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Top Deadliest Insects

In The World

Image credit LOLO FROM TAHITI via flickr

5 | Tsetse Fly

Image credit David Dennis via flickr

Tsetse Fly

Image credit wikimedia

tsetse fly (genus Glossina), any member of a genus of bloodsucking flies in the housefly family, Muscidae (order Diptera), that occur only in Africa and transmit sleeping sickness in humans. They also transmit a similar disease called nagana in domestic animals. Tsetse flies have mandibles modified into bladelike structures used to pierce skin. They readily feed on the blood of humans, domestic animals, and wild game. The widespread presence of the tsetse has inhibited human settlement and agriculture in large areas of sub-Saharan Africa. All 21 tsetse species are similar in appearance. They are robust, sparsely bristled flies that are usually larger than their relative, the housefly. They range from 6 to 16 mm (0.2 to 0.6 inch) in length. Tsetses are rather drab in appearance, with colour varying from yellowish brown to dark brown, and with a gray thorax that often has dark markings. The abdomen may be banded. The stiff, piercing mouthparts, directed downward as the fly bites, are held horizontally at other times. While resting, the wings are held flat over the back. A bristlelike appendage (arista) on each antenna bears one row of long, branched hairs, differentiating the tsetse fly from all other flies.

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4 | Fleas

Image credit @ Kat Masback via flickr

Fleas

Image credit mybugbites

Cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis, are the most common ectoparasite on domestic cats and dogs (Figure 1). Dog fleas, C. canis,look like cat fleas but are rare in California. Sticktight fleas, Echidnophaga gallinacea, are commonly found on ground squirrels and poultry; the females firmly attach themselves along the ears and eyes of their host (Figure 2). They can become a problem with pets that roam. The ground squirrel flea, Oropsylla montana, is found on ground squirrels and is the vector of sylvatic plague in California. However, fleas on cats or dogs in California most likely are cat fleas.

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3 | Kissing Bug

Image Credit Glenn Seplak Via flickr

Kissing Bug

Image credit azcentral

A new study shows that more than 40 percent of "kissing bugs" collected by researchers in Tucson carry a parasite that can cause a disease that kills tens of thousands of people a year in Central and South America. But while the number of bugs hosting the single-cell parasite that causes Chagas disease is much higher in the southern Arizona city than earlier thought, no human infections have been traced to bites that occurred in the state. That may mean doctors are not looking for a disease that is rare in the U.S. But it is more likely that the triatomine insects don't act the same way as their cousins to the south, or that the disease is a different strain, said Carolina Reisenman, a University of Arizona research biologist. She co-authored the study, which is to be published in the March edition of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

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2 |

Image credit USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab via flickr

Mosquito

Mosquito

Image credited John Tann via flickr

Image credited mosquitoes

There are over 2500 different species of mosquitoes throughout the world of which 150 species occur in the United States. 52 species occur in California, and 19 species occur in Alameda County. In the course of the District's operation about 10 species are commonly found in the County. Eight of the species account for over 99% of complaints from the public. Each of the species has a scientific name that is latin, such as Culex tarsalis. These names are used in a descriptive manner so that the name tells something about this particular mosquito. Some species have what is called "common names“ as well as scientific names, such as Anopheles freeborni, the "Western malaria mosquito".

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1 | Asian Giant Hornet

Image Credited wikimedia

Asian Giant Hornet

Image Credited urasimaru via flickr

Asian Giant Hornet

Image cradite wikimedia

Asian Giant Hornet

Image credited shanghaiexpat

At least 19 people have been stung to death by hornets – which may include the world's largest hornet species Vespa mandarinia -- in China's central Shaanxi province in the last three months, according to the city government of Ankang, the apparent epicenter of a recent spate of fatalities and injuries. A total of 583 people in the area have been stung by hornets since July 1, say city officials. Seventy victims are still recovering in hospitals.

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