"How is it that something so small can inflict so much pain, swelling, and itching on a human?"

Obviously, you've never met my ex-wife. 5' tall, and even after 17+ years being divorced from her, the mention of her name causes the same symptoms for me.

BTW, I used to think the fire ants were bad. Then they warned us about bullet ants in Costa Rica. Apparently they got their name from the notion that being stung by one feels like getting shot, and is incredibly painful even 24 hours later. When we stayed at the foot of Arenal Volcano, I spotted ants getting into the room. I ended up squashing a few and blocking crevices to the outside. Thought for sure I was going to get stung in my sleep in the middle of the night.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraponera 

These geniuses apparently decided to try out the claim that their sting is the most painful insect sting in the world:

BTW, while annoying, perhaps you can take comfort in the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, which rates the sting of fire ants surprisingly low:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index 

Even with that ranking, I'm glad it's too cold up here for those little bastids.

Bullet Ant Pain ...

4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.

The thing with fire ants, is that you'll have 5-20 bites before you'll know it ...

Where can I get some of these Bullet ants?

#22 See? Just like spending time with my ex.

#24 Costa Rica. Given the number and size of the bugs we saw in the jungle, I'd guess jungle territory is your best bet.

Here's the thing...you'd need to get them back through the third layer of CR airport security, a group that views saline nasal spray as a threat. Also, you'd presumably need to pack them in something with airholes. However, you sure as hell don't want them to get out. Can you imagine, say you brought back a couple dozen, go to check on them an hour into your flight, and they're all gone.

Gulp. Ants on a Plane!

i am alergic. they swell up, and are hot to the touch. not a fan at all.

I've got an idea. The Gov't. is starting to outsource many aspects of military activity, so I think I may try and set up an interrogation facility on the rez. It is a seperate entity, basically a country within a country.

We can torture mercilessly and obtain information quickly and even more efficiently than gov't. can, and do so without concern of public opinion or the need to even ship suspects out of the country. .

For a fee, of course--but very cost effective!.

I'm thinking of having an 'insect room'. Sounds like Bullet Ants would work good, and fit right in to the overall concept..

We are going to have a 'reptile room' too.