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bug bites

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MasterJedi
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29 Jan 2011, 2:08 pm

If a cut doesn't hurt that badly, why does an insect bite with no venom or anticoagulant hurt so badly?

I mean, if you get pinched or cut, that hurts but sometimes not nearly as bad as say a praying mantis bite.


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StuartN
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29 Jan 2011, 5:14 pm

MasterJedi wrote:
If a cut doesn't hurt that badly, why does an insect bite with no venom or anticoagulant hurt so badly?

I mean, if you get pinched or cut, that hurts but sometimes not nearly as bad as say a praying mantis bite.


Because your body produces antibodies to the bacteria and proteins carried by the insect's digestive fluids and mouth parts - most insects and other arthropods inject some anticoagulants and fluids to pre-digest their meals, contaminated also with their previous meals. The swelling that is produced by your immune reaction is what hurts.

This is also why a child-bite hurts more than a dog-bite of the same depth, because the child carries pathogens and proteins that the human immune system reacts to more strongly.