What did I find out in April of 2022 that blew my mind so much that I
started researching insects and spiders for over six months well, I'm gonna tell you,
but before I do there are a few things about insects in America; insects can be a nuisance
they can also pose significant threats to agriculture structures and human health
while every state in the U.S has its share of insect problems some states have more severe
insect issues than others like far more severe another thing you need to understand is spiders
and insects are not the same thing spiders are arachnids and insects belong to the Insecta class
basically once a spider one's an insect today we're looking at the 10 states with the worst
insect problems and some stories to go along with it got it get it good let's take a look.
Number 10 Alabama in Alabama There's a species of insect called the Love Bug and it is notorious for
being in the mood a couple times a year this becomes a nuisance to Residents and visitors
during mating season which occurs twice a year in late spring and early fall these black and orange
insects can be seen flying around in pairs often stuck together in a mating position four hours on
end they're harmless to humans but their large numbers can make them a driving Hazard as they
swarm around cars and obstruct the driver's Vision I was told about these years ago One Summer a
friend of mine said they were driving along a rural road and she encountered a swarm of the
love bugs she tried to you know get through them but so many smashed on her window she actually had
to pull over and wait for the insects to kind of go away she cleaned off her windshield and drove
on some of the common insect species found in Alabama include mosquitoes they get pretty bad
they're ticks which are horrible ants beetles and bees some of these insects can be harmful
such as the ticks because they carry Lyme disease and fire ants can deliver a painful sting however
many of the insects also play an important role in pollination in the ecosystem you also get chiggers
there too Alabama has pretty bad problem though with mosquitoes termites and cockroaches which
can pose health risks and cause significant damage to homes and businesses definitely bring down your
property value on a good note they're also known for a large number of butterflies and moth species
Number nine South Carolina in 2019 South Carolina experienced an outbreak of the Asian giant hornet
which is also known by its more cuddly name the murder Hornet these invasive Hornets which are
native to Asia obviously in case the name Asia didn't tip you off they can grow up to
two inches long and have a venomous sting that can be deadly to humans I kind of want one as
a pet at this point the first sighting of the Asian giant hornet was in August of 2019 when
a resident in the town of Bluffton spotted one in their yard over the next few weeks several
more sightings were reported in the area and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture
launched an investigation to determine the extent of the infestation thankfully it
was determined that the Hornet population was small and localized the Asian giant hornet is
just one example of many different types of insects that can be found in South Carolina
which is home to a diverse array of insect species including mosquitoes ticks bees and
ants while some insects can pose threat to humans and other organisms many play
important roles in the ecosystem and contribute to the Natural Balance of the environment South
Carolina definitely though has issues with mosquitoes ticks and termites now in South
Carolina like most of the South the hot humid climate is perfect for so many different insects
Number eight, Oklahoma, now the insect story in Oklahoma, involves the emergence of cicadas
in the summer of 2021. these insects known as brood 4 had been underground for 17 years before
emerging in large numbers throughout the state the cicadas are known for their loud distinctive
buzzing sound and can be a nuisance to some due to their sheer numbers and noise however they
really don't pose a threat to humans other than being irritating and they're actually
beneficial to the environment they just creep you out especially if you've never seen them
before you don't know they're everywhere they're all over the ground it looks like the ground is
moving it's gross and then they shed their skin and that's even grosser is grosser a word or is
he a guy that takes care of really good produce the animal population you know every kind of
rodent skunk possum whatever eats the cicadas and they get fat during this time of the year every 17
years Oklahoma is a Southern state and it has the same problems that most southern states have with
mosquitoes ticks and termites now they're not insects they're arachnids like we
talked about earlier but they also have a lot of spiders in some areas of the state
Oklahoma's varied landscape is home to a wide variety of insects and spiders
Number seven, Arkansas in the summer of 2019, Arkansas got its cicadas a swarm of periodical
cicadas emerged in Arkansas after spending their 17 years underground these cicadas were known as
brood 14. they were part of a larger group of cicadas that emerged in various parts of the
Eastern United States these also make the same noise it is loud it is constant and then they
leave that ghostly looking shell on trees and other surfaces so they get out of their skin
or their shell or whatever and they leave it there and it sits there and it looks all white
and transparent and it looks like a ghost bug it's really gross it's kind of sick one of the
biggest problems with these things is they fly around everywhere and they're flying in people's
faces getting tangled in girl's hair it was kind of gross there was tons of pictures of this one up
on social media Arkansas like most southern states have problems with mosquitoes ticks and termites
another state that has chiggers these are a Mite in Britain they call them Harvest mites but what
sucks about bottom is they get and they burrow into your skin where you sweat like around where
your socks come up your armpits around your undercarriage if you're out in the woods and
you're getting sweaty yeah they show up there people often confuse these as fleas they're not
they burrow into your skin they're a berry bug or bush might some people call them scrub itch mites
Number six Missouri Missouri is another state that has all kinds of wonderful things to really bother
you if you hate insects and spiders they also get cicadas their large numbers come out every 13 or
17 years depending on the species in 2021 brewed 10 cicadas emerged in several States including
Missouri in May and June of 2021 residents in many parts of Missouri experience the deafening
chorus of millions of cicadas in case you want to know how loud that gets can get up to what
100 decibels a chainsaw at one meter distance a diesel truck at one meter yeah they can get loud
Missouri also has problems with mosquitoes ticks and termites but one of their most well-known
insects is the Firefly also known as the lightning bug these bioluminescent insects are commonly seen
lighting up the night sky during the summer months Missouri is also home to a variety of
beetle species including scarab beetles tiger beetles and longhorned beetles but the biggest
problem is gonna be your mosquitoes they got a lot of water free and a lot of mosquitoes
they can transmit diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Missouri also has a
bug called the kissing bug this bug is known for transmitting a parasite that causes Chagas disease
Number five Virginia Virginia is another state that had the cicadas come out recently just like
everywhere else, they were loud, ugly and nasty, but they also have a lot of other things that are
kind of scary, like the brown recluse it's not native to Virginia, but the brown recluse spider
has been found in the state its bite can cause tissue damage and in rare cases can be fatal
they also have the Eastern velvet ant also known as the cow killer ant the Eastern velvet ant is
actually a type of wasp its sting is extremely painful and can cause swelling but it's not
usually deadly now all these places have cicadas they also have the Eastern cicada killer wasp the
Eastern cicada killer wasp is a large wasp that preys on cicadas and like every other Southern
State Virginia has issues with mosquitoes ticks termites chiggers and various species of ants
Number four California has a real problem with termites bed bugs and cockroaches now this was the
first surprise I got when I was researching this I didn't know California had that many insects
and just nasty things I knew we had black widows I've seen them I knew we had scorpions out in the
desert along with all kinds of rattlesnakes and everything else like that but I didn't know that
we had all these different bugs we have termites a whole bunch of bed bugs and a ton of cockroaches I
always say we like I still live there I've lived there in 12 years California's diverse landscape
is home to a wide variety of insects including bees wasps butterflies and beetles they also
have Western pine beetles and Mediterranean fruit flies few of the other things they have which not
in large numbers it depends on where you go but Yellow Jackets this type of wasp found throughout
California they're very aggressive and will sting you multiple times this is the other big
one Africanized honeybees Africanized honeybees are also known as killer bees and were introduced
in California 1990s they are more aggressive than other types of honeybees and have been known known
to swarm and attack people we thought they were going to be killing thousands of people throughout
the state every year never really panned out but there was a big fear of this going on in the late
80s early 90s I guess when we weren't afraid of nuclear war anymore you know we'd been dealing
with it for 20 years they decided to start scaring us with Africanized bees biggest problem I ever
ran into when I was there I hated all the flies when you go down by the ocean seaweed time of the
year seaweed starts drying out and there's just flies everywhere on the beach hated it
number three Louisiana now Louisiana has a pretty interesting story and it involves
a termite called a four motion or a formicin or formosan I've heard three different names
for this this invasive species of termite is believed to have first arrived in the United
States in the mid 20th century and has since spread throughout the Southeastern part of the
country including in Louisiana formosan termite is also known for its destructive feeding habit
and can cause significant damage to buildings wooden structures and trees in Louisiana they
have been responsible for over a million dollars in property damage and are considered a serious
threat to homes and other structures and then of course yeah you're still in the
South so you can have serious mosquito [ __ ] fleas and the Southern Green stink bug along
with the Cotton Bowl worm you could also find Africanized honeybees in Louisiana
the red imported fire ant of course the brown recluse and on top of all that Louisiana is
filled with swamps and we're not talking about reptiles stuff but they got a ton of different
snakes and lizards and turtles just a bunch of stuff to freak out if you go out in the woods
number two Mississippi in the early 20th century a severe infestation of The Boll Weevil a type of
beetle that feeds on cotton plants devastated the cotton crops in the Southern United States
including and especially Mississippi this caused significant economic hardship to Farmers who
relied on the Cotton as their primary crop in response to this crisis agricultural scientists
and farmers in Mississippi and other affected states began to diversify their crops and adopt
new farming practices such as crop rotation and Pest Management strategies yeah when 80
percent of your economy is cotton and something like this happens you're talking decades before
you recover but all the different things that they did to you know kind of put this down it
worked it improved the overall health and productivity of the Region's agricultural
sector but Mississippi has all the typical Southern issues mosquitoes termites and fire
ants that's a big one here fire ants are everywhere in my opinion in all the place
as I've been Mississippi was by far the worst when it came to Insects the gnats get your face
actually let me rephrase that it's not on this list but Georgia was the absolute worst with the
gnats I went through basic training a bunch of other things in Georgia and no matter what the
gnats were just in your face all the time and they wouldn't let you swat at the ants either
all right before we get to number one this is what I learned in 2022 that made me start researching
this video I thought in the beginning because I'm not into bugs I thought spiders were insects also
and I learned that but I'm not alone 65 of the population in the United States at least thinks
spiders are insects and this is the next thing that blew me away I thought for sure at least 50
percent of the population was afraid of spiders no nowhere near it around the world between three and
fifteen percent of individuals have been diagnosed with some sort of phobia fear of animals fear of
heights triskaidekaphobia which is the fear of the number 13 agoraphobia which is the fear of
being in crowds lupuslipophobia which is the fear of being chased around a table by Timberwolves in
your socks and of course Arachnophobia this is the one I thought that maybe 50 of the population had
Arachnophobia I know so many people that they see a spider they freak out but very few people
actually have the phobia a lot of people are scared of spiders but they don't have
the phobia which basically incapacitates them if they see a spider alright on to number one
and number one Florida Florida again all the southern state ones they got fire ants
black widows brown recluses they also have the Eastern Lumber grasshopper these very large and
very colorful grasshoppers are found throughout Florida and are known for their toxic secretion
if ingested the secretion can cause vomiting convulsions and even death that's always fun
of course they have the giant water bug this is a large insect that can be found in Florida's
freshwater habitats and they're known for their painful bite their venom can cause respiratory
distress and other health problems Florida is also known for having it really bad when it comes to
mosquitoes they got water everywhere mosquitoes really need water to breed grow and live in
Florida you can pick up the West Nile Virus the zika virus all from mosquitoes Florida also has a
ton of bed bugs termites and fire ants alright that's today's video hope you guys enjoyed it
hope you got some information out of it now go out have a great day and be nice to each other