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(CNN) — For summertime beachgoers, the threat of sharks may loom large, but nature’s deadliest predator is actually much smaller.

The tiny mosquito is not only a warm-weather nuisance but also wears the crown for “No. 1 killer of humanity across our existence,” according to historian Dr. Timothy C. Winegard. The predatory insect takes more than 1 million lives each year by transmitting lethal diseases. Sharks, meanwhile, are estimated to have a kill streak orders of magnitude smaller, at fewer than 10 people per year.

Where humans go, mosquitoes have followed. Their itchy bites and the disease-causing pathogens they carry are infamous, and the insects are also responsible for drivin

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