Stinging wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), which species have the longest sting?
The stings of bees, wasps, and ants are something that catches the attention of anyone that experiences them. While many recent studies have focused on the pain inflicted by the stings of various stinging wasps, bees, or ants (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), little is known about how the length of the sting...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2018-05-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/4743.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797424379897839616 |
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| author | Emily A. Sadler James P. Pitts Joseph S. Wilson |
| author_facet | Emily A. Sadler James P. Pitts Joseph S. Wilson |
| author_sort | Emily A. Sadler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The stings of bees, wasps, and ants are something that catches the attention of anyone that experiences them. While many recent studies have focused on the pain inflicted by the stings of various stinging wasps, bees, or ants (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), little is known about how the length of the sting itself varies between species. Here, we investigate the sting length of a variety of aculeate wasps, and compare that to reported pain and toxicity values. We find that velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) have the longest sting compared to their body size out of any bee, wasp, or ant species. We also find that there is no link between relative sting length and pain; however, we did find an inverse relationship between relative sting length and toxicity with taxa having shorter relative stings being more toxic. While we found a significant relationship between host use and relative sting length, we suggest that the long sting length of the velvet ants is also related to their suite of defenses to avoid predation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:01:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3b5c498685b641ee915914e545efdb3b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:01:30Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-3b5c498685b641ee915914e545efdb3b2023-12-03T00:41:24ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592018-05-016e474310.7717/peerj.4743Stinging wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), which species have the longest sting?Emily A. Sadler0James P. Pitts1Joseph S. Wilson2Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USADepartment of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USADepartment of Biology, Utah State University—Tooele, Tooele, UT, USAThe stings of bees, wasps, and ants are something that catches the attention of anyone that experiences them. While many recent studies have focused on the pain inflicted by the stings of various stinging wasps, bees, or ants (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), little is known about how the length of the sting itself varies between species. Here, we investigate the sting length of a variety of aculeate wasps, and compare that to reported pain and toxicity values. We find that velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) have the longest sting compared to their body size out of any bee, wasp, or ant species. We also find that there is no link between relative sting length and pain; however, we did find an inverse relationship between relative sting length and toxicity with taxa having shorter relative stings being more toxic. While we found a significant relationship between host use and relative sting length, we suggest that the long sting length of the velvet ants is also related to their suite of defenses to avoid predation.https://peerj.com/articles/4743.pdfStinging waspsPain indexVenom toxicityVelvet antsStinger |
| spellingShingle | Emily A. Sadler James P. Pitts Joseph S. Wilson Stinging wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), which species have the longest sting? PeerJ Stinging wasps Pain index Venom toxicity Velvet ants Stinger |
| title | Stinging wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), which species have the longest sting? |
| title_full | Stinging wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), which species have the longest sting? |
| title_fullStr | Stinging wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), which species have the longest sting? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stinging wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), which species have the longest sting? |
| title_short | Stinging wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), which species have the longest sting? |
| title_sort | stinging wasps hymenoptera aculeata which species have the longest sting |
| topic | Stinging wasps Pain index Venom toxicity Velvet ants Stinger |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/4743.pdf |
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