Strange insect stung me... possible IDs please?

[BirdNut]

I was walking in a field recently, and when I took my shoes off, I happened to step on some strange insect. It stung me really hard, the stinger was sharply curved and maroon in color, as was most of the insect. It was much smaller than a honeybee, but I freaked out and flung the bug off too quickly to really examine every detail of it's appearance. I recall it having wings. The sting burned and itched like crazy for days, even after thorough cleaning. What could it have been?

 

[dawg53]

Sounds like some type of wasp, never know for sure though.

 

[sonjab314]

Hornet? Dirt Dobber?

 

[Q9]

If my guess is worth anything, I'd say it was a velvet ant.

Also known as the cow-killer. If it's got that powerful a sting, I'd say it's probably a velvet ant.

 

[Orchid]

It's kind of hard to guess without an idea of your location.

 

[bluere11e]

I would think if it was an honest red..like a valentines day heart and black.. and fuzzy.. I would think it's a cow killer ant. The females and males sting, but I'm told the females pack a bigger whallop. If it was a brick red/ chocolate brown with wings, my guess would be a paper wasp.

 

[BirdNut]

Orchid, I live in AZ. Sorry I didn't mention that before.

Q9, I've seen a velvet ant before and that's too bright of a red, I also don't think this insect was fuzzy.

The paper wasp is definitely the right color; but how big do they get? This insect wasn't very large at all.

Another detail, it lost the tip of the stinger after I got the insect off. I'm reading that only honeybees lose their stinger afterward...?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Without a lot of further detailed info, my guess would be Pogonomyrmex maricopa. Their stings are brutal.

You can see a pic of it here: http://scienceblogs.com/strangerfruit/2009/04/pogonomyrmex_maricopa.php

 

[BirdNut]

That looks like a possibility, but wow, they're saying the stings from those things are equal to twelve bee stings. This sting was bad, but I don't think it was that bad.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Not every sting will deliver the whallop for which they are known. I've been stung by them and, while it hurt, it certainly wasn't 12 bees worth of hurt. Because it stung you on the foot and you described it as maroon it made me think that this guy, or some other ant might be the culprit. One thing we have lots of here in AZ is ants.