Ants...do they have stingers...or do they just bite you?

Question

My boyfriend wants to know...does and ant sting your or bite you?

Answer 1

fire ants and harvester ants, which are primarily outdoor species and are the most common stinging ants in California. An aggressive stinging ant, the red imported fire ant, has recently been found in various southern California counties. There are quite a few stinger ants, but most just bite. that's when i take out the raid, haha

Answer 2

Ants With Stingers

Answer 3

That depends on the species of ant. All ants bite but only some of them sting , some of them even explode.

Nine species of Bruneian ants, whose workers "are known to have hypertrophied mandibular glands and release their glandular contents suicidally from the head by rupturing the inter- segmental membrane of the gaster." In other words, their heads explode. Exploding ants will instinctively commit suicide when their colony is attacked, killing not only themselves but often their attackers as well.


Ants attack others and defend themselves by biting and in many species, stinging, often injecting chemicals like formic acid. Bullet ants (the genus Paraponera), located in Central and South America, are considered to have the most painful sting among insects, although these are usually non-fatal. They are given the highest rating on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. Jack jumper ants, Myrmecia pilosula, located in Australia have stings that cause fatality to a small number of people in the population, and cause hospitalizations each year.

The fire ant also an ant that stings; is rumored to be one of the most troublesome ants;The venom of a fire ant sting causes stinging and swells into a bump. They can be very irritating and painful at times, especially when stung repeatedly by several at once. The bump often forms into a white pustule, which is at risk of becoming infected. The pustules are unattractive and uncomfortable while active and, if the bite sites become infected, can turn into scars. Some people are sensitive to the venom and experience anaphylaxis, which requires emergency treatment.

Hope this answered your question

Answer 4

Right this second, I'm watching Animal Planet. He's talking about how a sting from a bullet ant is like getting your hand slammed in a car door. He let one sting him on the arm, and six hours latter, it's still swollen. Since they evolved from wasps, a lot of species do have stingers.

Answer 5

ants are closely related to bees and wasps, all ants (except for the males) have stingers and can bite, most wil just bite but can still sting if they need to. as someone else pointed out as well some can spray venom as well.

Answer 6

Bullet ants have stingers too

http://www.sasionline.org/antsfiles/pages/bullet/bulletbio.html

Answer 7

Most just bite -- but there ARE some stinging ants, like fire ants.

http://www.buginfo.com/articles/fireant.cfm

Answer 8

When they bite me it seems like they're trying to mate with my skin

Answer 9

some spray poison out of the abdomen right after they bite....ouch

Answer 10

Some can sting