What is the insect you despise the most? I suppose you just want to grab something and squash them immediately and for good reasons. Some of them are poisonous, with potentially fatal stings.
The crawlies, those little creepy things with so many legs that are always so repulsive that you just want to squish the life out of them right away, elicit the worst emotions. But perhaps after reading this, you’ll reconsider before squishing the awful-looking Centipedes to death when you find any hanging around in your bathroom.
Centipedes can be quite a nuisance when you find them crawling around your home. It can be tempting to squash them, but you might want to think twice after learning about all the ways they can help around the house.
It turns out that those squirmy fast-moving creatures have actually been defending your home against other little insects. Who would’ve thought?
There is a distinct kind of centipede that can be found around the house, which is somewhat shorter than other wormlike creatures with approximately 20 legs surrounding their body. Those tiny beings have served as your home’s invisible exterminator by keeping rat pests, spiders, silverfish, bedbugs, and ants at bay. In truth, they have a ravenous hunger and will devour any arthropod they find anywhere in the home.
While this does not mean you should just open the doors of your property and allow the centipedes to enter in droves, after all, they are the good guys, it simply implies that when they appear again as a token of appreciation, you should let one or two of them off the hook. They may cause a little bit of commotion when they are discovered especially by small children or anybody else who finds them frightening and disgusting. Instead of squishing them, simply allow them to walk away or put them outside to eat some leaves.
If you don’t want to see hundreds of tiny baby spiders crawling around your home, it’s best to avoid squishing any insects inside your house. Some Insects, like spiders, lay their eggs within the sac on their backs. When these insects are swatted or stepped on they release all their babies in what was once a protected area (your home).
But, the centipedes aren’t really that terrible. Apart from giving you a fright, they are simply scrawny little things unable to cause significant damage. If you think about it, they don’t spread germs around your house like other insects do, making them seem like the good guys.
The centipedes are practically harmless, so you shouldn’t worry about them. However, there are other insects that we can’t say the same about – these creatures carry diseases that can be fatal if left untreated.
These are the ones you should be most concerned about. Here are a handful of the world’s most dangerous insects, as determined by experts.
Bullet ants: As the name implies, getting bitten by a bullet ant feels like you’ve been shot. These are some of the largest ants in existence and can be found in rainforests in Nicaragua and Paraguay. Needless to say, it is best to avoid these insects.
Bot fly: The Botfly’s larvae is the actual problem here, as it’s an internal parasite of many mammals including humans. The female lays its eggs within the host animal’s skin and, as the larvae begin to grow, it penetrates further into the skin causing infection and severe changes in skin tissue. Some parents have even reported feeling the larvae moving around inside their children’s skins.
Fleas: Fleas feed on blood and their bites can cause skin inflammation and itching. Flea bites may also result in infections.
Fire ants: Fire ants are notorious for their stings, which can leave painful white pustules on the skin that can last for weeks. There are more than 295 different species of the fire ant, some of which produce venom that can cause an allergic reaction in some people.
Kissing bug: These animals are commonly known for biting the lips of their victims. Their “kiss of death” is actually responsible for transmitting thetrypanosome cruzi parasite, which causes around 12,000 deaths per year.
Giant Japanese Hornet: The most enormous of all hornets, they can reach a length of two inches and deliver a potent sting that kills around 40 people each year.
Tsetse Flies: The tsetse flies are primarily active at night when they bite sleeping people and transmit trypanosomiasis, which kills around half a million individuals on the continent of Africa.
Killer Bees: Killer bees attack in swarms that can be overwhelmingly fatal because of their sheer number.
Driver ants: These ants have large mandibles that deliver significant bites. They can kill many creatures during a single assault. Insects are not immune to their attack, and they may also inflict severe bite wounds on humans.
Mosquito: Mosquitoes are dangerous creatures that can transmit deadly diseases like malaria, yellow fever, West Nile virus, and encephalitis. Each year, they cause around 1 million deaths worldwide.
