Forget Cicadas! These Are The Nastiest Bugs In Illinois
For the last few months, there's been non-stop talk and information about cicadas, and brood cicadas in particular.
Sure, we're being visited by billions and billions, if not a trillion cicadas, and they're super loud, super horny, and super ready to pee all over the state.
However, loudness, horniness, and jet-streams of cicada urine aside, cicadas can't and won't hurt you. They don't bite, they don't sting, and they don't carry nasty diseases--which is more than I can say about Illinois' nastiest and deadliest bugs.
Plus, cicadas will be gone (for the most part) around the 4th of July. The other dangerous creepy-crawlies here in Illinois are most definitely staying right here.
I Recently Stumbled Upon A Piece Called "The Top Ten Deadliest Insects In The World," And Was Really Surprised To Learn That 8 Out Of The Ten Deadliest Bugs Can Be Found Right Here In Illinois (hat tip to JC Ehrlich.com)
I guess it's a matter of numbers. When you have just one of these guys it's a grasshopper...when you have swarms of them devouring crops, you've got locusts, and Illinois has locusts: "the devastation that an invasion can cause has been responsible for crop devastation and the consequential starvation of millions in history."
Coming Next Are 3 Bugs That All Of Us In Illinois Have Probably Had An Encounter With, And One Of Them Is The Deadliest And Most Dangerous Of Them All
What's weird is that the deadliest and most dangerous of all Illinois insects doesn't even look scary:
Alright, maybe in close-up it looks a little scary, especially since it's full of blood and stabbing a human with its face. Why is the mosquito regarded as the most deadly and dangerous of all?
According to TheMysteriousWorld.com, "mosquitoes are most dangerous insect species on Earth. This deadliest insect causes 1 million death every year by transmitting deadly malaria disease. WHO estimated that in every 30 seconds a child dies due to malaria and 500 million cases of malaria reported every year."
Mosquitoes are followed on the list of the deadliest/most dangerous bugs in Illinois by bees and fleas. Bees are pretty self-explanatory, but why fleas?
It might be because "over the centuries this little pest has caused devastation over the centuries. The Black Plague and Typhus are a couple of flea-borne diseases that have been devastating to communities."
Giant Flies That Attack You In The Kitchen Didn't Make The List, But These 6 Round Out The Ones That You'll Find In Illinois
LOOK: 20 of the biggest insects in the world
Gallery Credit: Andrea Vale