The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Ok, so a few months ago, my cousin and I were queen hunting in New Hampshire. We were finding nothing but workers when my cousin suddenly yelled, "Queen!" This thing was weird. All red. Rough looking skin. Black and White striped Gaster. Hairy. Huge. We both thought this was a queen. (Ik,I was dumb 3 months ago ) I let it crawl all over me before placing this "queen ant" into a test tube setup. It died in a week. Well, after some research a few days after that, I figured out it was a Cow Killer, aka Velvet ant. (Mutillidae sp.) First, it isn't even an ant. It's a wingless wasp. Second, it is in the top ten pain index of insect stings. IN THE WORLD . And I let it crawl on me like it was my rabbit! Isn't that freaky?! Anyways, I learned a valuable lesson: Don't play around with unknown fauna and do your research before you possibly end up in the hospital.

Nice. Lesson learned Huh? Honestly I did the same thing the first time I found one. Still thinking how silly I was.

Velvet ants are not dangerous unless you are allergic. The cow-killing thing is a myth.

I guess their stings hurt like hell nonetheless

Yes, obviously it's just a nickname. Carpenter ants don't build furniture or houses either but they still chew wood. Fire ants don't catch you on fire, but hurt like fire when you get stung multiple times. Just as a cow killer has a sting so bad it seems like it could kill a big animal like a cow but actually doesn't. The fact is they have a really bad sting you are unlikely to get but it still hurts like no other if you do. Point being don't handle them.

Which feels worse, a Harvester Ant or a Cow Killer? I was stung by an Harvester Ant once and ice didn't do anything to stop the burning sensation. I tend to have bad reactions to stings, though not full blown allergy. Allergy Lite, maybe.

Oh yeah, those things are supposed to be incredibly painful.
This guy lets himself be stung by one. (For science?)


Perhaps more relevant to THIS forum, though, might be bullet ants:

and Leafcutter ants:


You REALLY don't want to be bitten/stung by ANY of these. Be careful out there, ant lovers. Handle with care!