Bullet Ant

Up to an inch long, the bullet ant is among the largest of all ant species. Named for their excruciatingly painful sting, bullet ants are considered to be the most venomous insect. The neurotoxin they use in defense causes severe pain, nausea, and trembling in humans, yet they are not aggressive and only sting if they are threatened.

• In some South American tribes, boys become men by enduring the pain of multiple stings as they wear a glove full of bullet ants.
• Living in large colonies, bullet ants build underground nests at the base of a tree.