Insects · Hymenoptera · Formicidae

Bullet Ant

Paraponera clavata

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

The bullet ant — known in Spanish as hormiga bala or tocantera — is a hymenopteran insect of the family Formicidae and the only living member of the genus Paraponera. The name comes from the Greek ponerina, "pain". Greater than that of any other hymenopteran, the pain of its sting is thirty times more intense than that of a bee or a wasp, and those who have suffered it insist the sensation is like being shot. Several of its common names allude to that quality. This ant is found particularly in the riverine forests of Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, but its range extends as far as Costa Rica and the Yucatán Peninsula.

Size

up to 3 cm

Lifespan

1 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

RainforestOmnivore Colonial Insect Rainforest

20countries 24parks10same family

Fun facts

defensaIt has one of the most painful stings in the insect world, rated at the top of the Schmidt pain index.
GeneralIts sting is the most painful recorded in any insect and can hurt for 24 hours.
The Sateré-Mawé people of the Brazilian Amazon use it in an initiation rite in which young men must wear woven gloves filled with living ants.
Its venom contains poneratoxin, a neurotoxin that blocks nerve transmission and is studied as a pharmacological model.
Its sting scores the maximum on the Schmidt sting pain index, 4+, and the pain can last 24 hours, which is why in some areas it is called the twenty-four-hour ant.
The venom is neurotoxic: it blocks nerve transmission in arthropods and causes extreme pain in mammals.
Unlike most ants, the workers are not polymorphic and the queen is barely larger than they are.
The Sateré-Mawé of Brazil use it in their male initiation rite, with woven gloves full of ants.
It communicates by stridulation as well as by pheromones, and can call for help with sound if it gets trapped.