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Insects to Avoid in the Great Outdoors
from: Maxx Adventure TravelAh yes, the great outdoors, fresh air, freedom and ... insect territory. Indoors, we have dust to deal with. Outdoors -- bug attacks. Of course, it’s nothing personal. Bugs and insects are just looking out for themselves.
When heading out for your outdoor adventure, the first thing you might want to pack is a good supply of insect-repellant. These chemicals will help render you 'invisible’ to an insect. Another good piece of advice is to never wear perfume or brightly colored clothes as these are very attractive to our bug friends.
Spiders. Black widows are nasty little creatures to come across since they're one of the most poisonous spiders out there. They are easily recognizable by their hourglass-shaped bodies with orange, red or white spots on the abdomen. A bite from a black widow can cause severe pain, weakness, shivering and sweating that can last several days.
Another arachnid to watch out for is the fiddleback spider, so called because of a light spot that resembles a violin on its back. It's also known as the brown recluse because it prefers dark places. Its bite can cause tissue degeneration around the area of the bite.
Other spiders to avoid are the funnelwebs and the tarantulas. A tarantula can deliver a painful bite that can cause bleeding which could lead to infection. A spider bite is rarely fatal, except when a person is allergic to the particular toxin in its venom.
Scorpions. Most scorpions are nocturnal and they're either brown or black. To adapt to the desert, they have light green or yellow coloring. Scorpions can grow to an average of 2.5 cm and some Central America giants are about 20 cm. Their sting with their jointed tails is extremely painful but shouldn't be confused with whip scorpions and vinegar roons, which have straight tails like a whip.
Bees and Wasps. We all know how to recognize bees, with their plump, hairy bodies while wasps and hornets are hairless and slender. Some bees live in colonies, while others build their homes in the ground or in wood. When bees attack, they leaves their stinger stuck to your skin, along with the venom sac. Wasps and hornets attack repeatedly with smooth stingers.
Ticks. Ticks love human blood and can spread Lyme disease, encephalitis, Rocky Mountain fever and other dangerous diseases. However, for these diseases to be transmitted, a tick needs at least six hours attached to your skin, which gives you plenty of time to inspect your body and get rid of it.
Of course, the best way to defend yourself against insects is to avoid them altogether -- a near impossible task. Most of these creatures act out of self-preservation and not because they mean any harm. So just do your best to stay as far away from them as possible.
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