CLOSED: Small Stinging Bee or Wasp?

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Ozark Ozark, MO(Zone 6a) Oct 08, 2014

I was mowing with a tractor here in SW Missouri late this afternoon in a bottom land pasture that hasn't been mowed this year - it's very lush with tall weeds and grass. The front of the tractor bumped a tall weed and out of the corner of my eye I saw a small, quick, flying insect come off the top of the weed. It hit me in the side my nose and stung as soon as it hit - no delay at all, it must attack by flying stinger-forward.

That HURT - not a sharp sting, but pain like being hit (or maybe shot). The bug wasn't in contact for even a second, and I never got a look at it. From what I saw, it was dark-colored, maybe black, fast-flying, and about the size of a housefly. A hard lump immediately raised up on the side of my nose and my eye swelled partly shut - intense pain. I continued mowing and after 10 minutes or so the pain got a little better.

Back around to the same area of that field, and I couldn't see any insects (believe me, I was looking). On that pass I got stung three times - on my ear, on the back of a finger, and right through my shirt and t-shirt on my ribs! That was the end of the mowing - I won't go back to finish that field until cold weather!

Several hours later the lumps still hurt, but not as bad as they did. There's a mark in the center of each lump, but no stingers left behind. What do you think these insects are? My guess is some kind of ground nesting bees or wasps, but very fast moving and considerably smaller than bumblebees (which I would have been able to see). I know I don't want to encounter them again. Sorry I couldn't get a picture.

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Flapdoodle Minot, ND Oct 08, 2014

They may have been small ground-nesting bees in the family Halictidae. Commonly known as 'sweat bees,' their sting packs a wallop way out of proportion for their small size. Fortunately, the effects tend not to last for long...

This message was edited Oct 9, 2014 1:24 PM

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Ozark Ozark, MO(Zone 6a) Oct 09, 2014

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Flapdoodle. I did some reading about the Halictidae family and I think you must be right - there are over 8000 species of "primitive wasp-like bees" in there, most all of which are ground-nesting. These "sweat bees", are nearly all like the ones I'm familiar with, non-aggressive and they have mild stings if they even sting at all.

But I can tell ya - that species I encountered yesterday is an exception! I'm sure I mowed over their nest to upset them so. They're extremely aggressive, they're too small and fast to dodge, and their stings HURT. The sting on my ribs is the most painful now, about 16 hours after I was stung through two layers of clothing - and it's now a red lump 2" in diameter. I don't want any more of that - I'll finish mowing that field when the frost is on the pumpkin! SOLVED.

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