Skip to main content
The Wild Pest
Book
Browse by tag

Strange bugs

Every species in the Wild Files corpus where strange is a defining trait.

24 on file

On File
An atlas moth (Attacus atlas) at rest, displaying its enormous patterned wings with cobra-head tips.
Curious
Six Legs76
Alias
Attacus atlas

Atlas Moth

World's largest moth. Wings shaped like snake heads. No mouth, no food, no time.

Read the file→
On File
A bombardier beetle (Brachinus crepitans) on damp leaf litter, dark body with reddish thorax.
Curious
Six Legs80
Alias
Brachinus crepitans

Bombardier Beetle

Sprays boiling caustic chemicals from a rotating turret. 500 pulses per second.

Read the file→
On File
An adult human botfly (Dermatobia hominis), a robust fly with iridescent body and short wings.
Apex Outlaw
Six Legs87
Alias
Dermatobia hominis

Human Botfly

Doesn't bite you. Hires the mosquito to deliver its eggs. Hatches under your skin.

Read the file→
On File
A death's-head hawkmoth (Acherontia atropos) at rest, showing the skull pattern on the thorax.
Curious
Six Legs82
Alias
Acherontia atropos

Death's-Head Hawkmoth

Skull on the thorax. Squeaks. Robs beehives by smelling like a bee.

Read the file→
On File
A diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica) inside its silver air-filled silk dome underwater.
Curious
Six Legs79
Alias
Argyroneta aquatica

Diving Bell Spider

Only spider that lives entirely underwater. Builds its own scuba tank out of silk.

Read the file→
On File
An Amazonian giant centipede (Scolopendra gigantea) on a forest floor, segmented dark-red body with bright yellow legs.
Outlaw
Six Legs82
Alias
Scolopendra gigantea

Amazonian Giant Centipede

Largest centipede on Earth. Hangs from cave ceilings to ambush bats mid-flight.

Read the file→
On File
A glasswing butterfly (Greta oto) on a green leaf, transparent wings clearly visible.
Curious
Six Legs77
Alias
Greta oto

Glasswing Butterfly

Wings you can read through. Anti-reflective coating better than most human glass.

Read the file→
On File
A Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) on a hand, showing the glossy mahogany body and pronotum bumps.
Curious
Six Legs72
Alias
Gromphadorhina portentosa

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Hisses by exhaling — not by rubbing. One of the only insects with a real voice.

Read the file→
On File
A European praying mantis (Mantis religiosa) in classic prayerful pose on a leaf.
Curious
Six Legs78
Alias
Mantis religiosa

European Praying Mantis

Rotates her head 180°. Sees you in 3D. Sometimes decapitates her partner.

Read the file→
On File
A common pillbug (Armadillidium vulgare), grey segmented body curled into a partial defensive ball.
Beneficial
Six Legs76
Alias
Armadillidium vulgare

Common Pillbug

Not a bug. A land crustacean. Closer to a lobster than to anything in your garden.

Read the file→
On File
A wheel bug (Arilus cristatus), gray-brown body with a distinctive half-gear-shaped crest on the thorax and curved rostrum.
Curious
Six Legs79
Alias
Arilus cristatus

Wheel Bug

Wears half a gear-wheel on her back. Bite hurts worse than most snakes. Liquefies caterpillars.

Read the file→
On File
A spinybacked orb-weaver spider (Gasteracantha cancriformis), bright white abdomen with six sharp red spikes projecting from the margins, eight legs, at the center of an orb web.
Beneficial
Six Legs79
Alias
Gasteracantha cancriformis

Spinybacked Orb-Weaver

Crab-shell-shaped abdomen with SIX SHARP SPIKES. Bright colors. Web tufts as visual bird warnings.

Read the file→
On File
A male stalk-eyed fly (Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni), small fly with eyes mounted on long lateral stalks projecting wider than the body length, six legs, dorsal view.
Curious
Six Legs82
Alias
Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni

Stalk-Eyed Fly

Eyes on the ends of long lateral stalks. Males face off and compare eye-stalk length to settle disputes.

Read the file→
On File
A lantern bug (Pyrops candelaria), large insect with dramatic upturned hollow snout projecting from the head and wings patterned in iridescent green-yellow-red bands.
Curious
Six Legs81
Alias
Pyrops candelaria

Lantern Bug

Carries a hollow snout projection. Maria Sibylla Merian's 1701 'glowing lantern' myth still persists.

Read the file→
On File
A white plume moth (Pterophorus pentadactyla), pure white moth with wings split into feather-like plumes held perpendicular to the body in a T-shape silhouette.
Curious
Six Legs76
Alias
Pterophorus pentadactyla

White Plume Moth

Wings divided into feathered plumes. Forms a 'T' silhouette at rest. Family of 1,500 species.

Read the file→
On File
A snake fly (Raphidia notata), elongated dark brown body with dramatically elongated prothorax neck held vertically and head reared up, four veined wings folded over back.
Beneficial
Six Legs76
Alias
Raphidia notata

Snake Fly

Insect with a 'snake' neck. Tiny ancient order — 270 million years old. Only in the Northern Hemisphere.

Read the file→
On File
A velvet worm (Peripatus juliformis), elongated soft-bodied dark blue-gray segmented body with many pairs of stubby unjointed legs, on damp forest floor.
Curious
Six Legs86
Alias
Peripatus juliformis

Velvet Worm

Squirts adhesive slime to trap prey. 540 million years old. Closest living relative of arthropods.

Read the file→
On File
A diabolical ironclad beetle (Phloeodes diabolicus), mottled gray-brown beetle with bumpy exoskeleton resembling a piece of dead oak bark, six legs.
Curious
Six Legs83
Alias
Phloeodes diabolicus

Diabolical Ironclad Beetle

Survives being run over by a car. 39,000× body weight. Aerospace engineers copy her shell.

Read the file→
On File
A wandering violin mantis (Gongylus gongylodes), elongated stick-like brown body with leaf-shaped paddles on each leg and a tall pointed head crest.
Curious
Six Legs80
Alias
Gongylus gongylodes

Wandering Violin Mantis

Body shaped like a stick, leg lobes shaped like leaves. Endemic to South Asian dry forest.

Read the file→
On File
An Atlantic horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), large brown domed carapace with hinged abdomen and long pointed telson tail.
Curious
Six Legs96
Alias
Limulus polyphemus

Atlantic Horseshoe Crab

450 million years old, blue-blooded living fossil, used to test every vaccine on Earth for endotoxins.

Read the file→
On File
An Antarctic deep-sea sea spider (Colossendeis colossea), pale spindly arthropod with a tiny central body and eight extraordinarily long thin legs, dorsal view.
Curious
Six Legs84
Alias
Colossendeis colossea

Sea Spider

Marine arthropod with internal organs IN the legs. Antarctic giants reach 70 cm leg span.

Read the file→
On File
A Brazilian treehopper (Bocydium globulare), small dark green-brown body with three pairs of stalked black globular structures arranged like alien antennae over the head.
Curious
Six Legs83
Alias
Bocydium globulare

Brazilian Treehopper

Wears alien-helicopter rotors on her head. Function still unknown. The most bizarre insect ornament in the world.

Read the file→
On File
A devil's flower mantis (Idolomantis diabolica) in full threat display, raptorial forelegs raised showing crimson and royal-blue striping, pleated wings spread.
Curious
Six Legs81
Alias
Idolomantis diabolica

Devil's Flower Mantis

Africa's largest mantis. Most spectacular threat display in the insect world. Crimson and electric blue.

Read the file→
On File
A spitting spider (Scytodes thoracica), small pale yellow-and-brown spider with humped cephalothorax and long thin legs.
Curious
Six Legs80
Alias
Scytodes thoracica

Spitting Spider

Spits sticky-and-venomous silk-glue at prey from 1 cm away. Fires in 1.4 milliseconds.

Read the file→