(frenetic woodwind orchestral music)
(quick oboe and plucked strings)
(whining string music)
- [Voiceover] This is Justin Schmidt.
- Yeah, my name is Justin Schmidt.
- [Voiceover] He's an entomologist.
- And I'm an entomologist.
I basically study stinging insects.
- [Voiceover] He's been
stung by a lot of insects.
- I've probably been stung
at least 1,000 times.
- [Voiceover] He reviews
insect stings the way
a sommelier reviews wine.
- Pure, intense, brilliant
pain, like walking
over flaming charcoal
with a three inch nail
embedded in your heel.
- [Voiceover] Which insect was that?
- That's a bullet ant.
- [Voiceover] This is his lab in Tucson.
This is his harvester ant.
This is his vinegaroon.
This is his tarantula hawk.
These are some more harvester ants
in a park, near his lab.
He is the creator of
the Schmidt Pain Scale.
- The Schmidt Pain Scale
is basically a scale
to rate the painfulness
of stinging insects
on a scale of one to four.
A one would be a sweat bee.
Two would be something
like a yellow jacket wasp.
A three would be something
like a harvester ant.
And a four would be a tarantula hawk.
- [Voiceover] How bad is a four?
- Four is absolutely,
excruciatingly debilitating,
incapacitating, just shuts
you down, just absolute,
sheer pain, there's just nothing you can
really do about that.
I don't think I'd wanna
be stung by a whole bunch
of different fours.
I don't think I could
endure that for very long.
- [Voiceover] Let's be
clear, Justin Schmidt doesn't
just go out and get stung on purpose.
It's just that he's dedicated
his life to studying, well.
- My passion is insects,
and stinging insects
in particular.
Yeah, I get stung.
But that's, that's all
just part of the passion
you know, that gives me data.
You know, a sting helps
me in understanding
what the insect's doing
and I get to be out
in the sunshine, and out in the rain,
out in the environment
studying these magnificent,
beautiful insects.
It's just, just such a joy.
I can't imagine anything
I'd rather do more.
(pounding, orchestra and piano music)
(chimes)
