Page 279 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2

TRUE OR FALSE? 277

Worker honeybees FAST FACTS
undertake various tasks,
depending on their age
and the requirements
of the colony.
Honeybees use ADULT
sight and smell to
LIFE CYCLE OF A
locate flowers and MEAL OF FEMALE MOSQUITO PUPAE
find nectar. BLOOD

What do bees EGGS LARVAE
and turtles ONLY FEMALE
have in
common? MOSQUITOES BITE
Female mosquitoes need nutrients from
blood to produce eggs. Males prefer flower
nectar because they don’t make eggs. Once
the females have laid their eggs, they die.
FIRE ANTS
COORDINATE THEIR
BITES

WHEN THREATENED
Nobody quite knows how they do it, but if you
bump into a fire ant nest, the counterattack by
the ants is organized so that all the ants will bite
you at once. The effect is what gives the ants
their name, since it feels like being on fire. Ouch!

RATING INSECTS
1.0 Southern fire ant (Solenopsis xyloni)
Honeybees don’t 2.0 Honeybee, Africanized bee, bumblebee,
die when they sting yellow jacket
other insects, but 3.0 Velvet ant, paper wasp
stinging a mammal, 4.0 Tarantula hawk (Pepsis wasp)
such as a human, causes 4+ Bullet ant (Paraponera clavata)
the barbed stinger to
become lodged in the skin.
As the honeybee flies away, THE STARR STING
part of the digestive system, PAIN SCALE RANKS STINGS
muscles, and nerves are torn out FROM ONE TO FOUR
with the stinger. It is impossible for Created by insect specialist Christopher Starr,
the honeybee to survive this loss. this scale describes the pain of stings from
By contrast, wasps and other bees bees, wasps, and ants. The bullet ant is the
have a smooth stinger, allowing it king of the stingers—its name says it all.
to sting multiple targets repeatedly.

US_276_277_309600_Stinging_insects.indd 277 19/12/17 3:49 pm