A new study by researchers at Indiana University Bloomington investigates why velvet ant stings are among the most excruciating in the animal kingdom, and offers a fascinating glimpse into the evolutionary arms race between predators and prey—while providing insights that may inform pain-related medical research
The study, recently published in Current Biology, was authored by Lydia Borjon, Assistant Scientist in in the Tracey Lab at the Gill Institute for Neuroscience at IU, Luana Assis Ferreira, postdoctoral researcher in the Hohmann Lab at the Gill Institute, Jonathan Trinidad, Senior Scientist in the College of Arts and Science’s Department of Chemistry, Andrea Hohmann, Professor in the College’s Psychological and Brain Sciences department and Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Neuroscience, Sunčica Šašić (Human Biology B.S. ’24), and Dan Tracey, Professor in the College’s Biology department and Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Neuroscience.