The World’s 10 Most Dangerous Bugs

Bugs play a vital roll in our world’s ecosystem. They’re food for other species higher on the food chain, help pollinate plants, and decompose dead animals.  There are over one million known species of insects, and that’s not including spiders (arachnids). Most of the time we act like bugs are not a big deal, but bugs and diseases they carry kill millions of people every year. Most bugs are perfectly harmless, but there are a few that people need to avoid. Understanding their danger is half the battle so we have listed below the top ten most dangerous bugs.

#10 Puss Caterpillar

The Puss Caterpillar often referred to as the southern flannel moth has a body covered with long, red-brown hairs. This creature looks soft, but when frightened, its hair will rise. Causing needle like spines connected to a poison filled gland to be released. This poison can cause swelling, burning pain, and numbness at the point of entry, and in a severe case it can cause vomiting, high fever and paralysis. The Puss Caterpillar rarely causes death, but crossing its path could be a painful experience.

#9 Human Botfly

The Human Botfly is considered a parasite. When reproducing, they look for a warm, moist place on a person’s body to lay their eggs. Often times they attach the their eggs to a mosquito. The eggs will ether hatch while the mosquito is feeding or use the site of the mosquito’s bite as an entry point. These eggs hatch as maggots and develop inside the subcutaneous layers of the skin. While inside they feed off of human tissue for close to eight weeks before coming to the surface and dropping to the ground.

#8 Brown Recluse

The Brown Recluse Spider is a very tiny spider, measuring just 6 to 20 mm in length. This spider sports the nickname fiddle-back spider because of its brownish-yellow color with a black line on its belly that resembles a violin. The problem is the violin shape isn’t always visible so it can’t be used as a viable identifier. When the spider bites its victim, it releases venom into the bite. It maybe accompanied with a feeling of exhaustion or vomiting. Most of its bites are minor but some form huge lesions that can take months to heal. This symptoms can include organ damage and on rare occasions, death.

#7 Scorpion

Scorpions tend to prey on bugs, mice, and lizards. It’s rare for a human to get stung, but when it happens the symptoms are severe. The sting will burn and venom makes it way through the body, the victim starts to shake and drool. Confusion will set in as well as stomach cramps, and the victim won’t understand what’s happening. Children have the greatest risk of being stung by a scorpion. Adults can get stick but rarely die.

#6 Black Widow

The Black Widow Spider is probably the most feared and best know spider out there. It has a medium sized spider with a body about a half-inch in length. They will primary bite warm-blooded creatures releasing venom as they bite the skin. There venom is considerably stronger than that of a rattlesnake but the amount injected is too small to kill most people. It does cause a considerable amount of a pain. Your muscles will lock and you break out in a cold sweat. These spiders can be found in most southern states and are easily identified by the red hourglass on its abdomen.

#5 Deer Tick

The Deer Tick is about the size of a sesame seed. Often you don’t even realize you’ve been bitten. These ticks usually prey on deer and mice, but will occasionally bite a human. Deer Ticks are bloodsuckers and can stay attached to their host for up to four days. Each year the Deer Tick infects thousands of people with Lyme disease. They are fairly common in the US, primarily in the north east part of the Midwest.

#4 Africanized Bee

The sting of an Africanized bee is no worse than a sting from that of a honeybee. The problem is Africanized bees attack in swarms causing victims to be stung thousands of times. That many stings can and do kill. This bee is responsible for over 1000 deaths thought Mexico, South American and Central American.

#3 Assassin bug (Kissing Bug)

The Assassin bug gets its nickname the Kissing Bug because it often bites its victims around nose and mouth while they are sleeping. The Kissing Bug spreads Chagas’ disease. Victims can suffer rash, fevers and vomiting. A very small percentage of victims die from the bites. The disease can lurk in the blood stream and not surface until twenty to thirty years later.

#2 Tsetse Fly

These flies are large biting files only in Africa. They carry deadly disease such as sleeping sickness and look a lot like a common housefly. As the Tsetse Fly drinks its victim’s blood, it will pass a tiny parasite. This parasite infects the human nervous system. At first it will feel like the flu. As the brain begins to swell victims can fall into coma and thousands never recover.

#1 Mosquito

The Mosquito kills more people every year than anymore insect. The reason behind this is they are a vector agent for some of the world’s most deadly diseases. Every year 300 million people across Africa, South America, and Asia are infected with malaria. The malaria parasite destroys blood cell and clogs the flow of blood. Most deaths occur in Africa where a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds.

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