Dangerous Insects to Avoid

May 19, 2016

Dangerous Insects to Avoid

Did you know there are over a million species of insects that live in this world with many of them benefiting the ecosystem while some others pose a threat to both humans and animals? Some of them you may know but others you many not. Often bugs are overlooked as simply annoying but are they? Here are a few to keep your eye on:

• Black widow Spider – Out of the 30,000 different types of spiders she is probably the most well-known and feared. The females are the ones that are poisonous and to be avoided. They often are black in color with an orange hourglass on the abdomen.
• Scorpions – There are over 2,000 species of scorpion in the world with about 40 of them in the North America. Although they have pincers in the front it is the tail that does the damage and will insert venom into the prey. A person would have to be stung numerous times to die but the venom can make one terribly sick.
• Bees and Wasps – Bees can sting an individual once and cause serious damage to people allergic to their venom. Wasps, however, can sting a person several times which can really create severe pain and discomfort.
• Human Bot Fly – This is a parasite whose eggs are carried by mosquitoes. When the mosquitoes suck your blood they drop the eggs of the bot fly on your skin. Your warm skin will then incubate them until they hatch eight weeks later. They then can live anywhere in your body including your brain where they will cause the most damage.
• Mosquitoes - This should be no surprise as it is well known mosquitoes are agents for carrying the world’s deadliest diseases including malaria, West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, yellow fever and most recently the Zika Virus which affects pregnant women.

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