Red Fire Ant. Pain level: 1 “Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet and reaching for the light switch.”

Western Cicada Killer. Pain level: 1.5 “Pain at first sight. Like poison oak, the more your rub, the worse it gets.”

Western Honey Bee. Pain level: 2 “Burning, corrosive, but you can handle it.”

Western Yellowjacket. Pain level: 2 “Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W.C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.”

Fierce Black Polybia Wasp. Pain level: 2.5 “A ritual gone wrong, satanic. The gas lamp in the old church explodes in your face when you light it.”

Velvet Ant. Pain level: 3 “Explosive and long-lasting, you sound insane as you scream. Hot oil from the deep frying spilling over your entire hand.”

Florida Harvester Ant. Pain level: 3 “Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a power drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.”

Tarantula Hawk. Pain level: 4 “Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair dryer has just been dropped into your bubble bath.”

Bullet Ant. Pain level: 4 “Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over a flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail embedded in your heel.”

Warrior Wasp. Pain level: 4 “Torture. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano.