespa velutina)
- European Hornet (Vespa crabro)
- Honey bee (Apis mellifera)
- Striped horsefly (Tabanus subsimilis)
