Schmidt sting pain index

Schmidt sting pain index
Schmidt sting pain index
	Some species representing the Schmidt sting pain index: Synoeca surinama, Paraponera clavata, Pepsis sp., Hemipepsis sp., and Vespa mandarinia.
Purpose	Rates the pain of different stings

The Schmidt sting pain index is a pain scale rating the relative pain caused by different hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt, who was an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona.

Schmidt's original 1983 paper was a way to systematize and compare the hemolytic properties of insect venoms.^[1] A table in the paper included a column that rated sting pain, starting from 0 for stings that are completely ineffective against humans, progressing through 2 for familiar pains such as those caused by common bee or wasp stings, and finishing at 4 for the most painful stings. Only the bullet ant, Paraponera clavata, was given a rating of 4, although later versions of the index added two more species.

Schmidt repeatedly refined his scale, including a paper published in 1990, which classifies the stings of 78 species and 41 genera of Hymenoptera,^[2] and culminating in a book published in 2016.^[3]

^ Schmidt, Justin O.; Blum, Murray S.; Overal, William L. (1983). "Hemolytic activities of stinging insect venoms". Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology. 1 (2): 155–160. doi:10.1002/arch.940010205.
^ Schmidt, Justin O. (1990). "Hymenoptera Venoms: Striving Toward the Ultimate Defense Against Vertebrates". In D. L. Evans; J. O. Schmidt (eds.). Insect Defenses: Adaptive Mechanisms and Strategies of Prey and Predators. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. pp. 387–419. ISBN 0-88706-896-0.
^ Schmidt, Justin (2016). The Sting of the Wild. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-1929-9.

[Original-1] Schmidt, Justin O.; Blum, Murray S.; Overal, William L. (1983). "Hemolytic activities of stinging insect venoms". Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology. 1 (2): 155–160. doi:10.1002/arch.940010205.

[schmidt_venoms-2] Schmidt, Justin O. (1990). "Hymenoptera Venoms: Striving Toward the Ultimate Defense Against Vertebrates". In D. L. Evans; J. O. Schmidt (eds.). Insect Defenses: Adaptive Mechanisms and Strategies of Prey and Predators. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. pp. 387–419. ISBN 0-88706-896-0.

[stingofthewild-3] Schmidt, Justin (2016). The Sting of the Wild. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-1929-9.

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