Formiga-cabo-verde, Toquendira, Tucandeira or Formigão, all are ways of referring to Paraponera clavata ), the ant known for having the most painful bite among the more than 950,000 species of insects already cataloged in the world. She owns a sting capable of generating intense pain and whose discomfort caused by the venom can be felt between 12 hours and 24 hours later.
She is an animal native to the tropical forests of the Americas South and Central, which is impressive for the danger it causes even though it is about 2.5 centimeters long. There are reports that its venom can even lead to temporary paralysis, in addition to causing hallucinations. Learn more about this dangerous insect through five curiosities.
1. They are part of a ritual of the Sateré Mawé people
Inhabitants of the middle Amazon River region, the Sateré Mawé people are considered the inventors of the guaraná culture, after domesticating the plant and developing the process of its improvement. The tribe has a ritual known as “Festa da Tocandira”, a rite of passage for teenagers to become men.
Gloves are woven in straw, painted with genipap and adorned with feathers. of macaw and hawk. Afterwards, they are filled with several Cape Verdean ants and the men must put their hand in the glove to be stung by them. It’s part of keeping your composure without showing that you’re in too much pain. Let there be courage.
2. They are arrived in carrion
Most of the diet of this ant species consists of small arthropods and nectar of fruit from the regions where they live. However, a study conducted by researchers and published in 2020 showed that Cape Verde ants also have the habit of feeding on carrion, that is, carcass of dead animals.
This discovery changed the way this insect was looked at, as it is an indication that they may have a preponderant role in the decomposition of matter within tropical forests. But rest assured, they do not attack humans with the intention of feeding. Here’s a suggestion for a horror movie script.
3. Painful but not deadly sting
The species is indicated as the one with the bite most painful of all the more than 950 thousand insects cataloged in the world. Among the effects of the venom present in their bite are fever, nausea, tremors and cardiac arrhythmia.
Nevertheless, their venom does not make them deadly, which adds to the fact that they do not be aggressive animals. Not even when they feel threatened do they resort directly to the bite, using their jaws first as a defense.
4. One of the largest of its kind
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Everything in life is a matter of reference. Cape Verde ants are considered one of the largest of the species found in the world. The largest ones reach up to 3 centimeters in length, about four times larger than other common ants.
A striking feature is that the tucandeira queen does not usually have a different size from the workers. . As a curiosity, the largest cataloged ant is the Dinoponera, an Amazonian species that reaches up to 4 centimeters. She has the suggestive nickname of “false-tocandira”.
5. They have a parasite
The cape ants- green, despite the reputation of being tough due to its powerful poison, has a very annoying enemy. It was about Apocephalus paraponerae, the phorid fly, which are attracted by pheromones produced in the sores of the Toquendira. These wounds are usually caused when the species fights with other insects for food.
When they smell the pheromones, the flies fly to the ants and lay their eggs on them. The amount deposited is high and, in about 3 days, up to 30 larvae are generated in just one tucandeira, which starts to serve as food for them and for the fly itself. It is certain death for our character.
