Yes. You read that right. While interning at a wildlife sanctuary in Costa Rica, I was stung by the world’s most painful insect.

Three times.

During a healing ceremony no less.

And just what is the world’s most painful insect, you ask? Meet the Bullet Ant (Paraponera clavata).

Credit : Graham Wise

Bullet ants are reddish-black in color and about an inch to an inch and a half in length. They are found throughout Central and South America in humid lowland rainforests, typically gathering at the base of trees. The worker ants in the colony search for food in the trees above the other ants (these are the ants I was stung by).

According to many victims, myself included, their sting is equivalent of being shot by a gun, hence their name. Symptoms of the sting include “waves of burning, throbbing, and all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours”. Sounds fun, right? They are basically the devil in my eyes.

And just how did this happen, you ask? Well to make a long story a little less long…

It all began here.

The wildlife sanctuary I was interning at was owned and operated by just one woman—a fiery expat originally from Texas, who not only holds Costa Rica’s wildlife close to her heart but spiritual and medicinal rituals as well. She had created a healing circle (pictured above) near the back of the property, which was used whenever a severely injured animal was brought in for rehabilitation.

She had her volunteers and interns sit in this circle surrounding the animal which was placed on the tree trunk in the center of everyone. We were told to close our eyes and put our bodies into a certain ‘calming position’ and partake in prayer-like ceremonial words and chants over the animal—stay with me here! This was completely out of my comfort zone.

On this particular day, the injured animals we received were twin baby Mantled Howler Monkeys who’s mother was found dead on the side of the road with the babies still clinging to her stomach. They had singed fingers and toes indicating that this was once again another bad electrocution story. 

Because they were young squirmy monkeys, a volunteer and I had to hold them on our laps in the healing circle and keep an eye on them throughout the owner’s ritual. About halfway through, I felt something land on my hand and looked down expecting to see the monkeys grabbing at each other again. Instead I saw a huge ant about an inch long!

Now, I’m not one to freak at creepy crawlies. In fact, as some of you already know, my greatest passion alongside travel is venomous reptile research and conservation and I once owned Madagascar hissing cockroaches as pets. There’s just something about giant fierce looking ants though. *shudder*

I tried making minimal noise so as not to break the detailed and specific ritual instructions expected of us. I blew at my hand. Nothing. I wiggled my wrist back and forth trying to flick it off of me. Instead, it bit me—or stung me as I later discovered through Google.

And just what did it feel like, you ask? It. Hurt. My hand tensed and I felt waves of heat and pain surging through it. I readjusted the monkey and inspected my hand, and as I was doing this I felt something else fall on me. Another ant. Down my shirt. At this point, I was still trying to remain as calm and quiet as possible, a feat proving to be extremely impossible as the pain grew. I handed the monkey to the volunteer next to me who was holding its twin and she was eyeing me as if to ask if everything was okay. No, it definitely was Not okay.

I fumbled around my chest with my good hand trying to locate where the ant was so that I could crush it between my shirt fabric, but it instantly stung me twice before I got it out and angrily crushed it into the ground with my heel. There was no respecting the quiet rule or the owners healing ceremony anymore. Many a curse word was to be said.

Because the second ant had stung me near my heart, the pain was instant and rapid. My breathing slowed down and constant waves of heat started up again. I had to really concentrate on the breaths I was taking. I got up and walked right out of the sanctuary to my accommodations where I drank a lot of water and painfully tried to do some Google research on what ant could have done this to me and whether or not I should send my last words to the people I loved.

I grew weak and pale and started shaking a bit, sucking in big gulps of air with my head between my legs hoping this would somehow help my situation. After hours of resting my throbbing hand and chest, I looked into Bullet Ants more thoroughly. I found a chart within a research article that said for my body weight and number of stings, if I had been stung 2 more times I would have likely gone into anaphylactic shock and need a hospital visit—which would have been a 5 hour journey including a ferry ride!

It was about 18 hours before I noticed that all of my pain had vanished.

This whole ordeal made me realize how important and crucial it is to do your research on not only the areas you are about to travel to, but what kind of dangerous wildlife you may encounter as well. If I had known ahead of time what Bullet Ants were and that they existed in this region of Costa Rica, I may have been more prepared or at least aware of what was happening to me and how to better handle it. Be in-the-know. Especially if you know you’ll be in a remote area or a habitat unfamiliar to you.

What kind of dangerous wildlife have you encountered abroad or even while in your own home-country?

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