Every now and then you’ll stumble on a video which makes you say “WTF” and question your faith in humanity. Congratulations – you’ve stumbled on another one.
Coyote Peterson is a YouTuber come adventurer come masochist, and recently released a video that shows him letting himself get stung by a tarantula hawk, considered to have the second most painful sting in the world.
When the wasp inserted its stinger into Peterson’s left forearm, the poison immediately entered his system and caused almost instant paralysis. But just what makes this sting so painful? If you want the details, read on, sicko.
The tarantula hawk got its name because, well, it fights tarantulas. But not only does it fight – it wins. All the time. When the tarantula hawk – which can grow up to five centimetres in length – stings the spider, it paralyses its much larger foe and drags its corpse back to its nest. Once there, the wasp lays a single egg on the tarantula’s chest that will inevitably hatch into a larva deep inside the spider’s body, feeding on all the tarantula’s non-essential body parts in an effort to prolong its life. When the wasps grow up and mature, they leave the corpse and the process starts all over again.
If you can handle insects, suspense and watching another human being forcibly put himself through the most amount of pain he’s ever going to endure, check out the video below. Skip to 10:50 to see him get bitten stung.