Be Glad It’s Winter: 8 Of The 10 Deadliest Bugs Are In Illinois

Winter sometimes get a really bad rap. While we're busy here in Illinois complaining about ice, cold, and snow we should actually be a little more grateful for the few months (known as winter) that we get each year to enjoy some bug-free living.

Trading creepy-crawlies with their stings and bites for a few months of shivering and criticizing the current weather conditions is a trade I'm glad to make each year, especially when you consider that eight of the world's ten deadliest bugs make their home right here in Illinois.

As I was killing some time recently scrolling through my phone, I stumbled upon a piece that caught my attention. The Top Ten Deadliest Insects In The World was the headline, and I couldn't resist taking a look.

As you'd expect from the article, there were plenty of undesirable creepy-crawlies, but much to my surprise, it seems that many of those deadly bugs have taken up residence here in Illinois. (hat tip to JC Ehrlich.com)

Coming In At The Bottom Of The List Of The Deadliest Bugs In Illinois Is One That You Might Not Expect

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.

While they do not directly kill humans, the devastation that an invasion can cause has been responsible for crop devastation and the consequential starvation of millions in history from the biblical times to 1874 in the American Great Plains, and more recently, infestations in Niger. The locusts will always eat, but you might NOT.

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 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?

TheMysteriousWorld.com:

Mosquitoes are most dangerous insect species on Earth. This deadliest insect causes 1 million death every year by transmitting deadly malaria disease. Mosquitoes carry malaria germs from one place to another, and they spread germs into the blood of victim by biting. 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?

These little parasites can be found on reptiles, mammals, domestic animals, and humans! 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 Deadly Bugs That You'll Find In Illinois