Biting and stinging insects are symbolic of pain, death, and loss. Sunny, who was joyful and full of life, passed away due to an allergic reaction to a bee sting, leaving a hole in the lives of Blade, Storm, and Rutherford. Following Sunny’s death, Rutherford is so distraught that he quits his band and develops substance abuse disorder. The symbolism continues as a mosquito bite leads to the high school valedictorian’s becoming sick right before commencement, leaving Blade, as the salutatorian, to give the speech.

When Blade meets Joy in Konko, she describes the village’s struggles with malaria: “[T]wenty thousand children die each year from [malaria]. The mosquitoes are treacherous” (244). This information foreshadows Sia’s death from malaria after being bitten by a mosquito. Sia’s young life, full of potential, despite her status as an orphan, was cut short by an insect. Blade writes a poem while Sia is sick: “The mosquito // is an invisible murderer, / piercing possibility / sucking futures […] and it shows / no mercy. / It won’t even spare / the children” (432). While the biting ants Rutherford encounters on their way to meet Lucy do not cause death, they do cause pain and loss of time on the way.