5 of the Biggest Insect Infestations

5. A Shed of Yellow Jackets

Jude Verret, owner of a pest control company in Morgan City, Louisiana, was met with a shocking discovery in December of 2017. During a call from a customer, Verret happened to find a massive nest of European Yellow Jackets. The structure was so vast and complex, it encompassed over half of the interior of the outdoor shed on the property. “What we got here,” Verrent commented, “is the grandaddy of [yellow jacket] nests.” Check out his YouTube video capturing the discovery here.

4. Madagascar’s Locust Plague

In 2013 a swarm of several billion locusts descended across the small island country of Madagascar, covering roughly half of the land. Blown into the area by cyclone Haruna, the infestation posed a massive threat to Madagascar’s agriculture. At the time, it was reported that “nearly 60% of the island’s more than 22 million people could be threatened by a significantly worsening of hunger in a country that already had extremely high rates of food insecurity and malnutrition.” It was the worst plague to infest the Indian Ocean island since the 1950’s and the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization estimated about $22 million dollars would be necessary to rectify the damage from the pests.

3. New York Bed Bug Epidemic

Bed bugs are notorious pests that are extremely easily spread. Due to this, it is often that infestation outbreaks occur in cities. Unfortunately, such an outbreak overtook New York city over the span of nearly 10 years. Starting in 2004, the annual cases of bed bug infestations in the city was reported at roughly 82, but by 2009, the number of annual cases shot up to a whopping 4,084. Then, in 2010, the Manhattan-based flagship Nike store has to be shut down temporarily for treatments due to a massive outbreak within the building. Luckily, local pest control companies were on the job, treating each reported infestation as quickly as possible to help curb the insane bed bug explosion.

2. Emerald Ash Borers

Emerald Ash Borers (EAB) were first reported in Michigan in 2002, though the invasive beetle is thought to have arrived previously in the United States sometime in the 1990’s. Since then, the population of EAB’s has exploded and spread across the country causing widespread damage and destruction. So far, it has been reported that these bugs are responsible for killing tens of millions of ash trees and several hundred million dollars in necessary repairs for municipalities. Today, over 8.7 billion trees could be at risk of falling prey to these insects across the U.S. As such, time is ticking while entomologists and pest control companies work together to try to find a solution to these massively destructive pests.

1. The Walk of the Ghosts

Sometimes referred to as the “Walk of the Ghosts,” this spooky-looking infestation occurred back in 2009 in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The infestation was caused by the larvae of Ermine Moths, who are infamous for creating giant white communal webs. Unfortunately for Rotterdam, a mysterious population explosion led to several hundred thousand of these creatures blanketing the city in these ghostly webs for several weeks. At the time, a photograph of the incidence became a worldwide sensation as it depicted an entire car engulfed in the silken webbing.

Citations

Attack of the slimy caterpillar web (2009) Metro.co.uk. Available at: https://metro.co.uk/2009/05/26/attack-of-the-slimy-caterpillar-web-149107/ (Accessed: April 15, 2021).

Emerald Ash Borer (no date) National Invasive Species Information Center. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Available at: https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/invertebrates/emerald-ash-borer (Accessed: April 15, 2021).

Madagascar hit by ‘severe’ plague of locusts (2013) BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-21955740 (Accessed: April 15, 2021).

Madagscar locust crisis – Response to the locust plague: three-year Programme 2013/2016 (no date) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. Available at: https://www.fao.org/emergencies/resources/documents/resources-detail/en/c/172406/ (Accessed: April 15, 2021).

Pearson, E. and McShane, L. (2010) Bedbugs Close Down Flagship Nike Store, New York Daily News. Available at: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bedbugs-close-flagship-nike-store-niketown-new-york-manhattan-article-1.441531 (Accessed: April 15, 2021).

Scott, G. L. (2017) Watch as a man dismantles a giant wasps’ nest while they swarm around him, Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-as-a-man-dismantles-a-giant-wasps-nest-while-they-swarm-him-2017-12 (Accessed: April 15, 2021).

Susich, W. (no date) 2.5 The Attack of the Emerald Ash Borer in The United States, Environmental ScienceBites. The Ohio State University. Available at: https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/sciencebites/chapter/the-attack-of-the-emerald-ash-borer-in-the-united-states/ (Accessed: April 15, 2021).