Sting
The stinger of the Asian giant hornet is about 6 mm (ΒΌ in) in length, and injects an especially potent venom that contains, like many bee and wasp venoms, a cytolytic peptide (specifically, a mastoparan) that can damage tissue by stimulating phospholipase action, in addition to its own intrinsic phospholipase. Masato Ono, an entomologist at Tamagawa University near Tokyo, described the sensation as feeling "like a hot nail being driven into my leg".
An allergic human stung by the giant hornet may die from an allergic reaction to the venom, but the venom contains a neurotoxin called mandaratoxin (MDTX), a single-chain polypeptide with a molecular weight of approximately 20,000 u, which can be lethal even to people who are not allergic if the dose is sufficient. Each year in Japan, the human death toll caused by Asian giant hornet stings is around 30-40.
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Famous quotes containing the word sting:
“Not to be cowardly when it comes to our own actions! Not to leave them in the lurch!—The sting of conscience is indecent.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Ghost. The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown.
Hamlet. O my prophetic soul!
My uncle?
Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Then, welcome each rebuff
That turns earth’s smoothness rough,
Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but go!”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)