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Bullet ant

Paraponera clavata

Oor die naam: The species name clavata means "club-shaped", and the genus name Paraponera translates to "near-Ponera".1

Maak net seerDit maak seer, maar dit sal jou nie ernstig skade doen nie.

Miere

StekeEet: 'n Bietjie van alles

Gevaar vir mense: PynlikDit kan regtig seermaak, maar dit is amper nooit ernstig nie.

The bullet ant is a large rainforest ant with a sting that is famously painful. It lives in humid lowland rainforests in Central and South America. Its sting ranks as the most painful of all insect stings on one informal pain scale.1

Leef in

Central and South America, from Honduras and El Salvador south to Brazil and Bolivia1

Noord-Amerika, Suid-Amerika

Tuis

Colonies of several hundred ants are usually built at the bases of trees in humid lowland rainforest. Workers forage up into the tree canopy, often as high as the upper canopy, and little foraging happens on the forest floor.1

Lengte

1,8 cm tot 3 cm (0,7 in tot 1,2 in)1

Topspoed

omtrent 0,35 km/h (0,22 mph)

Op land, rowwe skatting

Wat eet dit?

Workers forage in the trees for small arthropods (small invertebrates) and nectar. Nectar, carried between the mandibles (jaws), is the most common food brought back to the nest.1

Foto van Bullet ant — Bullet ant. Foto: unknown. CC0, iNaturalist.

Hoe om dit te herken

Worker ants are 18–30 mm long1
They are stout and reddish-black1
They are wingless and look like wasps1
They produce a stridulating (rasping) sound when defending the nest1

Gifkrag

Steke

Gif kom deur 'n angel uit.

Wat doen sy gif as dit byt of steek?

The sting delivers poneratoxin, a paralysing neurotoxic peptide (a small protein that attacks the nerves). It affects sodium ion channels, which are needed to send nerve signals, and blocks signal transmission in the central nervous system. Common symptoms from even one sting include swollen lymph nodes, swelling (oedema), a fast heartbeat (tachycardia) and fresh blood in the faeces.1

Hoe gevaarlik is dit vir mense?

Gevaar vir mense: PynlikDit kan regtig seermaak, maar dit is amper nooit ernstig nie.

The pain is described as burning, throbbing and all-consuming, and it can last for up to 24 hours. Workers are vicious when defending the nest, so people who disturb a nest risk being stung.1

Wat doen dit as dit bang is?

The ants are not aggressive in general, but they defend the nest viciously, producing a stridulating sound and stinging with ferocity.1

As dit steek

Was en koel die steke af.
As die persoon sukkel om asem te haal, die gesig of keel swel, of hy voel flou, is dit 'n allergiese noodgeval: bel jou noodnommer.

Bel altyd eers jou noodnommer (112, 000, 911). Dit is algemene noodhulpraad, nie mediese advies nie. Noodhulp-basiese beginsels

Bly veilig

Moet nooit aan 'n wilde dier raak, dit vang of terg nie, selfs nie 'n kleintjie nie, en selfs nie as dit lyk of dit slaap of dood is nie.
Gee dit spasie. As jy een raakloop, bly kalm, stap stadig terug en laat dit sy eie pad gaan.
As een jou steek: bly kalm, bly stil, bel jou noodnommer (112, 000, 911) of kom vinnig by 'n hospitaal uit. Onthou hoe dit gelyk het, 'n foto help.

Dit is nie uit om jou te kry nie. Dit gebruik sy gif om kos te vang of om homself te beskerm, en kruip baie eerder weg. Meer oor veilig bly

Waar in die wêreld?

Afrika Asië Europa Noord-Amerika Suid-Amerika Australië & Oseanië

Hoe groot is dit?

Hoe lank is dit?

omtrent so lank soos 'n skuifspeld

Hoe groot is Bullet ant in vergelyking met JOU?

Net wiskunde in jou blaaier. Niks word gestoor of enige plek heen gestuur nie.

Hoe vinnig is dit?

'n Skilpad omtrent 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

Bullet ant omtrent 0,35 km/h (0,22 mph)

'n Mens wat loop omtrent 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

die moeite werd om te weet

Feite

Its sting is compared to walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail in your heel, and some victims say it feels like being shot, which gives the ant its name.1

The Sateré-Mawé people of Brazil use bullet ant stings in initiation rites for becoming warriors or leaders. Ants are sedated and woven into gloves, and the initiate wears them for 5 to 10 minutes or longer.1

A flying fly parasite, Apocephalus paraponerae, lays eggs in injured bullet ants, and a crushed ant can attract flies within two to three minutes.1

Poneratoxin from its venom is being investigated for possible medical uses.1

The glasswing butterfly, Greta oto, is a predator of the bullet ant. Its larvae make chemical extracts that these ants find unpalatable.1

Fossils of relatives were found in Dominican amber. The extinct Paraponera dieteri lived 15 to 45 million years ago in the Early Miocene.1

Vir gifkenners

Wetenskaplike naam: Paraponera clavata
Groep: Miere
Familie: Formicidae2
Orde: Hymenoptera
Kontinente: Noord-Amerika, Suid-Amerika
Gevaar vir mense: 2 / 5: Pynlik3

Waar die feite vandaan kom

Paraponera clavata (Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0))
Paraponera clavata (iNaturalist): name en klassifikasie.
Venom Wiki: die gevaarvlak, die tipiese grootte en die spoedskatting is ons eie. Kyk hoe ons dit uitwerk: Hoe ons gevaar gradeer.

Elke feit op hierdie bladsy het 'n nommer wat na sy bron wys. As ons iets verkeerd het, jammer, ons is dierfanatici, nie 'n wetenskaplike joernaal nie. Laat weet ons by [email protected] en ons maak dit reg.

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