Giant bugs

The Schmidt sting pain index The Schmidt sting pain index

Scientist Justin Schmidt created a scale from one to four to measure how bad stings are. He let lots of different bugs sting or bite him to decide where each bug was on the scale!

Sweat bees have one of the least painful stings, rated at 1.0 on the scale. Justin said it “feels as if a tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.”

Justin put honey bees at 2.0, with their sting feeling like a match burning your skin.

Tarantula hawk wasps are at the top of the scale, at 4.0. Justin Schmidt described their sting as “blinding, fi erce, shockingly electric”.

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Most people think bugs are small, but some of them are huge. ut some of

Hercules moths Hercules moths

Hercules moths have a wingspan pan t of around 27 centimetres – about out the length of a piece of A4 paper. per er.

The moths get their name from Hercules, a character from Roman legend.

, He was very big and strong, just like Hercules moths.

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Topaz

Band 13

Which insects eat tarantulas? What are killer bees? Which ants have the most painful sting?

Find out the answers to these questions and much, much more in this book all about the world’s biggest, nastiest, scariest insects.

An information book