Bullet Ant (Diversity of Life on Earth – Ants by Bandai)

The bullet ant (Paraponera clavata) is a notorious insect from the rainforests of Central and South America. It is often regarded as having one of the most painful stings of any insect, and currently has a rating of 4.0+ (the highest possible) on Schmidt’s Sting Pain Index. It is also a very large ant, with workers measuring 1.8-3.0 cm long (nearly two inches!). Bullet ants usually make their nests at the base of trees, but sometimes nests are arboreal. A colony can consist of more than 2,000 workers. Workers ascend their host tree to forage for nectar, plant material, and invertebrates.

In late 2022, Bandai added a set of ants to their rapidly growing Diversity of Life on Earth Line. These ants are part of the ‘Advanced’ series and are generally higher quality that earlier Diversity figures. The set also included Camponotus obscuripes and the Japanese carpenter ant, Camponotus japonicus. Both C. obscuripes and today’s P. clavata are new species in the toy/figure realm.

Like all Diversity of Life on Earth figures, today’s bullet ant is large, requires assembly, has articulations, and may be expensive. They are models for serious collectors and not toys to be played with. The ants come in 9 pieces: an assembled body, two antennae, and six legs. Once attached, the appendages fit snuggly.

The final product is approximately 10.0 cm long for a scale of 5.5:1-3.3:1 for a worker. There are articulations at the base of the head, the base of each mandible, the metathorax-petiole juncture, each abdominal segment, the base of each antenna, the base of each leg, and the femur-tibia juncture. There is fine-detailed texture and even the facets on the eyes are sculpted. One of the neatest features is a retractable stinger, similar to what was done with the Diversity wasp figures.

In some pics, the ant looks solid black, but it is a dark chocolate-brown with lighter highlights near joints and protuberances.

As an insect specialist, I absolutely love this figure. Given the size, assembly requirements, articulations, and potential cost, I can understand it may not appeal to everyone. However, if you are a collector of interesting or bizarre taxa, it comes highly recommended.