These Wasps With The World’s Most Painful Stings Live in Texas

Numerous stinging insects are native to Texas, and if you live in the Lone Star State long enough (especially in the country) you'll eventually get stung by several of them.

The most painful insect stings I have received (in reverse order) have come from fire ants, honey bees, and wasps. The most painful wasp sting dealt to me was compliments of several red paper wasps.

I was mowing and didn't notice their nest. I was wearing a ball cap and three of them managed to find the opening at the back of my ball cap and nailed me just above my neck.

Adding insult to injury, I ran away as fast as I could. Unfortunately, my torso misjudged how fast my legs could move and I ended up faceplanting in the driveway.  That hurt, too.

Rating the Most Painful Stings

Back in the 1980s, an entomologist named Justin Schmidt took it upon himself to get stung by numerous stinging insects. He then assigned each insect a rating from 0-4 based on how much pain they inflicted and a colorful and creative description of each insect's sting. For instance, he described the sting of a honey bee as “The oven mitt had a hole in it when you pulled the cookies out of the oven.”

This led to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index.

Later, entomologist Christopher Starr expanded upon Schmidt's work to come up with the Starr Sting Pain Index

Texas Wasps With The Most Painful Stings

Many wasps that rate as 3 or 4 in pain delivery can be found in Texas. Those red wasps, as well as most other paper wasps, were given a throbbing three on the pain index.

Tarantula Hawk Wasp

This is considered to be the wasp that packs the worst wallop. Also known as the Pepsis Wasp, this scary guy has a blue and black body with orange wings. Tarantula Hawk Wasps are mainly found in the desert areas of the southwestern US, this does include portions of Texas.

Executioner Wasp

These wasps are native to Latin American countries to the south of the U.S., however, they have been found in Texas.

Like the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, they also rank as a 4 on the pain index, although some think the sting of the executioner wasp is worse.

Bald-Faced Hornet

Although referred to as a hornet, this is actually a wasp. It's known as one of the more aggressive wasps, thankfully, it's rated as a 2 on the pain index.

Honeybees, bumblebees, and yellow jackets all check in at twos in the pain index category.

Cicada Killer Wasp

Thanks to an increase in activity, this guy has been getting a lot of recent publicity in Texas. Despite its scary appearance, it only rates a 1.5 on the pain index.

What About Fire Ants?

Obviously not a wasp, but as a bonus entry, the sting of a fire ant rates as a 1 on the pain index. Many times, fire ant stings/bites (they do both) come in multiples whenever we stumble upon a mound. So, even though its sting is rated as a lowly 1, numerous fire ant stings at the same time should get a bonus point or two.