If You See These 6 Dangerous Bugs in Idaho, KILL Them ASAP

From cute ladybugs, beautiful butterflies and stealthy praying mantises to pesky mosquitoes, terrifying wasps and nausea inducing bed bugs, insects are far and away the most diverse animal group. 

The Smithsonian Institute says that the United States alone is home to at least 91,000 different species, but they estimate that there are at least 73,000 that haven’t been classified yet. They can be weird, wonderful or downright destructive! 

READ MORE: 5 of Earth's Deadliest Insects Are In Idaho Right Now

Case in point? Idaho’s most devastating natural disaster wasn’t the Big Burn of 1910, the Borah earthquake or flooding of the Salmon River due to an ice jam. According to a website called The Active Times, it was the Grasshopper Epidemic of 1985. While Idaho wasn’t the only western state impacted by a population explosion of Biblical proportions, we were hit the hardest. The bugs ate anything they could: corn, alfalfa, sugar beets, cattle grazing fields, nylon stockings, curtains… 

One Idaho farmer told the Chicago Tribune that at one point, they were seeing up to 1,800 grasshoppers per square foot on their crops. Just nine in that area is considered an infestation.

The federal government ended up spending at least $25 million to help get the infestation under control. Many farmers blamed the government for letting the infestation get out of hand in the first place. Why? Because grasshopper eggs can only hatch in undisturbed land, something the Bureau of Land Management controlled a lot of in Idaho. Eggs laid on farms were destroyed during regular spring plowing.

…and that was devastation done by creepy crawlies that are NATIVE to Idaho. Can you imagine what would happen if a population of insects we didn’t already have a good way to control broke out? The effects could be absolutely crippling for Idaho farmers. 

According to the USDA, nationwide invasive species are responsible for nearly $40 billion in lost crops and forest production…per year. They try to keep an upper hand on the populations, but can always use a little help. That means squishing bad bugs and telling them where you found them.. That’s why they’ve put together a “Hungry Pest” list of invasive bugs for every state in the country, including Idaho. 

Based on climate, vegetation and other factors, these are six invasive and destructive bugs that may thrive in Idaho if they ended up here. These are the bugs you should squish and report if you find one.