If you believe your work is unpleasant, consider what a workday with Justin Schmidt is like. Schmidt is an entomologist who studies the Hymenoptera, a class of insects that includes bees, wasps, and stinging ants. Schmidt has been searching for bugs all around the world and has consciously experienced insect bites. His efforts have produced an incredibly thorough pain index that rates 83 insect stings on a scale from 1 to 4.
For instance, the South American native red fire ant is a 1: Schmidt describes it as “sharp, sudden, mildly alarming.” “Like walking across a shag carpet and reaching for the light switch.” The tarantula hawk, with a score of 4, is far worse: “Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. Someone just dropped a hair dryer that is currently running into your bubble bath.“
Regarding his desire to be stung, Schmidt argues that the word “want” isn’t completely accurate. He says, “Want is kind of a dual word,” to Linda Wertheimer of NPR. “I want the data, but I don’t want the sting.” Schmidt is the author of The Sting of the Wild: The Story of the Man Who Got Stung for Science, a book that chronicles his adventures (and struggles).
Justin Schmidt Opens Up On His Insect Bite Stings And His Prefered Choices
These creatures are massive, very enormous; they are approximately 2 inches long. And I was so afraid of getting stung by those that I was able to conduct a couple of pretty great studies on them without ever getting stung. You could say it was frustrating, I suppose, because I’m lacking a pretty important piece of information, but I’m still standing.
The creatures known as bullet ants are really lovely. Their geographical range extends from Nicaragua to southern Brazil. They are woodland dwellers who often build their nests on the ground. However, they go far, far above the forest canopy to the top, where they search for food. They have a dark appearance and a stocky build, which makes you think of a dinosaur or other primitive-looking ant. But, my goodness, don’t let that fool you—these ants are true acrobats. Don’t confuse huge ants for sluggards or lazy people when it comes to bullet ants.
Their insect venom is regarded to be the most poisonous. It is around forty times more powerful than a Western Diamondback rattlesnake. Naturally, the good news is that they don’t have much of it. They have this excruciatingly persistent discomfort. The hair on your stung arm stands up, like the hair on a scared dog’s neck, and they are the only insects whose poison triggers this reaction. Additionally, it makes you sweat. These are all specific neurological issues that are exclusive to it. Even after 35 years, there are still many unanswered questions about their extremely intricate biology. His studies on the chemistry of venom have yielded some significant and useful applications.
“Identifying the pain receptors that contribute to chronic pain in cancer patients, autoimmune disease patients, and arthritics is one of our ongoing research projects,” adds Schmidt. The tarantula hawk, for instance, has extremely strong, unadulterated agony. It impacts a certain receptor. Targeting that receptor to induce pain in a tissue culture (rather than in a real human or animal) allows us to test potential medications to determine whether they can block the pain.
According to Schmidt, suffering can point out what is actually wrong. “This incredible feeling called pain…” According to Schmidt, “I view pain as the body’s way of keeping me out of trouble.” “Agony isn’t real. It’s not actually harm; rather, it’s a warning that damage has happened, is happening, or is likely to happen. Pain is only an alert system for possible harm.
Schmidt’s goal is to share his enthusiasm and love of nature with as many people as possible so that they will no longer be afraid of insects and will instead be able to enjoy the beauty of their environment and the roles that insects play in it. Schmidt remarks, “Insects are incredibly beautiful to me.” “Look at how the ant walks—isn’t that incredible? Six legs, is that possible? The beauty of it is that sometimes I can’t even keep my two legs together while they can do six.“
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