Most Dangerous Insects in the World — The Deadliest Venom

Before discussing the most dangerous insects, firstly have a brief look at the physiology and etymology of the insects. Insects are the small invertebrate animals that are more or less obviously segmented. Insects have six legs and a body consists of three parts which are head, thorax, and abdomen, and typically have one or two pairs of wings.

List of Most Dangerous Insects

The word “insect” comes from a Latin word “insectum”. The meaning of which is “divided body” or “with a notched”, or literally “cut into”, because insects appear to be cut into three sections. We have in our mind that the most hazardous species are animals but many dangerous insects are listed that can cause many lethal diseases. Even death occurs, without proper treatment of wild insect bites. Here is the Top List of The Most Dangerous Insects in the World.

1. Giant Japanese Hornet

The largest species of hornet in the world is the Giant Japanese hornet. It is also known as the “Giant Sparrow Bee”. Most of these hornets inhabit in the rural areas of Japan. In Japanese Islands, it is referred to rural. It is a large insect. The length of the adult insect is 4.5 centimeters. It has the large yellow head with large eyes, a dark brown thorax, and an abdomen banded in brown and yellow. On the top of the head between two large compound eyes, three small simple eyes are present.

They feed on a wide range of insects, including the crop of pests, and honey bee larvae. They can finish 40 honey bees in a minute. The feed on the most nutrient-rich body parts such as flight muscles. Each colony of hornets consists of 700 members.

2. Venom — Deadly String of Giant Hornet

Japanese hornets are very aggressive and fearless in nature. The sting of the hornet is lethal, not due to the allergic reactions but also due to its many toxins. The venom injects from 6 mm long stringer. The pain-causing chemical is found in the venom of its sting which is Acetylcholine. The venom injects from the sting has an enzyme which dissolves the tissues. The repeated stinging from the dangerous Hornets could cause the death. The venom can be detrimental to your red blood cells causing kidney failure and death.  Every year from 30 to 40 deaths is recorded by the sting of this hornet.  As the venom of the Giant Hornet is lethal, thus these are the most dangerous insects. The Giant Hornets attract to alcohol, sweet flavors, and human sweat.

3. Tsetse Flies

The most dangerous biting insect is Tsetse fly. It is native to Africa. The tsetse fly is just like the common housefly. Like other insects, it has body consist of three parts. The head has large eyes. The thorax is large, consist of three fused segments and also three pairs of legs attach to it. The abdomen is short. Two pairs of wings are present on the body.

There are some characters through which one can distinguish the Tsetse fly from a house fly.

4. Trypanosome — Injected by Tsetse Flies

They mainly feed on the blood of vertebrates resulting in the body slowly being destroyed by a parasite.  This insect carries the parasite in the flesh. The tsetse fly is the biological vector of trypanosomes, which is the cause of infectious disease in humans. The disease caused by the tsetse fly is sleeping sickness in which shutting of some body parts. This disease can be cured with proper medicines. It transmits the parasite from infected vertebrate hosts to uninfected vertebrates. Trypanosomes are the parasite of the animal. About 250 to 300 thousand people became the victim of this dangerous insect every year.

5. Killer Bees

Africanized honey bees are also known as killer bees. These are the most aggressive and dominant insects in the world. Killer bees have short wings. They are smaller in size and dark in color. They feed on larvae, nectar, and sucrose including water.

6. Predator of Killer Bees

Normally, killer bees consist of thousands of members. Each large colony of killer bees contains more than 80,000 members. All the members attack in the group and by repeatedly stinging they kill, whoever attacks their hives.  The main target of killer bees is the face and eyes of human beings. The killer bees follow their prey for more than one miles. The venom is not much dangerous but the attack of killer bees in the group could cause even death.

The drones of Africanized killer bee are stronger, numerous, and faster as compare to the European cousins. That is why mating occurs between the Africanized drones and queen of European bees. The result of this mating is always Africanized offspring.

7. Driver Ants

Driver ants are also listed in the most dangerous insects. They have the largest colony in the world and each colony has members from 20 to 22 million. Driver Ants have the large head and pincer-like mandibles. They make the repetitive wound on animals with their strong mandibles. They rely on the powerful shearing jaws.

Drones and queen are larger in size as compare to the soldiers. Ant workers and soldiers are sterile females. The process of mating occurs and 1,000,000 eggs produce by the queen every month. In a real driver ant colony, only one queen is present.

8. Blind Killing Machine

Driver ants are also called “blind killing machine”. They attack the lips, eyes, and nostrils and release formic acid. This formic acid travels in the internal organs which result in pain. No specific numbers of human die from the bite of this insect.

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9. The Scorpion

A small most dangerous insect related to the spider that has two front claws and a curved narrow segmented tail. The tail has the poisonous stinger at the end. The Scorpion has the elongated body that made up of small section and divided into two parts, the head, and the abdomen. The body has also darkened granular ridges. Some fluorescent chemicals present in the cuticle which glow into blue-green color when exposing to the specific wavelength of light.

It has eight legs and tail is curved on its body. Due to the presence of two grasping appendages found near the mouth. They don’t have the best eyesight and rely on the sense of smell and vibrations. The size ranges from 9 mm to 25 cm. They are native to the desert.

10. Sting and Venom of Scorpion

The venom of this dangerous insect is deadly enough to kill a person. Mostly, it kills or paralyzes their prey so that it can be eaten. Venom is also us against the Predators for the protection. It is estimated that nearly 1,000 people die every year from the bite of the scorpion. From all the known species only 25 have venom which is most dangerous for humans. The venom has different compounds each causing different effects on the body. The Fried Scorpion is the traditional dish in Shandong, China.

11. Fire Ants

Fire ants can be easy, distinguished from the other ants through their copper brown head and dark abdomen.  All typical mature insect is divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. Three pairs of legs and a pair of antennae are also present. Their size varies from 2 to 6 mm. These ants are present in South America.

The queen of the fire ant colony is larger in size. It can produce 1,600 eggs per day. The colony has almost 250,000 workers and their lifespan is from 6 to 7 years. Males die after mating with the queen.

12. The venom of Fire Ants

The venom is Histamine that is injected by the fire ants. Fire ants bite and spray the histamine chemical. This chemical produces itching, swelling, pain, redness of the skin, irritation, and in extreme cases death. An allergic reaction may occur resulting in slurred speech, chest pain, shock, and shortness of breath. The sting of this dangerous insect is very painful. About 4 to 5 million people are stung by the fire ants every year and about dozen Americans die from being stung by the fire ant yearly.

13. The Bullet Ant

The habitat of this insect is the forest. Like other insects, its body is also segmented. It is also known as the “24 Ant or 24-hour Ant” because one full day pain followed by its sting. The queen of the bullet ant colony is not large in size. Worker ants are 18 to 30 mm long in size and wingless.

14. The sting of the Bullet Ant

It got its name because so many people compared the sting to being shot by a bullet. After its bite victim would feel like being shot. They might not be killer ants, but they are definitely ranked as one of the most dangerous insects in the world. They also release unpleasant odor for protection and also attack in the group with the powerful sting. The sting of a bullet ant is 30 times more painful than other wasps and bugs.

15.  Mosquito

The most dangerous insect species on Earth are mosquitoes. The word mosquito comes from the “Spanish” language which means “little fly”. They are small, midge-like flies. The length of the adult mosquito is between 3 mm to 6 mm. the body of mosquito consists of three segments. The head receives sensory information.  A thorax and antennae, an antenna is important for detecting host odors. Female mosquitoes are mostly parasites and through its proboscis, produce the hole in the skin of host to consume blood. Their hosts are mainly, vertebrates including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish also.

16. Malaria due to Mosquito

The female mosquito is a carrier of blood-borne diseases such as Malaria. Malaria transmits from the blood. Malaria is a public health issue in many countries. Mosquitoes are also responsible for the transmission of the vector of disease such as yellow fever, dengue fever, encephalitis, and West Nile virus.  About 300 to 500 million cases of malaria reported every year and 1 million deaths occur every year.

Conclusion

The above-discussed insects are the most dangerous insects without any confusion. But the list and search for the most dangerous insects do not end here. If you find any insect more deadly and lethal than above, share it with us. We will appreciate your opinion.