Can Fire Ant Bites Kill You

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

Fire Ant Bites aren’t what gets you, it’s the sting. They bite just to get leverage so they can sting you with their tails. Then they let go, pivot a bit, bite the same spot, and sting again. I have watched one make a complete circle then drop off as if it knew it was done.

What’s a little pain compared to the thrill of knowledge…?

2

So how does the body eliminate the fire ant venom? I assume that the active ingrediant is formic acid.

3

So how does the body eliminate the fire ant venom? I assume that the active ingredient is formic acid.

4

No

SDSTAFF Douglas says

5

It seems to me there were two columns posted in response to the fire ant question, both, I believe, by SDSTAFF Doug (and both very good). The first was on the composition of the venom, debunking the formic acid theory. The second dealt primarily with anaphylaxis. The second is the only one currently posted, although Astro quoted extensively from the former. Where did it go?

6

Outpits - Thank you! I thought I was going mad. What happened here? Ed’s not trying to Gaslight us, is he?

7

Outpits: where did what go?
There are two columns on fire ants:
one dated 21 October 2003, Do fire ants bite everything in their path?
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfireants.html
one dated 27 September 2005, Can fire ant bites kill you?
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfireant.html

What’s the confusion?

8

Are you funning with us?

I would swear that the “Do fire ants bite everything in their path?” article was posted briefly on Tuesday.

9

“Within seconds after the stings, discomfort occurs …”
Thank you, Mr. Euphemism, but let’s see you get stung by 20 or so of the little suckers at once and talk to us about “discomfort”.

“Discomfort” is when your underwear doesn’t fit right. Pain is what fire ants inflict.

10

No, Maus Magill, I wasn’t funning with you. I didn’t notice what you said, that the wrong article (the one from 21 October 2003) was posted on Tuesday. But it’s very possible - notice how the two URLs are very similar? It was probably a typographical error that was swiftly corrected.

11

I got bit by about 10 fire ants and less than 24 hrs later, I had a knot on my groin area (I’m a woman so I thought this was an ingrown hair). I went to the Dr. that afternoon. He too thought it was an ingrown hair and told me to go home, put a heat on it and it should resolve itself. I went home, put a heating pad on it, fell asleep. When I woke up, the tiny knot was now the size of a softball and I was running a high fever. I went to the ER and when the doc asked what was wrong I told him I had a bad ingrown hair. He kinda rolled his eyes and was probally thinking, “Why the hell is she coming to the ER for an ingrown hair?”. When he lifted the sheet and took a look he gasped and said “We need to call surgery right now”. Turns out, the venom from the fire ants set in my lymph node and caused an infection. They had to take out all the dead tissue and left me with a four inch long, four inch deep open wound. They couldn’t stich up the wound because of the infection so it was this gaping hole. I could literally stick my fist inside it. I had to have it packed everyday for about 3 months until it healed itself. If I would have waited another 24 hrs the Dr. said it would have spread to my other lymph nodes and I would have been in serious trouble, possible could have died. So, yes, fire ants could kill you.