They must sting like wasps, revenge like wasps, hold altogether like wasps, build like wasps, work hard like wasps, rob like wasps; then, like the wasps, they will be the terror of all around, and kill and eat all their enemies.

That it was trying to sting with an erectile organ placed about midway between the shoulders and the tail I became instinctively aware, and presently felt something like a weak electric thrill over all my body, while my left hand, which was naked, sustained a severe shock, completely numbing it for the moment.

Perhaps they sting for the moment, but he brushes them away and goes forward, soon forgetting them.

irritate, provoke, sting, nettle, try the patience, pique, fret, rile, tweak the nose, chafe, gall; sting to the quick, wound to the quick, cut to the quick; aggrieve, affront, enchafe^, enrage, ruffle, sour the temper; give offense &c (resentment)