I saw this table posted at the site of my friend, Paul, who is an infectious disease specialist. Have a closer look. It’s pretty amazing.

It’s from the Gates Foundation website. What’s striking is that the deadliest animal on the planet is not humans (which I would have predicted), but mosquitoes (which would have been my second guess). I suppose you’d have to define just what is meant by “deadly,” as humans have indirectly caused the most harm to the planet in the form of pollution, environmental degradation, and destruction of habitats. But mosquitoes have certainly caused the most direct harm.

The Zika virusis vectored by the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, which are the same species that transmit yellow fever, dengue, and chikungunya. Zika is truly terrifying, and yet it is the latest in a long history of insect-vectored diseases that have wreaked havoc on human populations. If you’re a kid and want to read more about the history of insect-vectored diseases, you might be interested in my book, Bugged.On a positive note—this article in Entomology Todayreports promising results with a clip-on mosquito repellant device.