Just a couple of days ago, Forbes published a small article on the Tarantula Hawk, that appeared in my feed for some reason. Coincidentally, the Melbourne Coin Company has just released the first in a fascinating new one-ounce silver coin series called ‘Kings of Sting’, looking at insects on the Schmidt sting pain index, and the subject is that same incredible insect.

It’s hard to believe that this giant wasp, they can grow to 6.5 cm in length, feeds on nectar. They are big, and have a stinger that injects a level of pain described by the inventor of the Schmidt sting pain index as “blinding, fierce[, and] shockingly electric”, and by a researcher as “…immediate, excruciating, unrelenting pain that simply shuts down one’s ability to do anything, except scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations.” . Fortunately, the sting is fairly harmless otherwise, and they are not aggressive. They are found everywhere, except Antarctica, and equally fortunately, Europe. This video is of a nutter getting deliberately stung by one.

So why does a nectar feeder need this? Basically, their life cycle is the stuff of nightmares if you’re a tarantula. These huge spiders are considered apex predators in their environment, but a female Tarantula Hawk finds one, paralyses it with her stinger, drags it to a burrow, and then lays an egg on it. When the larva hatches, it eats the spider alive!

The coin is antique finished and depicts the kind of deep gorge valley environment found in places like Arizona and New Mexico, where they are widely known. A tarantula is seen in the distance, exaggerated in scale for effect. The Tarantula Hawk is coloured, and raised in relief. The series title, and subject name is inscribed in a banner below. It comes boxed with a COA, and only 300 will be struck. A fantastic idea for a coin series, there are two other Level 4 (the maximum) insects on the pain scale, and they are the Bullet Ant (described by Schmidt as “pure, intense, brilliant pain…like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel.”), and a species of Warrior Wasp (“Torture. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano. Why did I start this list?”). Available to order now direct from MCC.