We know there’s not supposed to be any math in summer, but this word problem is unavoidable: outdoor activity + exposed skin = higher risk of insect stings.

Peeking from behind our bug net, Weird Animal Question of the Week takes the author’s prerogative to wonder, why do insects sting us in the first place?

Stings are insects’ defense when they feel threatened, says biologist Justin Schmidt—and he ought to know. In his new book The Sting of the Wild, he puts the thousand or so stings he’s endured while collecting and studying insects to good use. Not only does he explain his Schmidt Sting Pain Index, wherein he rates the pain of numerous stings on a scale of one