[Perspectives] Powerful venom

It can't be said that Venom: Killer and Cure, the new exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, UK, will set your mind at ease. Never mind the giant cobra straight out of B-movie nightmare or the huge, hairy (but harmless to humans) Burgundy Goliath birdeater tarantula; it's the insects that are the worst. A chilling display of nasty little bugs accompanies each one with a description of the effects of their sting. That of the trap-jaw ant is “instantaneous and excruciating: a rat trap snaps your fingernail”; the bullet ant induces “pure, intense, brilliant pain, like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your feet”; and the warrior wasp will convince you that “you are chained in the flow of an active volcano”.
Source: LANCET - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Perspectives Source Type: research