If a wasp actually looks like it has a “huge giant scary stinger”….it can’t sting you or hurt you at all.
This pointed tube is the ovipositor, used for laying eggs.
A stinger is an ovipositor modified into a venomous weapon, and to work as a weapon, it gets smaller, not larger. A stinger is as thin as a hair, so it can swiftly slip right into your skin, and is never held permanently outside the insect’s body.
A big, giant, long ovipositor is useless for defense against big animals like us.
Is there an exception to this rule?
And do they perchance live in Australia?
Nope!
Probably the biggest venomous stinger of all wasps is the giant Japanese hornet and here’s one with her sting all the way out:
It’s still very little compared to the rest of her!
Okay a velvet ant’s sting is PRETTY long for the animal’s overall size.
However, it’s always held completely inside the body until it’s actually time to sting
Nothing just flies or walks around with a big ol fat sting hanging out, that would never be as effective as just pressing the abdomen against skin, then releasing the stinger.
Velvet ants themselves are very tiny, too! The stinger is no larger than a hornet’s, the rest of the body is just smaller.
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