50 Unbelievable Facts about Insects You Didn’t Know

When a species of fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) was kept in complete darkness for 57 years (1400 generations), they started showing genetic alterations that occur as a result of environmental conditions.

27. A bug found Malaysia which is aptly named Assassin bug wears its victim’s bodies as armor.

28. The developing daughter of a pregnant aphid will already be pregnant with another daughter inside her. This is termed telescoping generations.

29. A study showed male crickets fought more violently, and upon winning, were more jubilant (like a touchdown dance) when other crickets were in the audience.

30. The Sahara desert ant is able to form a direct route back to its nest after foraging by adding and subtracting the vectors of its path in its head, thereby creating a short and distinct return path.

Instead of venom, the Braconid wasp produces an immune-suppressing virus which paves the way for its parasitic larvae. This adaptation is the result of a 100-million-year-old virus which altered the wasp's DNA leading to the formation of an organ whose sole purpose is to assemble the virus.

32. A queen bee will continue to mate until she has collected more than 70 million sperms from multiple males.

33. Maculinea rebeli is a species of parasitic butterfly whose larvae can mimic ant larvae (so that worker ants will feed them) and queen ants (to get extra attention). Researchers once observed that when these fake larvae were attacked by the queen ants, ant workers saved the butterflies and attacked their queens.

34. Ants do not have traffic jams because they don't have egos, don't mind collisions, and are very disciplined in crowded pathways.

35. There is a good mosquito named Toxorhyncite a.k.a Elephant mosquito. Toxorhynchite larvae eat the larvae of other mosquitos and when they grow up they eat fruit, not human blood.

Crickets have twice the amount of protein ounce for ounce than beef, and three times the amount of iron.

37. Praying mantises rarely eat their mates in the wild. It primarily happens in captivity under stressful conditions.

38. Some insects like the Pea aphid can explode themselves to frighten or kill enemies. They have been observed doing this after being eaten.

39. Dragonflies breathe through gills in their rectum, and can rapidly propel themselves by suddenly expelling water through the anus.

40. There is a species of ant whose head has evolved into a "door" that can block the entrance to its nest.

The Cranefly, also known as Mosquito Hawks, don't actually eat mosquitoes despite popular belief.

42. The Tiger beetle can run so fast it can go blind, having to stop whilst chasing prey so that their sight can 'catch up.'

43. There are "heater bees" who keep their body temperatures 10 degrees hotter than other bees in the colony to keep the hive warm. They also can vary the temperature around developing pupae to determine what kind of honey bee they will become: either forager bees or "housekeeper" bees.

44. Some butterflies can be half male and half female, with one colorful wing and one plain wing.

45. Hero ants live in cliffs/high places and latch onto intruders of the colony. They then fling themselves off the cliff, taking the intruder with them.

When grasshoppers experience an increase in serotonin, a common brain chemical, they go through metamorphosis in 2 to 3 hours and become locusts.

47. Mosquitoes normally eat plant nectar and only need blood to lay eggs.

48. When a bee dies near the hive, "undertaker bees" will carry its desiccated body at least 150 feet away.

49. The horned dung beetle is the strongest insect in the world. It is hundreds of times stronger than an ant

50. A cockroach can live for a week without its head. The roach only dies because without a mouth, it can't drink water and dies of thirst.