【Spread Wing Specimen】Paraponera clavata (Bullet Ant) Living Creatures Encyclopedia Ant Black Carpenter Ant

Scientific Name: Paraponera clavata?

English Name: bullet ant or lesser giant hunting ant

The bullet ant (Paraponera clavata) is a species of ant. It inhabits the humid lowland rainforests from Nicaragua to Paraguay. It is known for the intense pain caused by its sting, which can last for 24 hours, earning it the name 24-hour ant (Spanish: hormiga veinticuatro). The pain is also described as shocking, like being shot by a bullet, hence the English name bullet ant.

The indigenous Satere-Mawe people of Brazil use this ant in a rite of passage for young men to become warriors. First, the ants are anesthetized with plant extracts and sewn into palm leaves. These are then fashioned into gloves with the stingers pointing inward. After the ants' anesthesia wears off, the young men insert their hands into the gloves and endure the stings for about 10 minutes. Applying charcoal to the hands is permitted as protection from the stingers. Numbness in the hands reportedly persists for several days after the ritual. Completing this rite of passage involves performing this ritual 20 times over several months to years.

We apologize, but we cannot guarantee against grade reduction due to transportation.
We will ship the individual pictured from Napo, Ecuador. I measured it at 27mm. It was collected in September 2016. I believe winged individuals are quite rare.