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

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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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#6) Mosquitoes Kill More People Every Year Than Humans Do

  While spiders, snakes, and other sinister predators are some of the scariest animals in the world, they are far from the deadliest. That title belongs to the mosquito. Mosquitoes end the lives of more people than any other animal on Earth, with up to 725,000 victims annually. To put that in perspective, annual human slayings come in at about 475,000.

  This is largely because mosquitoes carry all sorts of diseases: Malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, encephalitis, and the Zika virus are just a few examples. Malaria alone takes the lives of 600,000 people annually, leading some to suggest we focus on wiping out the pesky things for good.
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  (#5) If You Were In A Subway Station With A Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, Its Hissing Could Be Mistaken For An Oncoming Train

  Cockroaches are pretty much universally loathed - the kings of the gross bug world - and Madagascar hissing cockroaches are a step above the rest. These giant roaches are named after the hissing sound they make when they feel threatened. It's not only an awful noise, but a dangerously loud one as well.

  The hiss can be as loud as 90 decibels by some estimates, which is as loud as a moving subway. Sounds greater than 85 dB are considered harmful to the human ear.
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  (#10) Humans Have Used Insects As Tools During Armed Conflicts

  Human civilizations have tried to weaponize bugs countless times in the past, with varying degrees of success. Insects have been so common in armed conflicts that entomologists broke their usage into three distinct groups: insects as tools, insects as disease carriers, and insects as crop destroyers.

  In the Second Parthian War, scorpions and disease-causing beetles were lobbed at the opposing Roman army, poisoning their troops and causing scarring skin lesions. The United States was accused of using insects in the Vietnam War to cause crop failure, and some societies have even launched plague-carrying insects into enemy territory. The use of insects as tools of armed conflict is also advancing into the 21st century with a potential fourth category of insect warfare. The study of insects is being increasingly used in advanced military technology, including drones and genetic warfare.

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