Image via wikipedia

Paraponera, also known-as bullet ants. They are named like this because of their sting allegedly feels like being shot by a bullet. It is also called 24 hour ant by the locals in the rainforests of Nicaragua to Paraguay. That’s because the pain lasts for 24 hours following the sting.

Some facts about this ant.

It is about 18-25 mm long and they resemble wingless wasps. The pain caused by this ant’s sting is ranked number ONE according to Schmidt Pain Index. They describe the pain as: “Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.”

Image via Google

Their colonies are usually situated at the base of the trees; consisting of several hundred worker ants foraging for prey as far as the upper canopy.

Enough about the facts, what about the scary truth that the title unveils?

Believe it or not, a tribe called the Satere-Mawe in Brazil have a special use for these ants. Remember those initiation rites to join a cult? Well, this is the same. What the tribe does is they capture these bullet ants, drug them and place them stinger-first into gloves. Then, the men of the tribe must place their hand in these gloves and endure the pain without screaming. This is the initiation to manhood as they call it. If you think that’s bad enough, they must endure this pain 20 times! Not necessiraly in one try, sometimes it goes on for months and even years. Note: they must keep the glove on for 10 minutes.

This video shows someone going through the initiation rite of the tribe. You can see the pain after a few minutes.