Meet the Newly Discovered Pirate Ant, and Three Other Species That Will Ruin Your Picnic

Most don't put ants high up on their list of fears—the six-legged Formicidae are considered innocuous picnic crashers compared to more nefarious creatures such as spiders. While 55 percent of women and 18 percent of men in the western world consider themselves arachnophobic, not many would say they have myrmecophobia (fear of ants). A newly discovered species called the pirate ant, however, may begin to skew those figures.

A new paper published in ZooKeys describes Cardiocondyla pirata, aka the pirate ant, which was studied in Los Banos University in the Philippines. Scientists Sabine Frohschammer and Dr. Bernhard Seifert named it after swashbuckling sea thieves due to a noticeable stripe that covers the females' eyes, not unlike an eye patch that could be found on Blackbeard's ship. The males, on the other hand, have sickle-like mandibles that vaguely resemble swords.

Males and females could be described as yellow-brown, but are more translucent than anything else, which may be why it took so long to discover them. Scientists also believe the pirate ants mostly live underground, as their eyes have a small number of light receptors. The males' arms are used to ravish any predators or threats, as they are sharper than the average ant mandible. These are not the type of insects you'd want to run into on a casual day in the park.

Still, in comparison to some other freaky ants, the pirate ant isn't the most threatening. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the bulldog ant (Myrmecia pyriformis) as the most lethal, as it simultaneously uses its sting and jaws to attack. The bulldog ant will hold onto its victims with toothed mandibles while stinging humans with venom. Supposedly, the venom can kill a human in 15 minutes.

Another monster is the bullet ant (Paraponera clavata), a creature which literally shrieks before injecting you with venom. Its sting is rumored to make you feel as if you were hit with a Glock round. Jesus.

We also can't forget the army or soldier ant (Eciton burchelli) a blind species that can be about half an inch in length with knife-like teeth that are almost half the size of the whole ant itself. These terrifying creatures will swarm, much like an army, and destroy anything in their path, regardless of size.

So let's welcome the pirate ant to the list of terrifying Formicidae. We respect you in nature, but hope to never encounter you in our lives. Maybe Dreamworks will have some good new material if it ever decides to make a sequel to Antz.