STUNG by a Panda Ant!

- Until today, no one has documented the cruel sting of the

panda

ant. Phew. Ah, it's itching me. Ah, the ant bites me. Deep in the mountains of Chile, there is an insect so rare and so elusive that its sting is not documented by science at all, and that sting belongs to the

panda

ant, and today we are going to try to make history by being the first to find it. this panda ant, capture it on video and then of course I will face the panda bite for the first time in the world. This will be like looking for a fuzzy needle in a giant haystack in the desert.

It's time to start searching. Now, this will not be your average hike. Only a few panda ants have been found in the wild, so we'll have to search this entire mountain range to have a chance of finding them. Well, this looks promising. This open area has a lot of loose, sandy material, which is perfect for the panda ant because it likes to make burrows and it also allows us to cover a lot of ground quickly. Covering ground, that's the name of the game when you're looking for very, very small creatures. The more terrain your eyes can explore, the more likely you are to find what you're looking for.

We are listening to the water below and the water of the desert is life. Let's try our luck in a different environment. I found the water. Ah, it looks so good. If you were ever stuck here in the desert, this water would save your life and would be perfectly fine to drink while running at this speed. A little bouldering. Just seeing water is a boost of energy. Ah! I feel so good. It's good that we are seeing these flowers. Panda ants feed primarily on nectar, so these flowers are a good indication that we have a food source.

There is definitely more life along this river. It finally looks like we're starting to get closer to the panda ant. Seeing these smaller wasps makes me feel very positive. I think the road is getting hotter. I'm starting to see yellow jackets. Good sign for us at the moment. This is the insect watering hole. So check that one out. Notice that one is chasing the others away. It has an abdomen similar to that of a panda. Are you seeing this? Are you seeing this? (camera shutter click) Male panda ants have wings. Let's keep moving. It has to be getting closer.

Oh wow, look at all this. I just got to this trail and there are all these burrows. I can't say if these are definitely panda ant burrows, but they are the right size and shape and in the right place. Finally, it looks like we're starting to get closer to the panda ant. Panda ant right there. (dramatic music) Ha ha ha! Court! We have one! Holy. We were literally about to give up. He's not big, but he's a panda ant, honey. Come on, yes! Ha! I have one. But our luck would not end there. While we were preparing our presentation and capturing the first video of this furry little panda, something even more incredible happened.

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They are very fast. So fast this one is a little small. I don't want to get

stung

. Uh-uh, not yet, anyway. (dramatic music) Yes, two panda ants! Holy Cow. And this one really looks like a panda. Wow. Not one, but two panda ants. This is a unique opportunity to film this world famous creature. There are almost no images of this species. In fact, this is probably the first 4K footage the world has seen of the panda ant, the world's smallest panda. (inspiring orchestral music) The first thing I noticed about these creatures was their size. They are tiny.

Look at the little capsules we had to bring for this presentation. But they are not only small, they are also fast. I can't believe we were able to get them into the bins. It's not likely we'll be able to get much B-roll footage of them walking around. All it takes is a small hole or crack in the ground and they will be gone. They got their name from panda ant because of that fuzzy black and white exoskeleton, which of course I still call them an ant, but they're not an ant at all. They are a species of wasps and the ones without wings are actually female.

The males of this species have wings but the females do not have wings, but what they do have is the largest ratio between stinger and body size of any insect in the world. They are related to the cow killer found in the southern United States, another species famous for its enormous stinger and painful sting. Both have fuzzy exoskeletons and are classified as velvet ants. However, unlike the cow killer, the effects of panda ant venom are completely unknown. And with that said, it's time to take a closer look at your defense mechanisms. They don't look like pandas just for our amusement.

They've developed this coloration to protect themselves from predators and say, "Hey, I pack a punch. I have a lot of defenses and you're going to regret it." Now let's talk about another defense mechanism. Let's get the microphone very close. Do you hear that? (Panting Ant Chirp) That's called stridulation, which is a high-frequency warning tone that these insects can emit. And we're not just turning up the sound, this bug is really loud, I can hear it. Check it out. Swinging the abdomen now. Maybe we'll get to see an appearance of that, oh, that stinger is coming out!

Compared to the size of the body, it is a very long stinger. He'll have no problem piercing my skin with a stinger. Now remember when I said earlier that this is probably the first 4K footage of a panda ant. Let me also tell you that this is about to be the first documented sting of this species. No one has suffered a panda ant bite. Entering the panda ant's bite zone is truly the great unknown. I have no idea what kind of reaction I'm going to have, so we brought a couple of emergency remedies. Of course, our satellite phone.

If I go into any type of anaphylactic shock, we will use this for emergency calls. On top of that, I always carry a trauma first aid kit, and in this trauma kit I always have an EpiPen. Those are pretty much our only remedies if the bite gets really bad. For the first time, it's time to face the panda ant. That stinger is flying. That is a very big sting. I would say that the stinger runs through the entire lower abdomen. Alright, it's time. I'm Mark Vins and I'm about to enter the sting zone with the panda ant.

Here we head to the great unknown of the world of stings. One, oops, two, three. (dramatic music) (heartbeat) Oh yeah, Stinger's in. Stinger is in. Oh, I dropped it. Where she went? - I do not see her. -She definitely

stung

me. - Maybe under the trunk? - Yes, let me see. They are very fast. They integrate perfectly. He can't have gotten very far. Look around. - I'm going to look around here. - Okay, yes, yes, keep looking, keep looking. Oh no! Oh! Well, unfortunately I dropped the ant. I definitely got a flat tire before I ran out of here.

We have two different bite marks. I'd say it's probably similar to that of a hornet, but luckily for us we have one more ant. In fact, this is the one that looks the most like a panda, so it's time to see if the world's smallest panda packs a big punch. You have to grab it well. I know it seems easy, but it is very difficult to get a good grip on these little panda ants. Here we go. Okay, Stinger is leaving. One, oops, two, three. Ah, ooh, yes, she's fine. He definitely got a really good sting and bite.

Do you see this panda's jaws trapped in me? I think this panda ant's bite is worse than your sting. You will definitely get small micro-pits. This little panda ant may not be big enough to deliver a full blow. Okay, well, you can see here that I got two really good bites from the ant that got away. And then it probably has, I don't know, like a dozen little micro-pits. I left it there for a while, but there were one or two really good ones. Oh my god, there it is. I understand. We just found the first panda ant.

Wow, I can't believe it. What am I supposed to do with you? You ran away and now you're back. Should we try to be like another hit? Okay, well, I'll go get another bite. I don't know if I got a full one the first time. At three one, two, three. Oh yeah, you got me. Ah, biting and stinging me. I have a good one there. Okay, yeah, okay. It's really not a noticeable bite, although we are having a lot of redness and little micro-inflammation around the bite sites, this might have been the cutest bite ever. The little panda ant's sting is no match for its growl.

Alright, let's let this little panda return to the wild. While the paint was manageable immediately after the bite, the secondary reaction came back with a vengeance the next day, where I had redness, swelling, and relentless itching. So while the panda ant may be cute, getting stung by this little insect should definitely be avoided. (dramatic music)