Ten of the most disgusting, scary, nasty but awesome creepy crawlies you will ever see!

So you hate creepy crawlies? No, we mean you really really hate creepy crawlies? We mean the type of creepy crawlies that attack humans and grow under the skin.

No, we’re not talking about a little flutter of the heart strings when you see a spider crawl past the window.

No, we’re talking about the kind of fear where you’d rather be strapped naked, with a hot croissant planted between your butt cheeks whilst strapped to the outside of a plane kind of fear before you’d even think about touching a spider or creepy crawlie. Yep that kind of fear!

Well if that describes you when you think of sharing your bed with anything that has more legs than your wife or husband then this post may not be for you.

Why you ask? Well because over the next few minutes we’re going to share with you some of the most disgusting, vile, scary and damn right nasty insects known to man. So here goes…

#1. The Parasitic Wasp

Believe it or not that nasty Wasp attached to the top of a Caterpillar isn’t feeling frisky or slightly amorous. Nope its actually an Ichneumon Wasp (Aleiodes indiscretus) in the process of laying it’s eggs inside a ‘host’, yes the poor Caterpillar is the unfortunate host.

The female Ichneumon Wasp is a type of parasitic Wasp that finds a host and then lays eggs inside the host or on it (and sometimes just close to it).

The Wasp then uses its Ovipositor to deliver the eggs inside the host. Once the larvae have hatched they feed on their host, either internally or externally until the host is killed and the larvae have pupated. Yes the poor unsuspecting host is alive whilst their insides are being eaten. Yuck!

Ok so you didn’t think it could get any more disgusting did you? Well we’re sorry but it just has.

In the photo above you can see an Orb Spider which although pretty dangerous creepy crawlie in its own right its fallen prey to a Parasitic Wasp and the white grub attached to its abdomen is going to slowly eat it. Slowly, over a short period of time the white grub will increase in size as the Orb Spider gets smaller.

This pretty terrifying Parasitic Wasp known as a Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga has also injected a chemical that basically turns the Spider into a mindless slave. This chemical basically controls all of the Spiders actions and behavior. Before long the Spider stops producing a Web and starts to build a cocoon web. The Grub then turns really nasty and sucks all of the remaining insides and juices from the Spider before it spins its own cocoon web. After a few weeks just like a scene from Alien a fully grown Wasp emerges ready to start it’s life and find its next victim.

#2. The Parasitic Kamikaze Horse Hair Worm (Paragordius tricuspidatus)

In the pretty disgusting photo above you can see the end results of what happens when a Kamikaze Horse Hair Worm bursts out of the body of a Wood Cricket.

So this is the end result, but what happens leading up to the ‘coup de grace’? Its gets quite interesting.

Firstly a tiny Horsehair Worm Larva is eaten by the Larva of another insect. The Larva will then emerge from the water only to be eaten by a host (in this case a Wood Cricket). Once the Larva’s been eaten it will slowly grow on the inside of the host and this is when it gets really clever and a little disturbing.

Now the Horsehair Worm that’s been slowly growing and developing on the inside of the host needs somewhere to hatch, but it needs to hatch in water.

Now that could be a problem for any normal parasite mainly because the Wood Cricket won’t go near or even attempt to land on water. But you guessed it, yes the Horsehair Worm has a quite unbelievable trick up its grubby little sleeve to encourage the Wood Cricket to land in water to enable it to emerge in all its gory glory. By actually controlling and altering the Wood Cricket’s central nervous system, not only does the Wood Cricket land on the water, it downs itself thus enabling the Horsehair Worm to emerge from the dead Wood Cricket’s body.

Although to the naked eye you wouldn’t know that the Wood Cricket is being controlled from the inside by the Horsehair Worm, one scientist has actually documented seeing as many as 30 Horsehair Worms emerging from a host. Can you actually imagine this considering Horsehair Worms can grow to a foot in length!

#3. The Bot Fly

Ok so if you’re a little squeamish then you might want to look away or stop reading, yep now we’re getting really nasty!

If you’ve ever seen the Alien Film franchise then you’ll have some idea what it looks like to see a living creature emerge from a live host — and that’s pretty much exactly what happens when the human Botfly (Dermatobia Hominis) infects a person.

So what happens we hear you ask? Well the process as you would expect is pretty nasty. Firstly the female Botfly which can be found all over Central and South America) attacks a host (like a Mosquito). It then deposits its eggs on the poor unsuspecting Mosquito’s body who then goes about its its normal daily business, which normally involves it biting some an unlucky tourist.

As soon as the Mosquito starts feeding, the eggs react to the warmth of the human body and start to hatch burrowing through the Mosquito bite or hair follicles or even through the skin using their hooked mouth-parts.

Now the process gets even more gruesome. As the eggs start to feed on the human’s fluid exudates (this is the fluid produced when skin is damaged) the Larva start to grow. At this stage its quite likely the growing Larva can be visible under the skin, there might be a lump or you might even be able to see the Larva moving and bubbling away under the skin.

Now if you’re really lucky (and we use the term very loosely) the Larva will be easy to remove (a bit like squeezing a spot) but if you’re not so lucky you might need surgery to remove the Larva.

Check out the video below — When Botflies Attack!

#4. Giant Golden Orb Weaving Spider

So as you can see from the photo the Giant Golden Orb Weaving Spider really does punch above its weight. Bear in mind that this nasty little predator is about the size of a human hand yet its able to overpower, kill and eat a bird far larger than itself. So how does it do it?

Well firstly the Spider spins a large and very strong web which is high in protein so it can capture large insects (and an occasional bird it it’s lucky). Then (and although fairly rare) if a poor unsuspecting bird does inadvertently fly into the web the Spider will quickly use its venom to break down the Bird so it’s ready for eating. The Bird will quickly be sucked dry before its left hanging as a dried out food parcel. Nice!

#5. The Assassin Bug

Not only are Assassin Bugs pretty deadly to other insects they can also inflect extremely painful bites on humans too. This pretty nasty little bug gets it name because of the way it attacks its prey, violently stabbing it and then quickly using it’s Rostrum (a beak like appendage) to inject an enzyme into its victim. This enzyme softens up their internal organs ready to be sucked out like a bloody milkshake.

Some species take their behavior to an even further extreme and actually glue the dead bodies of their eaten victims to their body to be used as some kind of grim body Armour.

Humans aren’t safe either! Did you know that a sub species of the Assassin Bug called ‘Kissing Bugs’like to bite the soft tissue around a humans eyes and lips whilst they’re asleep. This bite can lead to the potentially deadly Chagas disease.

#6. The Jewel Wasp

The Jewel Wasp is another pretty nasty character on our list of really nasty creepy crawlies. Also known as the Emerald Cockroach Wasp, this parasitic wasp likes to use Cockroaches as a constant source of food for its developing Larva — basically a live food supply.

Firstly the Jewel Wasp attacks the Cockroach and stings it in its mid-section paralyzing its front legs. Now that the Cockroach is unable to protect itself the Jewel Wasp then delivers a second sting, injecting a potent venom directly into the Cockroaches Brain. But this isn’t any normal ordinary venom! The Jewel Wasps venom works by inhibiting and blocking the Cockroaches Neurotransmitter (the Octopamine), so although the Cockroach isn’t completely paralyzed it becomes a Zombie, unwilling and not motivated to walk or try and escape.

The Jewel Wasp then takes the Cockroach into it’s den and lays an egg inside the Cockroaches abdomen. Once the eggs hatch they slowly feast on the organs and insides of the live Cockroach making sure they avoid any vital organs so the Cockroach stays alive (and fresh) for as long as possible. When the Cockroach eventually dies the Larva form a Cocoon before hatching about a month later.

Check out the really nasty video showing exactly what we mean below!

#7. Japanese Giant Hornet — (Vespa Mandarinia Japonica)

Now this is one nasty bug, and when we say nasty we mean really really nasty! Growing to the size of a thumb and able to spray poison that can melt flesh this is one bug you don’t want to piss off! But it gets worst. You can’t outrun it (unless you can run 25 mph) and if it does sting you then a pheromone is released that lets every other Hornet in the area know your exact location, and it does happen. Take for example the poor unfortunate 87 year old Japanese woman who died after receiving 150 Giant Hornet stings.

Although there are a number of deaths in Japan every year when swarms of Japanese Giant Hornets, the death toll for a hive of Bees when a swarm of Japanese Giant Hornets attack is staggering. In fact just to feed their offspring it only needs 30 to 40 Hornets to kill and dismember a hive of 30,000 Bees in less than 4 hours.

The Hornets start by releasing a Pheromone to attract other Hornets before attacking the Hive and dismembering the Bees bodies, chopping their heads and limbs off and flying back with the tasty and softer thorax which the Hornets young find easier to eat and digest. The Hornets also fly off with the squishy and tasty Bee Larva which they also feed to their growing young.

#8. The Giant Centipede

The Giant Centipede (Scolopendra gigantea), also known as the Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipede or Amazonian giant centipede is one of our least favorite creepy crawlies — it must be those legs and pincers — oh and the particularly venom delivered through their front pincers.

Did we also mention that they can also eat animals far larger than them including birds, spiders, mice and even bats. They have a particular fondness for Baby Grasshopper mice which they find particularly juicy and tender.

#9. The Giant Goliath Bird Eating Spider (Theraphosa blondi)

The Giant Goliath Bird Eating Spider is the largest spider in the world with a pair of fangs up to 3.8 cms long easily capable of delivering a painful bite to humans. Although this spider gets its name as a bird eater it actually rarely feeds on birds feeding mostly on insects, worms, amphibians, rodents, frogs, lizards, snakes and mice (see the video below).

Check out the video below to learn more! Warning the video contains upsetting content (if you like Mice). Nature at its most fierce!

#10. The Bullet Ant (Paraponera Clavata)

We wanted to include the Bullet Ant on our list of nasty creepy crawlies because of the immense pain their sting can cause. Found in Nicaragua, Honduras and Paraguay the pain has been described as feeling like being shot and its considered the most painful bite of all of the hymenopterans.

The painful sting can last all day and for this reason its also sometimes referred to as the ’24 hour ant’ with a Schmidt sting pain index of “4+”, and believe us when we say that’s painful. If you don’t believe us take a look at the video below.

Watch the video of someone being stung by a Bullet Ant to see just how painful it is!

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