Absolutely Necessary Strange Bug Facts
If you are the type to read through conspiracy theory Wikipedia entries late at night or investigate what the heck that bug was doing in your shower corner boy do I have a little write-up for you.
I’ve jam-packed several of my favorite strange bug facts that I think everyone should know into this little post, because bugs are amazing, terrifying, and beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that I have drawn some illustrations to show you what I mean when I tell you that some bees have hairy eyes (spoilers).
Entomologists — you probably know all of this, but I appreciate your readership and claps.
Let’s start off on the right foot:
There are caterpillars that look like tiny, crawling tupees and have poisonous barbed spines underneath their furry outer coat that cause itching and burning. Cute, but not cool.
Bumblebees often make their underground homes in abandoned mouse holes. Apparently they like their apartments furnished.
There are parasitic wasps that have 8" long “stingers” (ovipositors) that can drill through tree bark, stab a developing sawfly or beetle larvae, lay an egg the developing insect child, and the larvae then grows up, eats its host, and if it’s female she does it all over again. The nice part is they can’t do that to us. Yaaay.
Insects do not have blood vessels. Instead, their blood, known as hemolymph, flows freely through their bodies and “bathes their organs.” They also don’t have lungs. Or bones. But you knew that last one.
Tarantula bites, while they leave large and impressive puncture wounds, do not kill people. No matter how much they scare you. You’re welcome.
Leaf cutter ants don’t eat leaves. They cut the leaves from trees and bring them underground to build fungal gardens in their caves and then they eat the fungus-covered-leaves. Sounds appetizing.
Dragonflies are not only insane helicopter predators skimming the water, but they grow up as little jet-propelled assassins before they molt and turn into adults.
Honeybees have hairs ON THEIR EYES. Well, the hairs are between the tiny ommatidia that make up the compound eye, but yeah, hairy eyes for wind detection and other undisclosed bee things.
Stinkbugs have the capacity to pretty much ruin your life by invading your home. This is more of an invasive species PSA than anything, but please don’t underestimate these stinky brown diamonds.
Ladybugs can get STDs. When I learned this, I knew it was the best presentation topic for my Insect Structure and Function class, so of course, I showed the world (my 15 person class) what goes down in ladybug’s personal lives. Unfortunately, lord Google didn’t have any good photos of ladybug STDs so… sorry to the people who want to see those.
Termites can’t digest wood on their own. “What the heck is their purpose in life,” you might ask. Or, “They ate my entire house, explain that, bug-lover!” Well, termites eat each other’s poop to transfer protozoa between them. The protozoa allow them to digest the cellulose in wood, and every time they molt they lose their stomach linings and the protozoa with them, which is why they engage in trophallaxis (poop eating). This was a double fact, brought to you by the reader saying: wow, I didn’t need to know this.
Okay, those are all of my strange facts for now, folks. If you require more illustrated explanations of our strange natural world, please clap for this ‘lil article or tweet me @WritingWithZoe.
Zoe is a writer, cold-weather person, and hobby entomologist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
