The Difference Between Insects Bites The majority of insects will protect themselves if they feel at risk.

This is qu ite amazing when you think about how small insects are compared to the mammalian interloper. Most insects will only attack if you roam into their territory. There are also insects that need to drink blood and they actively seek their pre y. This type includes insects like mosquitoes, bed bugs and fleas. Ants make up the largest section of biters. All ants will attempt to bite if the y feel the need, but most black ants just do not possess big enough mandibles (o r jaws) to get a grasp. The big exception in all ant and ant-like varieties are the soldiers, which have colossal mandibles compared to the workers. Red ants may bite with or without poison and some sting too. Formic acid is thei r usual chemical weapon. Some ants inject it, which is what we feel when we are bitten by red ants, but other ants squirt it into the eyes of its aggressors. The most agonizing sting of any insect is provided by the Bullet Ant of Central and South America. The Bullet Ant's sting has the highest rating possible on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. The index ranges from zero to four; zero being painle ss (to humans) through two for bees and wasps to four for excruciating pain. The Fire Ant, which is famous for its painful bite ranks a 1.2 on this scale, bu t level 1.8 is compared to having a staple shot into your cheek. The European ho ney bee is on number two and the Red Harvester Ant is on level three. Some bites and stings are not so high on the index but may still become deadly. The Jack Jumper Ant is in this category and people, especially hypersensitives, have been known to die from Fire Ant stings, which inject piperidine alkaloids i nstead of formic acid. The mandibles of the Trap Jaw Ant are the fastest closing jaws in the animal kin gdom. They have been measured at 230 KPH (143 MPH). Another unusual ant defence is carried out by a Malaysian species: it ejects its stomach over its aggressor. The stomach acids contain acetophones which totally immobilize insects. Regretta bly, the soldier dies because its stomach has been torn out. Bees, ants and wasps are all related in the order called Hymenoptera. Bees and w asps just sting although some wasps do have large jaws too. One definition of a wasp is 'any insect of the order Hymenoptera that is neither a bee nor an ant' ( Wikipedia). Not all wasps are black and yellow. There are not many insects that do not have a type of wasp preying on it, which makes them very important in the biocontrol of destructive insects. Far of wasps do not sting their prey to kill it for foo d, they sting it to paralyze it. While paralyzed, the wasp lays her eggs in the prey, which becomes fresh food fo r her young when they hatch out. This is normally the only time that a wasp eats meat in its entire life, because adult wasps eat nectar and honey the same as b ees. As a bee stings it releases pheromones which encourage other bees close by to st ing too. The most aggressive stingers though are vespid wasps (common black and yellow wasps).

Fleas, ticks and bed bugs, unlike mosquitoes, actually feed on blood, that is t hey use it for food, whereas the mosquito needs it as the 'white' of her eggs. T here have been times in our history when losing a couple of drops of blood to a flea was not the worst thing about being bitten by them. They also carried the Plague, which wiped out a substantial percentage of the p opulace of Europe several times. Spiders and scorpions make up the causes of most insect bites although they are fairly rare. Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on numerous subjects, but is at t his time concerned with <a href="http://pestmanagementathome.com/insect-removal. html">Insect Removal</a>. If you want to know more, visit our website now at <a href="http://pestmanagementathome.com">Pest Management at Home</a>.