10 Deadliest Insects

Insects are among the most diverse group of animals. According to the modern insect classification, the Insecta is divided into 29 orders such as Mantodea, Siphonaptera, Blattodea, Isoptera, Odonata, Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Hymenoptera and Dermaptera. They have segmented bodies, supported by an exoskeleton, which is a hard outer covering made up of chitin. The insect’s body is composed of three segments including a head, abdomen and thorax, along with six legs. The head has a pair of compound eyes, one to three simple eyes, pair of sensory antennae and three sets of variously modified appendages, forming the mouthparts. There are several species of insects such as fly, praying mantis, butterfly and moth, dragonfly, beetle, true bug, ant, wasp and bee.

Following is an interesting information about top 10 deadliest insects, their weapons and how they are harmful to human beings.

• Mosquitoes:Mosquitoes are among the most deadliest insects on the earth. They can easily transfer a set of diseases by biting people. Anopheles mosquito is the deadliest mosquito, which is a carrier of the blood-borne diseases such as malaria. The female Anopheles mosquito has two pairs of cutting stylets at the end of proboscis, which can penetrate the victim’s skin. They inject their saliva, through which the malarial parasites are injected into the victim’s blood giving rise to the symptoms of malaria.
• Fleas: These small, wingless insects are the external parasites in birds and mammals. They are dark in color and laterally compressed. Their flattened body allows them to move easily through the host’s feathers or hair. They can jump vertically and feed on blood. Fleas can spread Bubonic plague from rats to humans. If you get a fleabite, you can develop a swollen pustule, causing allergic reactions.
• Bees: Normal solitary bees usually do not sting humans, as they die after this act. Killer Bees do attack with the slight provocation. Bees have deadly stingers, which are used to inject the poison into the victim. Their sting can cause swelling and pain. Several people are allergic to the beastings and can experience an anaphylactic shock leading to death.
• TseTse Fly: It is found in Africa and feeds on the blood of vertebrates. It is a carrier of deadly sleeping sickness. It is responsible for spreading the disease namely trypanosomiases in humans.
• Fire Ants: Typically living in the soil or sand, fire ants build large mounds and feed on plants and occasionally on smaller insects. Their stings typically give a sensation of burning. It swells up into a painful pustule. A few stings can be treated; but when they can be very troublesome. Their venom causes painful bumps on the victim’s skin. They can develop into white pustules, which may get infected and turn into scars. People, who are allergic to their venom, can experience anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction.
• Locusts: Locusts swarm and are known to destroy everything into pieces. They belong to a sub-family of grasshoppers and virulent mostly to the plants like crops. When they invade the farmlands, they strip bare all the crops. Thus, they indirectly contribute to starvation.
• Wasps: They are social or solitary insects. Solitary wasps generally live and work with their group alone. Social wasps are found in colonies. Wasps impose damage with their stingers, known as ovipositor. They are generally present in the female insects. These insects do not sting humans, unless their territories are being threatened. Many people are allergic to wasp sting and experience shock resulting in death.
• African or Siafu Ants: When these ants face a food shortage, their entire colony marches and swipes everything off their way. They have the huge pinchers and they attack in columns, which are around 200 feet long and 12 inches wide. When they attack a particular house, they eat every moving thing inside that house, including spiders, mice, scorpions and other insects, even cats and dogs. Every year, about 25-50 people die from their stings and nearly thousands of dollars in foodstuffs get damaged.
• Giant Japanese or Asian hornet: It is a persistent hunter of larger insects including praying mantises and bees. These insects also attack the beehives and eat the honeybee larvae. Their sting can measure up to six mm in length. It injects eight types of chemicals, which can lead to pain and tissue damage. The hornet’s crushing mandibles are another deadly weapons. Venom of the giant hornet is more toxic and lethal than that of wasps or bees. The hornet’s sting contains a high concentration of the chemical namely acetylcholine that causes pain. It also consists of an enzyme, which can dissolve human tissue. You can wear protective clothes or insect repellents and keep your surroundings clean in order to avoid a direct contact with these insects.
• Hemiptera-Kissing Bugs: They are known as true bugs. They may vary from a millimeter to about 10 centimeters in size. Some of the insects of the Hemiptera group are cicadas, shield bugs, leaf hoppers and plant hoppers. They suck the blood of the animals or the liquid from the plant tissues using their sucking mouth parts such as the mandibles and maxillae. These insects can transmit the Chagas Disease. It gives rise to some serious symptoms such as malformation of the intestine and heart disease.