Illinois Spring: Here Are The Bugs That Are Just Waking Up

When the topic of springtime weather comes up, most people think about longer and warmer days, along with lawns, trees, and plants of all sorts greening up. We rarely think about all the nasty little Illinois creepy-crawlies that have been AWOL since late last fall, but are waking up now and ready for action.

Similar to the expression "It's not paranoia if some really is trying to kill you," it's not entomophobia (fear of bugs) if the bugs are nasty and really trying to bite/sting/suck your blood.

If you find yourself being ridiculed by friends and family because of your extreme disdain for creepy-crawlies, just point out that even in Illinois, a state not really known for scary, nasty creatures (unless they're the ones in elected office), there are a few creatures that tend to give Illinois residents a good reason to be uneasy.

You Can Divide Illinois' Bugs Into About 3 Categories: Necessary And Helpful, Irritating But Not Dangerous, And Actually Nasty

Since discussion of the Illinois bugs that are necessary and helpful is pretty darn dull stuff, let's skip over them and move right to the annoying and dangerous bugs coming to life across Illinois.

You dealt with these guys in the fall, and now they're waking up, stretching, and looking for things to stink up:

That's the brown marmorated stink bug, and he/she along with their extended family broke into your house in Fall of 2024 to get out of the cold and procreate (not sure which was their higher priority). Now that they're awake, they want to get out of your house and go attack fruit and ornamental plants.

Patch.com:

Researchers have said that up to 24 varieties of stink bugs are found among soybean and cornfields in states like Illinois. In soybean fields, stink bugs typically feed on all above-ground parts of the plant but prefer pods and developing seeds, and the damage they cause can affect yield, seed quality, and germination rates, researchers have found.

Then, there's these guys:

We've Got Bees, Wasps, And Hornets Ready To Start Making Their Spring Rounds, But They're Really Only A Danger To Those Who Are Allergic--However, Ticks In Illinois Are A Different Story

Tick bites in Illinois are nothing to mess with, especially since those little buggers can give you Lyme Disease, Anaplasmosis, Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis, and Ehrlichiosis.

And, as Patch.com points out, 37 of every 100,000 Midwest emergency room visits in April were for the treatment following a tick bite.

In Illinois, adult ticks are most active in April, May, and June. By September, the adults are inactive and are rarely observed, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. There are 15 varieties of ticks around the state, but only five are typically encountered by humans, health officials said. The American dog tick can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia and possibly ehrlichiosis to humans, according to state health officials.

Here's a guy who knows a bit about ticks and how to avoid them: