honeyguide birds, 215, 217
honey hunters, 214, 217
honeypot ants, 107, 111
Honey Princess, 197
honey wasps, 228
horned lizards, 18, 115–16, 120–22
hornets, 11, 46, 82–83, 93–94
mandarin, 11, 94–95, 108–9, 202–3
nocturnal, 229
horse meat, 96
horses, 85, 93
human: ancestors, x, 214
evolution, 218
hunter-gathers, 198
hunger pangs, 32
hunting, ix, 3, 79
hyaluronidase, 129, 177, 208
hydrogen cyanide, 115
hyenas, ix
Hymenoptera, 214
hypothesis, testing, 4
ichneumonid wasps, 23
insecticides, 69, 96–98, 115
insect-sting pain scale. See sting pain scale
intelligence and learning, 27–30
Isbell, Lynn, 1
Isley, Dwight, 165
Israel, 195
itch, 32–33
jackals, ix
Jack jumper ants, 223
Jacobson, Bob, xi
Jandt, Jenny, xi, 87
Japan, 11
Jeanne, Bob, 87
Jesus Christ lizards, 185
Johnson, Steve, 190
Ka’apor Indians, 188
Keeler, Kathleen, 108
Kelvin, Lord, 39
Kepone, 115
Kerr, Warwick, 80, 206
killer bees, 204–6, 208–11, plate 8
stings, 204. See also Africanized bees
Kinabalu, 200
kingbirds, 28–29, 88, 153
King Menes, 93
kinins, 47, 129, 146, 189
kleptoparasitism, 154
Knowlton, George, 115, 119
kopje, ix
Lange, Algot, 182
Laos, 201
Lavigne, Bob, 110
lead arsenate, 96
leaf cutter ants, 184
leks and territories, 140, 148, 151
leopards, ix
leukotrienes, 207
Linnaeus, 128, 168
lions, ix
lipase, 129
lizards, 119–21
Lockwood, Jeffrey, 101
London purple, 115
lymph nodes, 125, 127
lysolecithin, 129
macaws, 36
MacKay, Bill and Emma, 110
magnesium, 19
males, 140, plate 3
mandibular glands, 28, 142, 158, 187
marbles, 4
Marlowe, Frank, 214
marmoset monkeys, 188
Masai peoples, 204
mass envenomation, 45
mast-cell-degranulating peptide, 207
mast cells, 207
Matabele ants, 192, 223
mayflies, 136
McCook, H. C., 44, 110, 112, 123
McDonald, John, 96
McGill Pain Scale, 48
meconium, 67
MediHoney, 199
Megaponera analis, 192
Megarhyssa wasps, 46
Meleson, Matthew, 201
melittin, 47, 206–9
Melzack, Ron, 48
Menke, Arnold, 156
Messor ants, 102
Michener, Charles, 107–8
mimicry, 21, 78, 155, 218
Batesian, 55, 78, 218
behavioral, 160
minim ant workers, 107
Mirex, 69, 96, 115
Mischocyttarus wasps, 211
Mississippi River, 156
mole rats, 55–56
mongoose, 215
Morse, Roger, 195, 200
Mud D’aub, 156
mud dauber wasps, 155–62, plate 1
dispersal, 158
life history, 158–60
sounds, 157
stings, 159–62, 227
venom, 161
Müller, Fritz, 78
Mutilla europaea, 168–69
mutualisms, 26, 217
human-bee, 217–19
Myrmecia. See bull ants; Jack jumper ants
Myrmica rubra, 222
NASA, 197–98
Neoponera commutata ants, 188, 224
nettles, stinging, 5, 124, 129, 164, 179
New Zealand, 96–97, 199
“Nike” test, 72
O’Connor, Rod, 156, 161
Odum, Gene, 20
Overal, Bill, xi, 192
pain: cold, 31
hot, 31
kinins, 129
lymph nodes, in, 125, 127
nausea, 31
sensation, 31
tooth, 33
and truth, 34–35, 45
visceral, 32, 194
pain scale. See sting pain scale
Paltothyreus tarsata, 192
paper wasps, 10, 37, 41, 46, 82, 164–67, 177,
Parachartergus fraternus, 92, 228
paralysis, 157, 159, 162, 167
Paraponera. See bullet ants
parasites, 134
parasitic wasps, 5, 14, 46
parasitoids, 23
parents, instilling fear in children, 1
Parker, Frank, 80–81
penis, 212
Pennsylvania, 2, 41, 82
Pentaclethra trees, 184
Pepsis wasps, 11, 54, 230, plate 6. See also tarantula hawks
Perkins, Nic, plate 6
Petiver, James, 169
Petrunkevitch, Alexander, 142
Pheidole ants, 102
pheromones, 12, 107, 192. See also individual pheromones
phospholipase, 47, 129, 177, 206–9
Phrynosoma. See horned lizards
piloerection, 127
Pinau, Merlin, 144
piperidine alkaloids, 73–75
play, 1
Pogonomyrmex: anzensis, 122–23
badius, 101, 125, 128, 130, 225, plate 4
barbatus, 44, 104–5
bicolor, 104
californicus, 101, 106–8, 123, 130
comanche, 110
maricopa, 44–45, 103–4, 121, 127, 130, 225
occidentalis, 108
rugosus, 104
wheeleri, 122
Pogonomyrmex ants, 10–11, 17–18, 42–44, 101–31
poison-dart frogs, 184
Polistes, 10, 36, 82, 99–100, 166, 189
flavis, 166
infuscatus, 189
instabilis, 36
stings, 228–29
pollen, 201
pollen wasps, 134
Polybia, 211
occidentalis, 99, 226
rejecta, 228
simillima, 80–81, 229
Pompilidae, 139
poneratoxin, 189–90
Ponerinae, 183
Popeye, the Sailor Man, 197
predator-prey arms race, 215–18
predators, 172
defenses against stings, 16–17, 38, 219
prepupa, 160
propolis, 198–99
Provespa hornets, 229
Pseudomyrmex ants, 26–27, 192, 213, 221, 223
pseudo-sting, 15–16, 38, plate 3
psychology, human, 155
raccoons, 87–88
rains, summer, 113–14
ratels. See honey badgers
Rau, Phil, 31, 80, 89, 147
Reagan, Ronald, 200
Rice, Hamilton, 182
Rice, Marlin, 179
Richards, O. W., 80
Riley, C. V., 169
roadrunner birds, 122, 144
Ropalidia wasps, 37
royal jelly, 197, 199
Ruby, Arizona, 152–53
sage grouse, 119
Satery Indians, 188
Saussure, Henri de, 82
sawflies, 14, 22–23
Scaptotrigona bees, 134
Sceliphron. See mud dauber wasps
Schumacher, Michael, 209
scie
nce, as a method, 39–41
screwworm flies, 80
Seeley, Thomas, 201
selection, artificial, 218
selection pressure, 215
group, 25
sensory receptors, 32
serotonin, 46, 161
sex pheromones, 12, 170
Shafer, George, 157
sheep, 213
Sherbrooke, Wade, 120–21
skinks, 176–77
skin pustules, 74
skunks, 35, 87–88
Smith, Michael, 212–13
snakes, ix, x, 1–2, 6, 130
Snelling, Gordon, 122
Snelling, Roy, 64
sociality, 25–26, 134–37, 166
evolution of, 55–57
social parasites, 84
Socrates, 74
Solenopsis. See fire ants
solitary lifestyles, 134–37
solitary wasps, 133–35, 148
males, 133–34. See also individual species
South Africa, 166
Soviet Union, 201
Spangler, Hayward, 80–81
Spanish fly, 22, 52, 143
sperm, 105, 134
storage, 61, 66
Sphecius, 147, plate 2. See also cicada killer wasps
Sphex pensylvanicus wasp, 227
spiders, 6, 85–87, 89–90, 117–18, 139–43, 157–61, 174–75
Spradbery, Phillip, 89
Spruce, Richard, 179, 181–82
stamp, postal, 162
Starr, Chris, xi, 10, 49, 200
Steatoda spiders, 117–18
stingers, 5, 13, 216
absence in males, 15
as defenses, 9, 24
evolution of, 14–15, 23–26, 90–91
stinging insects, x
stingless bees, 56, 62
sting pain scale, 4, 63, 47–51, 75, 100, 131, 155, 162, 164, 166, 178, 212, 221–30, plates 1–8
stings: autotomy, 17, 27, 44–45, 81, 130–31, 216
and memory, 5
nose or lip, to, 211–12
pain, 26–27
penis, to, 212
and psychology, 93–96
targeting eyes and nose, 203, 216
tongue, to, 212
value of, 88–89
strutting, as a defense, 54, 163
sugarbeet root aphid, 103
superorganism, 67, 116–17, 131
sweat bees, 59–63, plate 1
stings, 63, 225–26
Sweating, localized, 126–27
symbiosis, 213–4
humans and honey bees, 214, 219
Synoeca septentrionalis, 230
tarantula hawks, 133, 137–47
defenses, 144–45
life history, 139–41, plate 6
odor of, 142–43
sting, 133, 137–39, 192, 230
venom, 146–47
warnings by, 145. See also Pepsis
tarantulas, 7, 117–18, 139, 141–43, 146
teachers, 2
termites, 22, 44, 56, 113
thief ants, 64
toads, 185
toolmaking, 215, 217
toxic envenomations, 208
trail pheromones, 68, 185
tramp species, 68–69, 71
trap-jaw ants, 224
trichothecene toxins, 201
Tschinkel, Walter, 63, 68, 70
tucandéra. See bullet ants
Twain, Mark, 156
Uma, Divya, 159
usurpation, of nests, 84
Utah, 195
velvet ants, 5, 11, 50–51, 153, 156, 167–78
defenses, 171–76
life history, 169–71
males, 167–68
mating, 170–71
odor, 174
pheromones, 170
sounds, 170, 174
stings, 5, 51, 172, 176–78, 227, 230
venom, 177. See also Dasymutilla
velvet mites, 53–54
venom, 216
composition, 16
pain, 6, 24
paralyzing, 141, 149
sac, 13
spraying, 17, 91–92
terpenes, 16
toxicity, 6, 11, 13, 17–18, 24, 26, 45, 130, 161
Veromessor ants, 111
Vespa, 83, 103
mandarinia, 202. See also hornets
Vespidae, 82, 164
Vespula, 82–83
maculifrons, 84
pensylvanica, 82, 229
squamosa, 84
viente cuatro hora hormiga. See bullet ants
Vietnam, 69
War, 201
vinegaroons, 116
vision quests, 123–24
Vollrath, Fritz, 9
vulture bees, 134
walking gait, 54–55
“walk-on-water” wasps, 164–67
warning: colors, 145, 171
movements, 145
odors, 11–12, 143, 145, 158, 171, 191
sounds, 10–11, 38, 53, 77, 145, 171, 191
tastes, 53
wasps, 83. See also individual species
West-Eberhard, Mary Jane, 77, 93
western hive bee, 199, 202. See also honey bees
Wheeler, George and Jeanette, 101, 125
Wheeler, William Morton, 59, 64, 101
white-faced monkeys, 182
Willcox, Arizona, 111, 130, 161
Williams, F. X., 142
Wilson, E. O., 59, 69, 176
wing shedding, 106
Wise, Graham, xi, plate 7
woodpeckers, 157
Wray, D. L., 125
Wray, John, 128
yellowjackets, 35, 77–100
attractants, 97–98
benefits of, 99–100
control of, 96–99
foraging, 85–86
life history, 82–86
mating, 83
predators of, 86–88
stings, 100
sting use, 89–90. See also Dolichovespula yellowjackets; Vespula
yellow rain, 195, 201
Plate 1. (top) A sweat bee, Halictus sp., on distant scorpionweed, Phacelia distans. Sweat bees are important pollinators that, when pinched, can deliver a mildly painful sting. Sting Pain Rating: 1 on the Pain Scale. Photo courtesy of Jillian Cowles. (bottom) Mud dauber wasps, Sceliphron caementarium, sting and paralyze spiders as food for their young housed in cells within “mud clod” nests adorning buildings and protected areas. These harmless wasps also frequent flowers and mud areas. They are nearly incapable of stinging. Sting Pain Rating: 1 on the Pain Scale. Photo courtesy of Margarethe Brummermann, http://arizonabeetlesbugsbirdsandmore.blogspot.com/
Plate 2. (top) Pogonomyrmex harvester ants, historically demonized as destroyers of grazing lands, often facilitate plant growth and diversity around their colonies by enriching the soil with their wastes, clearing competing grasses, and discarding to perimeter refuse areas seeds that germinate, grow, and flower in the rich ant-formed microenvironment. Photo by the author. (bottom) Mating scrum of Pacific cicada killer wasps, Sphecius convallis. The male (right) is mating with a female (left) that is also supporting a smaller male, the last of many to give up in the competition. These impressive, harmless wasps do not sting unless handled roughly and all-too-frequently are mistaken as huge yellowjackets. Sting Pain Rating: 1 on the Pain Scale. Photo courtesy of Chuck Holliday.
Plate 3. A male tiphiid wasp jabs its pseudosting into the author’s finger. Males of stinging insects lack a true stinger, but some species are able to jab their sharp pseudostings into captors, thereby startling the captor into releasing the harmless male. Sting Pain Rating: 0 on the Pain Scale. Photo by the author.
Plate 4. Justin Schmidt in 1975, excavating a Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius, colony in Amite, Louisiana. Sting Pain Rating: 3 on the Pain Scale. Photo by Debbie Schmidt.
Plate 5. (top) Fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, sting apparatus illustrating the thin, sharp, needle-like stinger attached to a large venom-fi
lled reservoir and a smaller frothy-looking Dufour’s gland. The piercing stinger and enormous venom reservoir constitute an ideal system for injecting poison into assailants. Sting Pain Rating: 1 on the Pain Scale. Photo by the author. (bottom) Honey bee leaving its stinger in a victim’s arm. Photo by the author.
Plate 6. (top) Tarantula hawk, Pepsis chrysothemis, collecting nectar from desert milkweed, Asclepias subulata. These brilliantly colored, conspicuous solitary wasps are unaggressive but not to be held. Sting Pain Rating: 4 on the Pain Scale. Photo courtesy of Jillian Cowles. (bottom) Tarantula hawk and its tarantula prey. In these fierce battles, the tarantula essentially always loses. Nic Perkins photo courtesy US National Park Service.
Plate 7. (top) Female velvet ants are wingless solitary wasps that are often colorful and seen in open areas during the summer. They range in size from small, as is this 6-mm Dasymutilla asteria, to huge nearly 25-mm “cow killers.” Sting Pain Ratings: 1–3 on the Pain Scale (depending on size of velvet ant). Photo courtesy of Jillian Cowles. (bottom) Bullet ant, Paraponera clavata, a species universally feared and respected wherever it occurs. These ants are sometimes a part of puberty rites in local populations in Amazonas. Sting Pain Rating: 4 on the Pain Scale. Photo courtesy of Graham Wise.
Plate 8. Sample collection as part of a study in Costa Rica of the genetics of Africanized honey bees. These bees were intentionally provoked, something not recommended for the inexperienced. Photo by the author.