Here is the index I use to grade my stings!
| Grade | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Did it actually sting? I did not feel anything. Maybe I should try again? |
| 2 | I hardly felt a thing, but strangely enough, my arm is still swollen and red around the stinging site. I guess my body is just weak. |
| 3 | Mamma Mia, this actually hurts. At least I have some kind of emotion in my life for the next minutes… |
| 4 | Almost as bad as visiting my parents. |
Grading my stings
Here are the grades I gave my stings!
| Species | Date | Location | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apis mellifera | Bergamo (IT) | 2 | Just a cigarette burn. The Toyota Corolla of insect stings: familiar, unremarkable, and still perfectly capable of ruining your afternoon. | |
| Carebara altinodus | Xingangshan (CN) | 0.5 | Can they sting? Really? The nervous system doesn’t even bother informing the brain, unless several assassins join forces to produce a pitiful itch. | |
| Ectomomyrmex astutus | Xingangshan (CN) | 1.5 | A sharp little puncture, painful enough to register but gone before you can complain. A drive-by shooting by a breadcrumb with legs. | |
| Leptogenys kitteli | Xingangshan (CN) | 1 | Budget ant, premium attitude. A small, sharp jab, briefly unpleasant, followed by a little itch, as though the bloody thing couldn’t even afford a proper sting. | |
| Manica rubida | Bavarian Forest (DE) | 1 | Unpleasant, familiar and not remotely impressive. A nettle has grown legs and become a career criminal. | |
| Neoponera villosa | 04 May 2026 | Bayreuth (DE) | 2.5 | Like a small needle stuck in the flesh. The ache lingers, patient and unforgiving, like a debt collector waiting in the hallway after breaking your kneecaps. |
| Odontomachus sp. | 06 October 2026 | Bayreuth (DE) | 1 | Like a few drops of hydrogen peroxide on a small cut. A brief flare, a theatrical reaction from the nervous system, and then absolutely nothing. |
| Parapolybia sp. | Xingangshan (CN) | 1 | Like being pricked with a toothpick by a toddler. Ridiculously annoying and utterly devoid of grandeur. | |
| Polistes dominula | Bergamo (IT) | 1.5 | Like being stabbed with a pin by someone who has a meeting in three minutes: it hurts, makes its point, and fucks off before the cops arrive. | |
| Polistes japonicus | Xingangshan (CN) | 2.5 | A nasty but short-lived burst of heat, like a small splash of boiling oil on bare skin. All that venom, and the little sadist still couldn’t commit to the bloody crime. | |
| Tetraponera rufonigra | 14 April 2026 | Bayreuth (DE) | 1.5 | A faint sting, then an itch that refuses to leave. Like passive-aggressive emails from a dorky colleague. |
