Communicator bugs
Every species in the Wild Files corpus where communicator is a defining trait.
26 on file
Bullet Ant
Tops the world's pain index — a sting that earned a coming-of-age ritual.
Death's-Head Hawkmoth
Skull on the thorax. Squeaks. Robs beehives by smelling like a bee.
Goliath Birdeater
Largest spider on Earth by weight. Defends itself by hissing and flicking itch-bombs.
Western Honey Bee
Pollinates a third of your food. Dances in code. Vote on where to live by quorum.
Regal Jumping Spider
Recognizes human faces. Plans ambush routes. Probably dreams.
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
Hisses by exhaling — not by rubbing. One of the only insects with a real voice.
Peacock Spider
Tiny dancing spider. Iridescent fan. Has its own choreography.
Common Fruit Fly
The most-studied animal in scientific history. Six Nobel Prizes ride on her shoulders.
Green Lacewing
Larva eats 600 aphids. Mother lays eggs on stilts to keep siblings from eating each other. Sold by the kilo.
European Mole Cricket
Builds an underground trumpet. Sings through it. Calls audible 600 meters away.
Snowy Tree Cricket
Count her chirps in 13 seconds, add 40 — that's the temperature in Fahrenheit. To one degree.
Velvet Ant ('Cow Killer')
Not an ant. Wingless wasp. Sting painful enough to be called 'cow killer.' Indestructible armor.
Asian Honey Bee
The bee that cooks giant hornets alive. Tolerates varroa. Speaks waggle-dance with a Japanese accent.
Ogre-Faced Spider
Casts a silken net at prey like a fisherman. Sees in starlight. Hears with her legs.
Orchid Bee
Male orchid bees curate custom perfumes over weeks. Used to attract mates. Only animal that does this.
Acrobat Ant
HEART-SHAPED ABDOMEN that workers DRAMATICALLY RAISE over the back like a flag. ~500 species in the genus.
Water Boatman
LOUDEST animal on Earth scaled to body size. 99 dB underwater calls. Calls made by rubbing PENIS against abdomen.
Death-Watch Beetle
Tapping wood beetle. Folk DEATH OMEN. Major pest of HISTORIC OAK TIMBER in European architecture.
Patent Leather Beetle (Bess Beetle)
EUSOCIAL-LIKE beetle. Adults and larvae live in family groups inside decaying logs. 14+ stridulation calls.
Pavement Ant
Common urban ant. Famous for spectacular ANNUAL PAVEMENT WARS — thousands of ants in mass spring combat.
Big Dipper Firefly
The classic NA backyard firefly. Males perform J-SHAPED upward flash displays at dusk.
Jerusalem Cricket (Potato Bug)
Looks like a 7 cm cricket with a HUMAN-LIKE BULGING head. The 'potato bug' / 'child of the earth'.
Manna Cicada
The cicada of Mediterranean antiquity. Plato wrote about her chorus. Sap source of historical 'manna.'
Pine Processionary Caterpillar
Marches in head-to-tail processions of hundreds. Bristles cause anaphylaxis. Kills dogs.
Dog-Day Cicada
The high-whine of August 'dog days.' One of the loudest insects on Earth — 100+ dB.
Brazilian Treehopper
Wears alien-helicopter rotors on her head. Function still unknown. The most bizarre insect ornament in the world.