Thursday around noon at work, a very small wasp (I think) started chasing a woman who works for me. She swatted it away, and it then came after me, following my feet in a quite determined fashion. Maybe a half-inch long, dangling legs, waist, black and yellow. It went under my pants leg and stung me on my ankle. Ow ow shit ow.
Now, I have been stung before, including by yellow jackets and most recently about a month ago, and it hurts but after 30 minutes or so, the pain is gone and no big deal.
I immediately rinsed my ankle with cold water and scraped the bite in case there was a stinger, then applied calamine lotion. My entire ankle developed a rash and swelled up and pain crept up my calf, it felt like electric shocks. That went on for about 24 hours. It was alarming enough that I monitored myself for further signs of anaphylaxis but the pain and numbness stayed below my knee so I didn’t do anything further.
Now, three days later, the redness and swelling is gone but there is a little divot where that fucker stung me and it is still itchy as hell. I have never before been stung by something that caused such a long-lasting reaction. I’ve googled all over the map but can’t find any reference to wasps or bees besides the common ones.
Or perhaps the location of the sting (skin over bone, not into muscle or fatty tissue) made for a nastier histamine response?