This alleged plan by the Pentagon gives a whole new meaning to being bugged by the government.

The House of Representatives is calling for an investigation into allegations that the Department of Defense tried to turn ticks and other bugs into biological weapons.

The probe is being pushed by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who cited a new book that claims military bioweapons specialists “stuffed ticks with pathogens to cause severe disability, disease and even death to potential enemies.”

House lawmakers passed an amendment to a federal defense spending bill last week that calls for the department’s inspector general to discover if Pentagon scientists turned insects into living weapons between 1950 and 1975.

During a debate on the House floor Thursday, Smith said: “For years, books and articles have been written suggesting that significant research had been done at US government facilities, including Fort Detrick and Plum Island, to turn ticks and other insects into bioweapons.”

He cited “Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons,” which contains interviews with the late Dr. Willy Burgdorfer, who discovered the bacterium that causes Lyme disease and worked for the department as a bioweapons specialist.

The book, by Stanford School of Medicine science writer Kris Newby, claims Burgdorfer and other scientists worked to infect ticks, fleas, mosquitoes and other blood-sucking pests with viruses causing human diseases.

It also questions if Lyme disease was inadvertently spread by the experiments.

“I believe Americans have a right to know whether any of this is true,” Smith said.

Each year, roughly 30,000 cases of Lyme disease, which causes fatigue, flu-like symptoms and a red bull’s-eye rash on the skin, are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most cases can be cured with antibiotics, but if left untreated, it can cause facial paralysis, arthritis, fever and rash.

If the inspector general does find evidence that the government weaponized ticks or insects, Smith’s amendment orders a report on whether any bugs “used in such experiment were released outside of any laboratory by accident or experiment design.”

The amendment still must be reconciled with a separate Senate bill on defense spending.

“My hope is, this jump starts a very aggressive effort to find a cure and see how this [Lyme disease] is growing. It’s pushing out into the Great Lakes area. It’s exploding everywhere,” Smith told the Asbury Park Press.

Smith is a longtime advocate for Lyme disease research and the founding co-chair of the House Lyme Disease Caucus.