green flying insect with large black stinger

[leighley1]

Hi everyone i wonder if anybody out there can help, my son was stung on the lip at school by a green flying insect with a huge black stinger and the stinger remained in his lip, which was really long, the school office staff phoned me and it takes me 5 mins to get to the school, he had spoken to me on the phone and was fine, turned round and hit the floor. he had a bad reaction to the sting his lip was 3 times its normal size. he is ok now after being checked out at the hospital but has anybody a clue as to what this insect might have been. within 5 mins he was in a really bad way, so wondered what insect could cause this.
Thanks

[Geoff F]

The only thing I can think of is one of the Ichneumon Wasps but I have never seen a green one. However with around 2000 plus varieties it is possible.

I'm not aware of them 'stinging' people with their ovipositer tube though.

[leighley1]

i have looked up as many green flying insects that sting but a lot of them say they dont sting or they have a small black stinger, he said the sting was bigger than the actual fly.
someone suggested a wood wasp but again they dont sting.
thanks for your suggestion

[Geoff F]

Well I suppose it is possible for an ovipositer to get accidentally inserted into an area of soft skin. Not so much a 'sting' as an 'accidental collision'.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

Well I suppose it is possible for an ovipositer to get accidentally inserted into an area of soft skin. Not so much a 'sting' as an 'accidental collision'.

If it was not a stinger he would not have had such a bad reaction surely..

Its very odd...

[Dillybythesea]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

If it was not a stinger he would not have had such a bad reaction surely..

Its very odd...

I wonder if there could have been an element of delayed shock. To be hit in the mouth by some weird flying insect, and find that something has been left in the lip, and all the adults are anxious... might temporarily prove too much, and cause a faint?

Anyway, good to know all was well afterwards. From the sound of it, the insect came off worse.

[Geoff F]

The the ovipositer had recently been laying eggs into a fly or caterpillar, etc, it wouldn't be surprising if some infection followed. To say nothing of the shock factor which has already been mentioned.

But I still can't place your description to an actual insect.

[fairplay]

I just cannot see any sort of Ichneumon Wasp attacking and then going on to 'sting' (using its ovipositor) any human being.

Equally, I cannot see a collision occurring whereby an ovipositor would be embedded in a lip.

Did the boy swipe the insect upon feeling the pain which made the long 'stinger' snap off or did it just leave it behind ?

Did anybody think to retrieve the 'stinger' for examination ? I would have thought this would have been one the main priorities of the hospital staff. With a reaction like this, anything could have happened to the boy and the quicker they find out what the insect was, the better the boys chances of survival if he got worse.

It say's a lot for the state of our NHS if hospital staff are leaving it to the father to find out what the insect was.

An Ichneumon Wasp that fits the bill is the metallic green coloured Torymus nitens with a very long ovipositor - but again, an ovipositor is not a weapon, but an essential part of the females anatomy to ensure the survival of the species by reproduction.

Neil.

[Wild-Woman]

This sounds like a bee sting to me. They leave a stinger behind and some people do react badly.
In the moment that the youngster was stung, it may have been confusing and so perhaps green colouration may have been a mistake.

I hope the young man in question is ok now.