Entomologist Justin Schmidt has redefined what it means to carefully research in the name of science. Named the “Connoisseur of Pain” by the Entomological Society of America, the American entomologist has been stung hundreds of times during his career.
But the pain was not without purpose. Schmidt’s poking and nudging would ultimately lead to a scientific categorization of his painful experiences. The Schmidt Sting Pain Index rates the degree of pain inflicted by a sting by an insect of the order Hymenopteran, which includes bees, wasps, and ants.
Schmidt recorded his own experiences with poisonous stings to assess and describe the pain associated with the venom of certain insects, according to the Natural History Museum.
In his 1983 paper in the peer-reviewed journal Archives of the Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, Schmidt published a column comparing the properties of insecticides and rating stinging pain from 0 (ineffective in humans) to progress in 0.5 increments were. He expanded that list in 1990, adding the classification of 78 insect stings to be published in the Encyclopedia of Entomology.
Take the red fire ant, for example. With a pain level of 1, his sting was characterized as sharp, sudden and slightly alarming: “As if you were walking across a shag carpet and reaching for the light switch.”
At level 2 we see the western honey bee, whose sting is described as “burning, corrosive, but you can handle it”. A burning match head lands on your arm and is extinguished with lye and then with sulfuric acid. ”
If you think that sounds bad, then you clearly haven’t been stung by the tarantula, which gets a whopping 4 on the index scale – the highest rating.
With a sting that is dazzling, violent and shockingly electric, Schmidt compares being stung by a 2-inch flying insect as if it were a “running hair dryer”. [that] just dropped into your bubble bath. ”
Don’t do it for you How about the “pure, intense, brilliant pain” of the bullet ant that is “like walking over burning charcoal with a 3 inch nail in your heel”.
It sounds like painful work, but apparently someone had to do it. Schmidt was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Physiology and Entomology in 2015 for his seemingly unbearable work. The Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded for science published in peer-reviewed journals to “recognize accomplishments that make people laugh first, and then think. “The aim of IG Nobels is to arouse interest in science, medicine and technology in addition to having fun in academic research.
At the time of this writing, Schmidt was listed as an Entomologist and Adjunct Scientist with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona.
