RALEIGH, N.C. - A North Carolina State University researcher says a video that has garnered millions of online views represents only the first step in his project.

• The video provides a never-before-seen look at how an ant's stinger works
• The stinger works much differently from hypodermic needles
• Many of the ant species on earth have stingers

Professor Adrian Smith says he recorded closeup video of a fire ant stinging his finger about a year ago and noticed a droplet of venom was visible on the stinger's tip. That prompted him to record high-speed video of two other stinging ant species, the trap jaw ant and the harvester ant, stinging a thin layer of wax to simulate human skin.

The video, which has received millions of views on multiple social media platforms, shows the stingers piercing the wax and pumping a dozen or more drops of venom in one second. He says it's the first time anyone has ever been able to watch the stinging process in action from “inside” the structure being stung.

He says the video reveals a delivery mechanism markedly different from the hypodermic needles people use to inject medicine. With an ant stinger, a pair of lancets drills down into the target while a stylet pumps venom. He says this discovery could potentially have medical uses.

Smith says many of the planet's roughly 20,000 ant species have stingers. The black ant commonly found in homes does not. He says this is because ants evolved from wasps. He says ants sting by first biting their target to gain leverage and then swinging their abdomen down to deliver the sting. This is why many people associate ants with bites rather than stings.

While the video has generated plenty of online hits, Smith says it represents only the first step in his scientific process. He says the stinging mechanism requires further study to better understand its implications.