Panama has an extraordinary talent for making you forget that you are surrounded by insects.
You walk through a rainforest listening to birds, looking for monkeys and admiring enormous trees. Everything feels peaceful.
Then something the size of a small helicopter lands on your arm.
You slap it.
It flies away.
You look at your hand.
You look at the jungle.
And suddenly you realize that Panama's wildlife isn't limited to sloths, toucans and monkeys.
Some of it has wings.
Some of it bites.
Some of it stings.
And some of it is so small that you don't even know it was there until later.
For travelers spending time outdoors, especially around forests, rivers, beaches and rural areas, learning about Panama's flying insects is fascinating because each group has its own strategy for finding food and defending itself.
The Horseflies: The Jungle's Tiny Attack Helicopters
Let's begin with one of the most memorable.
Horseflies belong to the family Tabanidae, and they are among the larger biting flies you may encounter in tropical environments.
They don't exactly sneak around.
Many are large, fast and remarkably persistent.
The females are the ones that seek blood meals, which they need for egg production. Their mouthparts are adapted for taking blood from their hosts, while males generally feed on nectar and other plant liquids.
And the bite?
Let's just say that horseflies have not won any awards for subtlety.
Unlike a mosquito, which can often feed without you noticing immediately, a horsefly can make its presence known rather dramatically.
This is one reason travelers sitting near forest edges, wetlands, rivers and other suitable habitats can suddenly find themselves paying very close attention to every large fly in the vicinity.
Deer Flies: Smaller, Faster and Equally Annoying
Horseflies have smaller relatives commonly called deer flies.
They can be considerably more difficult to ignore because they're quick and persistent.
You may swat at one.
Miss.
Swat again.
Miss.
Then it disappears.
You relax.
It returns.
This can continue until you begin questioning whether the fly has developed a personal grudge.
The fascinating thing is that these flies aren't attacking because they dislike tourists.
They're simply following their biology.
Humans are warm, moving animals, and female biting flies are looking for a blood meal.
Unfortunately for the backpacker, this makes sweaty hikers particularly convenient targets.
Mosquitoes: Small Insects With Enormous Consequences
Nothing illustrates the importance of tiny insects better than mosquitoes.
Panama has several mosquito species, including Aedes mosquitoes that can transmit viruses such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya. Yellow fever transmission is also associated with mosquitoes in Panama's endemic regions.
This makes mosquitoes more than an annoying part of tropical life.
They're medically important.
Dengue is a particularly relevant mosquito-borne disease in tropical and subtropical regions, and travelers can reduce their risk by avoiding mosquito bites.
The interesting part is that mosquitoes aren't all behaving identically.
Some are most active during the day.
Others are more active around dawn, dusk or nighttime.
Some thrive around human habitation and containers holding water, while others are associated more closely with forest environments.
So when someone says, "There are mosquitoes here," they're really talking about an enormous and complicated family of insects.
The Mosquito You Never Hear
One of the most frustrating things about mosquitoes is that the smallest warning can be the least reliable.
You don't necessarily hear one coming.
You don't necessarily feel the bite immediately.
And sometimes you don't realize you've been bitten until you're already walking away.
That makes prevention much more useful than trying to win a battle against individual mosquitoes.
For travelers, the boring advice is often the best advice: appropriate clothing, insect repellent and screened or protected sleeping areas can substantially reduce exposure.
And because mosquito-borne diseases occur in Panama, it's worth checking current travel-health guidance before heading into different regions.
No-See-Ums: The Insects That Sound Like a Practical Joke
Then there are biting midges, often called "no-see-ums."
The name is almost perfect.
They're tiny.
Really tiny.
You can be sitting outside enjoying what appears to be a completely peaceful evening when suddenly you're wondering why your skin is becoming an increasingly interesting collection of itchy spots.
Unlike a horsefly, the midge doesn't announce itself.
It has no giant wings buzzing around your head.
It simply exists at a scale that makes humans particularly bad at defending themselves against it.
They can be especially associated with damp environments and coastal areas, which makes them another insect worth knowing about when exploring tropical Panama.
Black Flies and Other Biting Flies
Panama's rivers and streams provide habitat for many aquatic insects, and some groups of biting flies spend part of their life cycle associated with flowing water.
Black flies are a famous example.
Their larvae develop in moving water, while adults can feed on blood.
They are generally much smaller than horseflies, which is precisely why travelers can underestimate them.
This is one of the recurring themes of Panama's insect world:
Size is not a reliable indicator of annoyance.
The giant fly is obvious.
The tiny fly is the one you might not notice until you're already wondering what happened.
Wasps: The Insects You Should Respect
Now we move from biting to stinging.
Panama has an enormous diversity of wasps, including solitary species and highly social species that construct nests.
Some are spectacularly colored.
Others are almost impossible to notice until you get too close to their nest.
And that is the important distinction.
A wasp flying around a flower isn't necessarily interested in you.
A wasp nest is another matter.
Many social wasps defend their colonies when they perceive a threat.
That means the smartest approach is simple: admire them without disturbing nests or colonies.
For hikers, this is particularly relevant when trails pass through dense vegetation or when nests are hidden among branches, structures or other sheltered locations.
Bees Aren't Out to Get You Either
Bees have a reputation that sometimes isn't entirely fair.
Most bees are focused on flowers, pollen and nectar rather than humans.
They are enormously important pollinators and a critical part of tropical ecosystems.
But some species can sting if threatened.
The best way to coexist with them is not complicated.
Don't swat wildly at a bee simply because it is flying nearby.
Give it space.
If you encounter a concentration of bees or a colony, move away rather than disturbing it.
The bee generally has much better things to do than chase a backpacker.
Panama's Insect World Is Part of the Attraction
This is the part that can change how you experience the rainforest.
Once you stop thinking of insects simply as pests, they become fascinating.
That enormous horsefly is a specialized predator of opportunity.
The mosquito is part of an incredibly complex ecological and disease-transmission system.
The tiny midge occupies an almost invisible world.
The wasp may be an expert hunter.
The bee is pollinating plants that support entire ecosystems.
And all of them are operating simultaneously around you.
You simply don't notice most of them.
Until one bites you.
The Backpacker's Unwritten Rule
If you're exploring Panama's forests, beaches and rural areas, there's a useful mindset to adopt:
Don't panic about insects. Respect them.
You don't need to walk through Panama terrified of every flying creature.
You also don't need to treat the jungle like an outdoor petting zoo.
Watch where you're walking.
Don't deliberately disturb nests.
Use sensible insect protection when you're outdoors.
And if you develop concerning symptoms after an insect bite, particularly fever or significant illness, seek medical advice rather than assuming it's just a normal bite.
The incredible thing about Panama is that the wildlife doesn't stop when the monkeys disappear into the trees.
It doesn't stop when the birds fly overhead.
It doesn't stop when the sun goes down.
In fact, that's when another world becomes active.
The air is full of wings.
Some are searching for flowers.
Some are searching for prey.
Some are searching for a blood meal.
And some are simply waiting for you to walk past.
In Panama, even the insects have an adventure planned for you.