Justin Schmidt, a budding entomologist was writing a dissertation about the venom of different insects with the help of his zoologist wife Debbie. They collected large numbers of the "nasty stinging insects" for analysis and comparison of their venom. To asses venom, they had to evaluate toxicity and pain. As for toxicity, well, it was easy, all they had to do is to use existing measures. But there was no measures for pain. This is how the "Schmidt Pain Scale for Stinging Insects" appeared. It was a four-point system, based on the well-known sting of a honey bee that they rated as a two. Plus, a lot of people are actually familiar with this type of sting. So, from this point, people could imagine what a sting of various types of insects could feel like. When collecting the insects, Schmidt didn't try to be deliberately stung, it just happened. Overall, he got stung over 1,000 times from at least 83 different species. Here are the list of some of the insects that were evaluated by Schmidt and illustrate the full scope of the pain scale.
 

This poor insect doesn’t stand a chance against the crafty chameleon.

Here’s the little riddle of the day: can you say what this is?

Do you think it’s a usual plastic bracelet? Maybe you are right, maybe you are wrong. You will see that this bracelet has a secret after the jump.