Justin Schmidt

Justin Schmidt is an American entomologist and research scientist whose career has focused on the ecology and chemistry of insect venoms, with a particular emphasis on the stinging Hymenoptera — bees, wasps, and ants. He spent much of his career at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Arizona, and has been affiliated with the Southwestern Biological Institute. His research on the biochemistry and biological function of insect venoms has generated a substantial body of peer-reviewed scientific work, but it is his extraordinary act of self-experimentation that has brought him to the attention of a much wider public.

Schmidt is the creator of the Schmidt Pain Index — more formally, the Schmidt Sting Pain Index — a four-point scale rating the painfulness of the stings of various Hymenoptera species, based almost entirely on his own willingness to be stung by an astonishing array of insects across decades of fieldwork. The index, and the colorful, often poetic descriptions Schmidt attached to each entry, became famous far beyond entomology, circulating widely in science journalism and popular culture as a remarkable fusion of scientific data collection and wry literary sensibility.

His book The Sting of the Wild (2016) brought this work to a general audience in full, weaving together the natural history of stinging insects, the biochemistry of venoms, and the personal narrative of a scientist who believed that direct experience was an indispensable part of understanding. The book was widely praised for its combination of scientific rigour, ecological insight, and Schmidt’s distinctive voice — curious, self-deprecating, and genuinely enthusiastic about creatures that most people instinctively fear.

Schmidt’s work has illuminated the remarkable diversity and sophistication of insect venoms, and his career as both a researcher and a science communicator reflects a rare willingness to experience the natural world on its own terms in pursuit of genuine understanding.