Random Creepy Facts About Bugs Nobody Really Wants To Think About (12 items)

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  (#11) It Would Take More Than 1 Million Mosquitoes At A Single Moment To Completely Drain Your Body Of Blood

  Ever wondered how many mosquito bites it would take to drain you of your blood? The staff at Business Insider has the answer. They based their figures on the Asian tiger mosquito, an invasive species in North America. These mosquitoes typically draw about 0.000005 liters of blood at a time, and human bodies have about 5.5 liters of blood.

  If they were to bite all at once, you'd need 1.1 million Asian tiger mosquitoes to completely drain you. Then again, you only need to lose about 20% of your blood before organ failure begins to set in, so technically a mere 220,000 mosquitoes would be enough to do the job.
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  (#3) Five Well-Coordinated Locust Swarms Would Be Able To Wipe Out The Entire Earth

  From the Old Testament to the present day, locust swarms can wreak havoc of biblical proportions. In the 1870s, one such swarm descended out of the Rocky Mountains and laid waste to the Great Plains. One farmer reported losing 15 acres' worth of corn in just three hours. A single locust swarm can cover as much as 20% of the entire planet's land area at once, consuming 200 tons of plant matter in a single day. Just five of these swarms would be enough to cover all the land on Earth and, having wiped out the world's agricultural industry, would likely lead to mass starvation.

  Once locusts run out of food, it's likely they would start eating each other next. Research has shown that swarming locusts are not above cannibalism - it's actually the most efficient way for them to get some protein and salt in their diet.
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  (#4) You Almost Certainly Have Demodex Mites Living On Your Face

  The bad news is there are demodex mites on your face right now. The good news is that they're harmless. There are two species of mite that live exclusively on our faces: Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis. They aren't insects but arthropods and closely related to insects like spiders and scorpions.

  These creatures inhabit two different environments on your face. D. folliculorum tend to make their homes inside facial pores. D. brevis lives in your sebaceous glands, which is responsible for excreting certain oils from your hair follicles.
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  (#1) If Earth's Oxygen Levels Increased By Just 15%, Some Bugs Would Be Able To Grow As Large As Humans

  If you think bugs are gross now, you can thank your lucky stars you didn't grow up during the Carboniferous Period. That era took place between 359 to 299 million years ago, and it was home to some of the largest bugs to ever exist. Our atmosphere consisted of 35% oxygen back then, significantly more than the 21% level we have today. Scientists believe the high levels of oxygen were responsible for the mammoth insects and arthropods of the period.

  Back then, you could find dragonflies the size of seagulls, with 2.5-foot wingspans. There were cockroaches and scorpions that grew up to 3 feet long. There was even a species of millipede that grew to be larger than the average human.
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  (#8) Ants Are Smart Enough To Engage In Organized Conflict, And They're Shockingly Human About It

  Ants are among the few insects to engage in organized conflict, setting armies against armies in a fight to the end. There are roughly 10,000 species of ants, and each one goes about clashes in its own unique way.

  Ant conflicts can be as barbaric as ours: Cannibalism, looting, and executions are all commonly practiced among ants. Army ants fight in a way similar to the ancient Roman legions. Some species use tactical deception to make themselves appear more powerful than their enemies, and weaker ants are used as cannon fodder on the front lines.
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  (#2) If You're A Regular Coffee Drinker, You Might Drink 130,000+ Insect Parts A Year

  Everyone's heard the myth about people accidentally eating spiders in their sleep, but you don't have to be unconscious to accidentally eat a bug. Insects are pretty much a part of our daily diet. The FDA has a legal allowance of how many bugs can end up in your food before it's a problem.

  For example, regular coffee drinkers are legally allowed to ingest as many as 136,000 insect parts every year. If you consume any products made from wheat flour, you're eating as many as 91,000 insect parts annually.

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