Insect bites and stings Insect bites and stings Insect bites and stings occur when an insect is agitated and seeks to defend itself through its natural defense mechanisms, or when an insect seeks to feed off the bitten person. Some insects inject formic acid, which can cause an immediate skin reaction often resulting in redness and swelling in the injured area. Stings from fire ants, bees, wasps and hornets are usually painful, and may stimulate a dangerous allergic reaction called anaphylaxis for at-risk patients, and some wasps can also have a powerful bite along with a sting. Bites from mosquitoes and fleas are more
Insect flight vertical position, the average upward force during the downward stroke, F, must be equal to twice the weight of the insect. Note that since the upward force on the insect body is applied only for half the time, the average upward force on the insect is simply its weight. One can now compute the power required to maintain hovering by, considering again an insect with mass m 0.1 g, average force, F, applied by the two wings during the downward stroke is two times the weight. Because the pressure applied by the wings is uniformly distributed over the total wing