Consider the audacity—or perhaps the sheer curiosity—of willingly experiencing bites and stings from over 80 different insect species.

That's precisely the undertaking of Dr. Justin Schmidt, an adventurous entomologist, who set out on a unique mission to understand the pain caused by insect stings and bites.

For those uneasy around bugs, the details of this tale might be unsettling.

Dr. Schmidt initiated a remarkable exploration, subjecting himself to stings and bites from a diverse collection of insects, such as bees, wasps, and ants, encompassing 83 different species.

His ambitious objective was to firsthand assess and rate the pain these small creatures can deliver.

The rationale for this extraordinary experiment was to create a pain index, assigning each sting a rating from one to four based on its intensity.

While the sting from a typical wasp or honey bee might seem severe, earning a level two on Schmidt's scale, it was only three species that achieved the highest pain rating of four—a level of agony so profound, it stands apart.

Dr. Schmidt didn't just rate the pain; he described each sting with the creativity of a storyteller.

For example, he compared the sting of the Western Yellowjacket to a 'hot and smoky, almost irreverent' sensation, making it sound more like a food review than a sting assessment. This unique sting earned a level two on his pain scale.

Not all insect stings were as dramatic, though.

Fire ants, for example, got a level one for a sting that Schmidt likened to the feeling of 'walking across a shag carpet and reaching for the light switch'.

While that might sound bearable, the top of the scale features insects you wouldn't want to mess with.

Schmidt humorously suggests that if you encounter these insects, your best bet is to run away or take serious steps to avoid them, indicating just how painful their stings can be.

So, which insects made it to the top of this painful list?

The Bullet Ant stands out, with a sting so painful it feels like getting shot. Schmidt describes it vividly: "Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail embedded in your heel."

The ant's sting remained unmatched until two types of wasps also reached the top pain level of four.

One of them, the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, is infamous for its harsh way of reproducing by paralyzing tarantulas to use them as living hosts for its larvae. Schmidt describes its sting as "Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair dryer has just been dropped into your bubble bath."

Additionally, there's the Warrior Wasp, whose sting's pain is so severe that Schmidt compared it to "Torture. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano. Why did I start this list?"

This question highlights the extreme commitment to the project and the intense pain experienced in the name of scientific exploration.