[Sally Le Page (OP)]

We've had this question in from listener Sarah:

"Why do ant bites hurt so much?"

What do you think?

[Origin]

The ants I have encountered do not have a very painful bite.  However certain kinds of ants can sting you, like fire ants, which can be very painful due to the poison they inject.

[alancalverd]

Latin name for an ant is formica - from which we get formic acid HCOOH. Different species inject various amounts when attacked or to kill their prey. Some people are allergic but even if you have no secondary reaction, it's a powerful acid and causes tissue damage.

[evan_au]

Even without the formic acid, some ants have very large jaws, which could give you quite a nip...
While one ant may not be too bad, they have the advantage of large numbers, and some species tend to attack in swarms..
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ant

[Iannguyen]

We've had this question in from listener Sarah:

"Why do ant bites hurt so much?"

What do you think?

Why do most people get scared when going to a doctor? Because we know things might get damp when the doctor brings out a needle. The inner instinct of ours troubles us. Needles do hurt, but the extra hurt comes from our senses. Thus, I will suggest that ant bites do hurt, but if you consider the word ‘hurt’ from them, it surprises me a lot. But considering only the term hurt, let me explain through the concept of the needle. A needle hurts because it is injected into your skin.
Similarly, ants use their ‘needles’ to sting or bite you. Although the sting only comes from the female ant while the bite comes from the male. The sting hurts more than the bite, and it is because of simpler and obvious reasons. The female ant stings by using its ‘needle’ and pinches you while injecting the venom inside you. This process hurts the most and sometimes causes a minor bleed.

[Mckenzie]

Probably because of formic acid, Happened few days back, when I passed by colony and few of them got on to my shoe. It bleeds as well.

[AlphAcorn]

It depends on the ant, they all have different toxins or concentrations of same, and yes some have very powerful pincers, and hurt quite a bit, Safari ants for instance are notorious biters as are Carpenter ants, but even the smaller varieties have painful stings.