The World's Most Painful Job?

Robert Clark for the New York Times

Tarantula hawk wasp

The first time Justin Schmidt got stung by a type of wasp known as a tarantula hawk, he thought he was going to die. He describes the pain as “shockingly electric.” His advice for someone stung by a tarantula hawk? “Lie down and scream.”

Schmidt is an entomologist, or insect scientist. He studies the behavior of stinging ants, bees, and wasps at the Southwestern Biological Institute in Arizona.

Schmidt travels the world collecting bugs to use as live samples for his lab. He has used his bare hands to scoop up ants in an ant colony. He has shimmied up a tree to snatch a wasp’s nest. Such moves have made him a frequent victim of insect attacks. In his 43-year career, Schmidt says he has been stung more than 1,000 times by 80 different species.

At first, he figured that pain was just part of his job. But then he realized his experiences could help answer an important question: Why do some insect stings hurt more than others?

The first time Justin Schmidt got stung by a type of wasp known as a tarantula hawk, he thought he was going to die. He describes the pain as "shockingly electric." His advice for someone stung by a tarantula hawk? "Lie down and scream."

Schmidt is an entomologist. This is an insect scientist. He studies the behavior of stinging ants, bees, and wasps. He works at the Southwestern Biological Institute in Arizona.

Schmidt travels the world collecting bugs. He uses them as live samples for his lab. He has used his bare hands to scoop up ants in an ant colony. He has shimmied up a tree. That was to snatch a wasp's nest. Such moves have made him a frequent victim of insect attacks. He has worked 43 years in this career. Schmidt says he has been stung more than 1,000 times by 80 different species.

At first, he figured that pain was just part of his job. But then he realized his experiences could help answer an important question. Which is, why do some insect stings hurt more than others?

Some scientists carry binoculars in case they see something amazing. Schmidt carries around a wide-mouthed plastic jar in case he has the chance to collect a new specimen.

The jar was a big help when he was creating the Sting Pain Index. This scale compares the pain of different kinds of insect stings. He rates bites from 0 to 4 in whole and decimal values, with 4 being the most agonizing. “By putting numbers to the pain, I could begin to see patterns,” Schmidt says.

Some stings really hurt but don’t cause any real harm. This is the case for the tarantula hawk. The insect spends most of its time alone (except when hunting tarantula spiders, its main prey). Schmidt ranks its sting as a 4 on the pain scale. It felt “excruciating” when he was bitten. But the sensations didn’t last and didn’t result in long-term harm.

On the other hand, insects that live in social groups, such as honeybees, tend to have moderately painful stings that are highly toxic. Schmidt inferred that toxic stings are important defenses for social insects. They have nests full of larvae and sometimes honey to protect. The pain of toxic stings is a warning to predators: Stay away or you could die.

Some scientists carry binoculars in case they see something amazing. Schmidt carries around a wide-mouthed plastic jar. That's in case he has the chance to collect a new insect.

The jar was a big help when he created the Sting Pain Index. This scale compares the pain of different kinds of insect stings. He rates bites from 0 to 4 in whole and decimal values. The number 4 is the most painful.

"By putting numbers to the pain, I could begin to see patterns," Schmidt says.

Some stings really hurt. But they don't cause any real harm. This is the case for the tarantula hawk. The insect spends most of its time alone (except when hunting tarantula spiders, its main prey). Schmidt ranks its sting as a 4 on the pain scale. It felt "excruciating" when he was bitten. But the sensations didn't last. And they didn't result in long-term harm.

Other stings do not hurt so much. But they can be highly toxic. This happens with insects that live in social groups, such as honeybees. Schmidt inferred that toxic stings are important defenses for social insects. They have nests full of larvae. Sometimes they also have honey to protect. The pain of toxic stings is a warning to predators. It says stay away or you could die.

Robert Clark for the New York Times

Schmidt studies samples of insects in his lab.

There are thousands of types of stinging insects on this planet, with more waiting to be discovered. “Neither I, nor anyone else, has been stung by all of them,” says Schmidt.

But the sting of one species reigns supreme: the bullet ant. “Their sting is the best there is,” says Schmidt. He felt the ant’s wrath in Brazil near the Amazon River, when one stung his hand. His hand throbbed, his arm shook, and the area around the bite became numb. It took until the next morning for the pain to finally go away.

Even so, Schmidt knows that pain has a purpose. It helps discourage a predator from attacking an insect. That’s “something we humans are quick to learn through experience,” he says.

There are thousands of types of stinging insects on this planet. And there are more waiting to be discovered. "Neither I, nor anyone else, has been stung by all of them," says Schmidt.

But the sting of the bullet ant is the worst. "Their sting is the best there is," says Schmidt. He felt the ant's wrath in Brazil near the Amazon River. One ant stung his hand there. His hand throbbed and his arm shook. The area around the bite became numb. It took until the next morning for the pain to finally go away.

Even so, Schmidt knows that pain has a purpose. It helps discourage a predator from attacking an insect. That's "something we humans are quick to learn through experience," he says.

Schmidt is in the field collecting insects for his research. Let’s say he collects 6 jars of 8 great black wasps each. He also has 8 jars with 6 velvet ants each. On a separate sheet of paper, use math vocabulary and/or model drawings to explain why the number of insects in each collection of species is the same.

Let’s say Schmidt is gathering metallic green ants for his lab. In one place, he gathers 2 sets of 8 jars with 4 ants in each jar. Schmidt writes the following expression to determine the total number of ants he has: 2 x 8 x 4. Evaluate the total.

If Schmidt switched the order of the factors in the expression:8 x 4 x 2, would he get the same answer? On a separate sheet of paper, explain why or why not using math terms.

Schmidt gathers 3 jars with 13 yellow jackets in each jar. In another location, he gathers 3 jars with 5 yellow jackets in each jar. Write an expression with parentheses for the total number of yellow jackets he gathers.

Solve your expression from part A. How many total yellow jackets does he have?

Let’s say Schmidt wrote the following expression for his total number of yellow jackets: 3 x (13 + 5). On a separate sheet of paper, explain why this is another way of correctly expressing his yellow jacket total.

Let’s say that Schmidt gathers 22 different stinging insect species for his lab. He wants to divide the samples into 4 equal groups. How many insects are in each group? Are any insects left over?

From the group of 22 insects, 7 score a 1 on the pain scale. 5 insects score a 2. The rest score greater than 2 on the scale. How many insects in this collection score greater than 2 on the pain scale? Write and solve an equation with parentheses.

The chart to the right includes all of the wasp species to which Schmidt has assigned a pain score. Let’s say he wants to gather 4 insects of each species that rank less than 2 on the pain scale. Write an expression with parentheses to show the total for this group of wasps.

Schmidt wants 2 insects from each species measuring 2 or greater on the pain scale. Write an expression with parentheses to show the total for this group of wasps.

Without evaluating either expression, which do you predict will be greater—your expression from part A or part B?

Evaluate your expressions. Was your prediction correct?

The chart to the right shows the ant species Schmidt has ranked. About how many times greater is the number of ant species with pain values in whole numbers compared to those with decimal numbers? Write an expression with parentheses.