'Cow Killer' Ant Leaves Florida Man With Nasty Bite, 'Excruciating' Pain

A Florida man said he suffered a nasty sting from a "cow killer" ant, which left him with a huge and painful-looking bite on his leg. Eric Breuer opened up about his horrific experience with Newsweek after he shared pictures of his gnarly injury in a Facebook group last week.

"It was mid July 2020. I rode my motorcycle to the Publix on Route 27 in Davenport, Florida," Breuer told reporters. "As I dismounted my bike and took one or two steps I was [stung]. It felt like someone burning me with a cigarette on my inner right thigh. I immediately slapped my leg and the insect fell out of my pant leg."

The Floridian said it took nearly 10 days for the redness to go away, and that the sting lasted for "a good four or five days."

"I had never seen this type of insect before or one like it since," he said. "The insect itself was about 1/2 to 3/4 inches long, bright red and black."

Breuer was left curious about what kind of creature he encountered that day. Inspired by someone sharing a similar experience in the Unseen Florida Facebook group, he posted photos of his harsh sting in hopes of identifying it. Hundreds of users were shocked at his injury while others shared similar stories.

"Oh my! That looks excruciating!" one person said.

Another shares, "I've had that happen on my foot, and it hurts like a SOB."

"I accidentally put my hand down on one and I felt like I put my had on a hot boxed cigar and someone hit my had with a 12lb sledge hammer at the same time,"

Velvet ants, also known as "cow killer" ants, are actually a type of wasp despite their name. The wingless female earned the species its nickname thanks to its powerful sting. The sting, however, is not very toxic nor have there been any reports of cows dying from these wasps. Justin Schmidt, a late entomologist who developed the pain scale for insect stings, described a velvet ant's sting as "hot oil from the deep fryer spilling over your hand."

There are over 430 species of velvet ants in North America, and roughly 50 of them are in Florida alone.