Current mood:	sick
Entry tags:	eccentrics, silliness

Entemologist with Sensory Details
A friend sends a link to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, as covered in Wikipedia. Justin O. Schmidt, of the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, seems to have a way with describing multiple sensory input -- he could have a career in wine tasting or erotic literature! The scale goes from 0.0 (no effect) to 4.0 (worst pain). Some examples:

1.0 - Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
1.2 - Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch.
1.8 - Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
2.0 - Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
2.0 - Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine W. C. Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
2.x - Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin.
3.0 - Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.
3.0 - Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
4.0 - Tarantula hawk: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath.
4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.