How Many Americans Have Been Bitten or Stung By ____?

If you’ve ever been stung by these things, you already know that some hurt a little… and some make you want to draft a will on the spot.

A recent poll found the most painful sting of all is from a hornet. And honestly, no one’s surprised. Hornets aren’t just bugs… they’re flying anger issues with wings. 98% of people who’ve been stung by one said it hurt, and 61% said very painful. (The other 39% were probably still crying too hard to answer.)

Wasps came in a close second on the pain scale, followed by yellowjackets, fire ants, and jellyfish. Basically, if it has stripes or lives in the ocean, don’t touch it.

The survey also asked which bites and stings people have experienced… and the results are like a “who’s who” of things that can ruin your picnic:

1. Mosquito – 91% (a.k.a. the unpaid interns of Hell)
2. Bee – 75%
3. Wasp – 52%
4. Flea – 51%
5. Fire ant – 46%
6. Horse fly – 42%
7. Yellowjacket – 40%
8. Tick – 39% (nature’s clingiest ex)
9. Hornet – 30%
10. Lice – 23%
11. Bed bugs – 21%
12. Deerfly – 17%
13. Jellyfish – 15%
14. Snake – 6%
15. Stingray – 4%
16. Portuguese man o’ war – 3% (basically a jellyfish with a lawyer)

So yeah, mosquitoes may annoy the most people… but hornets are officially the heavyweight champs of pain.