The Simulium damnosum complex in West Africa transmits the worm that causes river blindness — historically the leading cause of preventable blindness in 11 countries.
30–50 people die annually from Asian giant hornet stings in Japan — most from systemic venom load, not anaphylaxis.
Despite their reputation, bed bugs do not transmit disease to humans — there is no documented case of pathogen transmission via bed bug bite.
Despite the unsettling lifecycle, botfly larvae don't transmit disease. The infection is confined to one small site under the skin.
A peptide from wandering spider venom (PnTx2-6) is in clinical trials as a treatment for erectile dysfunction.
Brazilian antivenom developed in 1925 has reduced wandering-spider bite mortality to under 0.5% of cases.
Deathstalker venom contains chlorotoxin — a peptide so specific to brain-tumor cells that surgeons use it as a fluorescent 'tumor paint' during brain surgery.
