Skip to main content
The Wild Pest
Book
A cutaway model of a termite mound on a polished engineering studio table.
Most Wanted ListEngineer

The Bugs Engineers Steal From

Materials science, ventilation, optics, weaponry — humans copy the bug.

Half of modern biomimicry traces back to the bug shelf. The Eastgate Centre in Harare passively cools itself the way a termite mound does. The anti-glare coating on your phone screen mimics the glasswing butterfly. The structural color in anti-counterfeit holograms is the blue morpho's wing physics. The bugs solved the engineering centuries before humans noticed the problem.

  1. African Mound-Building Termite
    1

    African Mound-Building Termite

    Macrotermes bellicosus

    81Six Legs

    Inspired the world's first passively-cooled office tower — 90% less cooling energy.

    CuriousRead the file →
  2. Blue Morpho Butterfly
    2

    Blue Morpho Butterfly

    Morpho menelaus

    73Six Legs

    Wing structure inspired anti-counterfeit holograms on currency.

    CuriousRead the file →
  3. Glasswing Butterfly
    3

    Glasswing Butterfly

    Greta oto

    77Six Legs

    Anti-reflective nano-pillars beat most engineered optical coatings.

    CuriousRead the file →
  4. Bombardier Beetle
    4

    Bombardier Beetle

    Brachinus crepitans

    80Six Legs

    Pulse-spray chemistry now studied by combustion engineers.

    CuriousRead the file →
  5. Diving Bell Spider
    5

    Diving Bell Spider

    Argyroneta aquatica

    79Six Legs

    Silk-walled diving bell that breathes like a literal gill.

    CuriousRead the file →
  6. Trap-Jaw Ant
    6

    Trap-Jaw Ant

    Odontomachus bauri

    77Six Legs

    Spring-loaded jaws inspiring micro-mechanical actuators.

    CuriousRead the file →