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Paraponera clavata is best known for its giant size and unusually severe sting. Workers are 18-25 mm. (up to 1 in.) long and look like stout, reddish-black, wingless wasps. Their stings are the most painful and debilitating known for any insect (Schmidt 1986, 1990).
The venom is neurotoxic (Schmidt 1986), blocks insect central nervous system transmission, and is agonistic to mammalian smooth muscle (Piek et al. 1991). Paraponera is not aggressive except when defending self or territory. When their nest is disturbed, defenders swarm out, release a heavy musky odor, stridulate an audible warning (Janzen & Carroll 1983), then grab and impale intruders.
Intense pain typically lasts 3-5 hours then lessens over the next day. Severe pain may be accompanied by trembling, perspiration, nausea, and inability to use an injured arm or leg.
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