STINGERS
Alert! Intruders are on the prowl, armed with sharp organs called stingers and extremely dangerous. Their lethal weapons are capable of piercing the skin of other animals to deliver venom—a toxic cocktail of nerve poisons and cell destroyers. Some stings may cause only momentary pain, but others are extremely potent, causing excruciating agony or even death.
Portuguese man-of-war
With an air-filled, jellylike blue and pink body topped with a pink-ridged crest, this marine invertebrate trails very long 59-ft (18-m) tentacles behind it as it floats on the surface. Do not attempt to touch the tentacles as they contain a poison that is powerful enough to burn and blister your skin on contact.
Cone snail
They may move at a snail’s pace, but these reef-dwelling gastropods can pull a fast one. Cone snails shoot a harpoonlike tooth from an extendable “arm” into their chosen prey (often a fish) and release hundreds of toxins to paralyse it. Their sting is deadly to humans, and there is no known antivenin. Stay away!
Honeybee
When a bee stings, the barbs at the end of its stinger catch in its victim’s skin. The bee must leave its rear behind as it exits, but that is not the end of the pain: the stinger continues to pump venom—a mix of 40 various ingredients—for 10 minutes, and a pheromone is released to alert nearby bees to attack. Evade!
Bullet ant
The pain from a South American bullet ant sting is likened to being shot with a gun. In fact, experts rate it among the most intense and excruciating sting of any insect. The agony lasts for three hours, along with nausea, cold sweats, and trembling. Gun it to get away!
Tarantula hawk wasp
Pregnant wasps paralyse tarantulas with their stings then lay their eggs on the stunned spiders. When the babies hatch, they gobble up the spiders alive. Tarantula hawk wasps rarely sting humans, which is good news, as their sting is similar to being struck by lightning. Buzz off!
Stingray
Equipped with one or more sharp serrated barbs on their tails, stingrays strike out when attacked. These fish spew vile venom through a painful puncture wound, causing instant agony. Although they’re not aggressive to humans, they may sting if you step on them.
Scorpion
There are thousands of scorpions, although most are harmless to humans. However, a few have a serious sting in their curving tails. Their venom sends pain radiating from the sting site throughout the body, causing numbness, twitching, breathing problems, and nausea. Hightail it away!
Asian giant hornet
A sting from this thumb-size beast feels like having a hot nail driven into your skin, but it’s the venom that really bugs you. Strong enough to dissolve human tissue and packed with pain-stimulating chemicals that shoot through the nervous system, the toxins can (and do) cause death.