List of Poisonous Insects

If you think about all the insects that could potentially sting or bite you, it is overwhelming. Many of them are poisonous (venomous is a more accurate term) too. The toxins released might affect your central nervous system, destroy tissue, cause blistering or even disrupt processes like blood clotting. Also, symptoms are different depending upon the insect involved and can become life-threatening if you are allergic. Respond quickly by getting proper medical attention if you are stung or bitten.

Bees and Wasps

• A honey bee is the most common type, and it stings. The stinger remains in the wound, so remove it to stop toxin release. Other bees like the bumble bee (larger and fuzzy) sting too, but they can strike multiple times.

  The wasp category includes hornets, cicada killers, polistes (paper wasps), mud dauber wasps and yellow jackets. All sting but polistes, hornets and yellow jackets are more likely to do so. When stung, the venom goes under the skin and causes severe swelling.

Ants

• Ants can bite and sting.

  National Geographic magazine estimates that there are about 10,000 types of ants worldwide. Ants can sting you, bite and spray poison (formic acid). The poison causes pain, swelling, rash and wheezing. In allergic persons, the symptoms are much worse. Army ants, driver ants (found in Africa), fire ants, Australian bulldog ants and jumper ants are all poisonous.

  Army ants are quite dangerous. The "soldiers" like to attack all at once. New world army ants do not sting, but bite. Bulldog and jumper ants are only found in Australia. According to National Geographic, bulldog ants have stingers that are filled with venom. A sting will swell, feel hot and cause blistering.

  Fire ants sting, but they also bite. They might even sting and bite over and over again. The result is a painful wound. It can get itchy, filled with pus and quite swollen. Since fire ants are present in large numbers, you could get multiple bites and sting.

Spiders

• Spider bites can be quite painful.

  All spiders can bite. Some bites are venomous. The most common venomous spiders include widow and brown recluse. The widow spiders are big and may be black or brown, with red markings in either an hourglass shape or dots. The bite is very venomous. There might be muscle pain, abdominal pain, nausea, swelling, sweating and breathing troubles. Death can even result, so prompt attention is important.

  The brown recluse spider is also quite venomous. It bites only when threatened. They have a violin pattern near the head. These spiders hide in untouched places. A bite may nor hurt or cause symptoms. In others, severe burning pain occurs.

  Hobo spiders are found only in certain states (Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Washington). According to hobospider.org, about half of the bites do not contain venom. A venomous bite will be red, hard and may develop blisters with or without pus. Headache, dizziness, nausea and joint pain can also occur.

  Wolf spiders are brown or gray with back stripes. They are also quite fast, but do not usually bite humans unless provoked or confused that you are prey. A bite will swell and, according to badspiderbites.com, you should apply ice to the bite and move as little as possible until you can get medical attention.

Others

• Scorpions can sting. The stinger is in the curled-up tail. Their sting delivers a neurotoxin that is painful, but not usually fatal unless you are allergic. Also, some caterpillars and millipedes can sting and be poisonous. The blister beetle is also venomous.