Isn’t that the definiton of stinging? lol
From merriam:
Definition of sting
transitive verb
1 : to prick painfully: such as
a : to pierce or wound with a poisonous or irritating process
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Good point, from an purely definitional standpoint this is correct.
HOWEVER, in biology (ESPESCIALLY entomology) when referring to an organism sting is a specific verb that is used when an organism has an adaptation where one or more (for lack of a better word) “appendage” has been modified to allow the delivery of harmful substances into another organism (this may be offensive or defensive).
Stings may be delivered through cells, like the nematocyst in the jellyfish, corals and other cnidarians:
https://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/663/flashcards/314663/jpg/nematocyst1331595317440.jpg
Or the may be delivered through a modified ovipositor (the standard in insects) or other barbed projection.
Although it may be a painful point based sensation I would never say that a tick or horsefly ‘stung’ me. Because they did so with their mouthparts for the purpose of gaining food, so the verb ‘bite’ is more appropriate.
Something like this conversation is very common when talking about ants, because the word ‘bite’ is very often used in place of the word ‘sting’. When an ant uses its modified ovipositor to deliver venom under the skin (or in cases when the ant has used it’s acidopore to spray formic acid into an already existing wound) it is very common to say it has ‘bitten’ you. Unfortunately, this is not the case and leads to a confusion about what is occurring.
Interestingly, this sort of conversation is very uncommon when discussing wasps or bees.
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Most ants have mandibles that are quite capable of delivering a rather unpleasant bite as well though, even though it is maybe only a small selection of ant species that use that as their primary attack?
I don’t think I’ve seen bees do it, but many types of wasps can and will bite as well wont they?
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Wasps can bite, but I don’t know that I have ever really seen it, most specifically, they tend to bite things to tear off chunks to bring back to the nest… When defending this isn’t really their goal, so I imagine they don’t bite people. My experience here is much more ant focused.
With that nice segue, I guess it depends on what ants you are talking about… The ants that most people are going to encounter don’t really pose much of a threat on the mandible front, around here the probably worst bite you are going to get is from a Carpenter ant, and although surprisingly forceful, it isn’t really painful (like someone put a chip clip on your hand/arm).
Interestingly, ants bite as a “primary” attack so they can latch onto you, pull the skin/defenses you possess taught in their jaws, then stab their stinger into this taught region. If you prevent the ant from biting you it actually won’t sting.
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I imagine this process involves much bug profanity.
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Help @hivefleetbothan I need your help. The last few days we’ve had dozens of wasps fly into our flat everyday and they seem very confused, flying into things and not looking for food at all. A lot of them die in here and I fear it might be due to some disease/fungus/chemical? 
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They are probably just looking for a way out, most likely not a disease or anything.
Try and figure out how they are getting in and seal or try and cover up that entryway.
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Nah they come through the windows when we open them, we always had 1 or 2 a day, but not 7 on a single window, it’s insane :o at least they seem quite calm, but I’ll happily believe it’s not a disease cause that’d be a shame.
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Wow, that is a high number in general… you probably have a nest somewhere nearby…
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