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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

How to tell how much wasp stings will hurt

Short stinging organs tend to carry more-toxic venom — but inflict less pain — than long ones.
Dasymutilla calorata with her sting extended showing its length

Velvet ants, which are wasps that parasitize bees and other wasps, have the longest stinging organs for their body length among the species studied. Credit: Joseph S. Wilson

The length of an insect’s stinging organ correlates with the unpleasantness of being stung, a survey of dozens of the creatures reveals.

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Nature 557, 471 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05126-9

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