7 Real Insect Superpowers That Put Spidey Sense to Shame
Insects and arachnids, like humans, have their superheroes with incredible powers. The only difference is that their superheroes are real, and consistently more impressive than the human version.
Just consider ...
#7. The Spider With a Web 25 Times Stronger Than Steel
In all likelihood, the first three things you learned from Spider-Man was: spider senses blah blah blah, with great power comes yadda yadda and spider webbing is about five times as strong as high-grade steel, pound for pound. It's also waterproof and completely immune to bacteria and fungus, as if to mock us with the fact that nothing that makes up our bodies or anything associated with our lives is even close to as god-awesome-incredible as what dribbles off the backside of a spider.
Via Nationalgeographic.com
And it does all of that without a cape!
Which brings us to Darwin's bark spider, a native of Madagascar and the granddaddy of all web secretors. It produces the strongest natural substance on the face of the Earth. These eight-legged bug munchers' webbing is 10 times stronger than Kevlar (the shit they make bulletproof vests out of) and a whopping 25 times stronger than steel. Oh, and it also easily beats out titanium, tungsten and pretty much any other metal around.
Via Thenatureanimals.com
This is what our troops should be wearing.
We're sorry to say the reason the bark spider needs its butt-adamantium is the exact one you were secretly afraid of: it makes some of the largest webs on the planet that can reach over 80 feet in length. Bark spiders like to build their lairs above rivers and lakes where they don't have to compete with their lesser brethren.
Via Thenatureanimals.com
We're pretty sure those are eagles.
They totally weave their webs from one bank to the other, too. Scientists are not sure how they manage that. Let's just assume they utilize wind or build a raft of enemy corpses or something. We mean, it's not as if spiders can walk on water or anything ...
#6. The Spider That Walks on Water
... except, of course, this one.
Bryce McQuillan
Which bears a distinct resemblance to Martin Landau.
Spiders are one of the few creatures on Earth capable of turning the majority of people into screaming sacks of meat stewing in their own fear piss. Spiders are terrifying by default and (as we've shown you before) have the potential to be even more terrifying. Luckily though, spiders -- like all good supervillains -- have one major weakness: water, that wonderful substance able to turn them from a terrifying foe into a laughable mass of flailing limbs.
Via Thenatureanimals.com
Got your back, bro!
And then there is the fishing spider. So named because of, no shit, its ability to fish, and by "fish" we mean "plunge its legs beneath the water's surface, grab its prey and tear it off to land." It achieves this by walking on the surface like it ain't no thing.
The fishing spider sneaks up to fish by dancing on the surface tension of water, then attacks them from above like a furry, eight-legged angel of death (the worst kind, as death angels go). More often than not, the end result is this:
Via Wildlife-Pictures-Online.com
If it makes you feel any better, that fish was kind of an asshole.
We never said it was a tiny spider, remember? That was just your wishful thinking.
But so what if it can swim, right? Just throw stones at it or kick it underwater or something. If you sink it, it drowns. Right?
Wrong! By trapping air in its fur, a fishing spider can stay submerged for almost 45 minutes. It is also an excellent swimmer, because fuck you, humanity. Signed, Nature.
Via Emilybloss.com
What the hell, water? You were supposed to have our back.
#5. Tiger Moths Create Sonic Illusions
To understand the superpower of the tiger moth, you have to understand its predator, the bat. Bats, when not striking fear in the hearts of criminals everywhere, are true marvels of nature. First, studies show that bats are actually more efficient and agile fliers than birds.
Bruce Marlin
Aside from actual tigers, what can this guy blend in with?
And bats of course also have one of the most sophisticated sonic detection systems in the animal kingdom, pinpointing bugs in the pitch black of night with ultrasonic waves. It's these astounding abilities that make bats the unstoppable hunters in the night that they doubtlessly are.
Via Brevard.edu
They should make a superhero out of that.
Tiger moths, while potential bat prey, are one of the few creatures that can detect the high-frequency projections of bats, so they know when they're coming. But rather than go running away, they simply jam the signal. Now, if you think they're just screaming really loud so the bat can't hear, that certainly is part of it. But that wouldn't qualify as a superpower.
Via Independent
Though looking like a prostitute's underwear helps its case.
No, what's amazing is the moths will make fake echoes off of nonexistent objects. Basically, they can make bats see things that aren't there with sonic illusions. A bat could be flying around and then all of a sudden: "Holy shit, what is that? Break right! Break right!"
Via Timesunion.com
"Eat tree!"
Scientists, of course, have been eager to study the tiger moth's powers. In one study they -- following the tried and true scientific motivation of "shits and giggles" -- pitted bats against moths in gladiator-style death-games to see just how good the moth really was. The outmatched bug managed to screw up the bats' sonar senses despite being tethered, crippled and pitted against three bats at once.
#4. The Ironclad Beetle Lives Up to Its Name
What is the greatest weakness all insects have in common? They can be crushed. Bug spray might not kill everything. Some pests aren't fooled by the soft glow and relaxing hum of a bug zapper. But at the end of the day, a well-placed boot is logically pretty much the only weapon you'll ever need to defeat a raging insect.
Well, logic, you're in for disappointment when you happen to stomp on the ironclad beetle. It will scoff at your puny efforts.
Via Zin.ru
"Piss off, buddy."
This slow-moving, bird-crap-camouflaged insect has two distinct powers. The first is thanatosis, which sounds like a kick-ass comic book doomsday weapon but is really just a science-y way of saying that they like to play dead. In fact, these beetles play dead so well that jewelers in Mexico decorate and sell them as living bling.
Via Zin.ru
"Aww, a giant insect permanently disfigured by cheap rhinestones and a hot glue gun! He totally gets me!"
Perhaps more importantly, though, the ironclad beetle has what amounts to the hardest exoskeleton of any arthropod in existence. They are, for all intents and purposes, the tanks of the insect world. And yes, you can literally step on one and the damage you do is likely to be precisely jack shit. So it'd be like if a person was strong enough to withstand being stood on by Godzilla.
Wikipedia Commons
It took a whole platoon of U.S. Marines to bring this guy down.
And get this: you know those insect collectors who like to impale things with pins and put them in little display cabinets? Those guys have to use drills on ironclad beetles, because you can't get a pin through them without power tools.
Oh, and they also have grittier cousins called, no kidding, diabolical ironclad beetles, whose appearance is not unlike a demonic murderer's black heart set on six legs.
Via Mashpedia.es
"I am the last thing you see before you die."
The way a fly avoids being swatted is even more fascinating. They aren't exactly flying to escape as much as they stop flying and use a roll maneuver combined with riding the air current of your hand to escape death.
Replyspiders aren't insects. they're arachnids.
ReplyI'm pretty sure it's assumed that we know that already.
this was a terrific article, but why is everyone so scared of spiders and insects that they kill them? Honestly, killing them just because you're scared is idiotic, I'm absolutely terrified of caterpillars, and I don't kill them. Get some dignity and don't kill defenseless little animals for no reason, in fact, is there EVER a reason to kill something defenseless?
ReplyWhenever I see a moth or spider in my house I always catch them in a cup or something and put them outside. But I'm a big softie.
AND NOW LET US, WE FILTHY AMORAL BUG-KILLING BARBARIANS, BOW BEFORE TRISTAN THE RIGHTEOUS, SAVIOR OF OUR SOULS.
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit
ReplyWebbing that beats out Kevlar, walking on water like friggin Jesus. Dammit, why can't Spider-Man do that.
Replyhe can, he just hides it from us because he is afraid we will realize he is the spidermessiah.
While it isnt really a superpower, what about Cellar spiders ability to kill other spiders?
ReplyI mean it is very very fragile, very underwhelming venom.Yet it kills things like Black Widows, and Hobo spiders with ease....even hunting them (My family keeps them to kill off other, more dangerous spiders).
Actually just a few hours after posting this, I found a dead wolf spider under a Cellar spiders web. :D
that ironclad beetle was female. see the tag?
ReplyNO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOO
Replyf**k YOU IRONCLAD BEETLE! How do I kill it?!
Question:
ReplyWhy don't we have body armor made of spider silk?
We've known about this stuff for decades now...
because we can't synthesize it and it's too hard to harvest.
and if u wore it u'd never get it off
It should read: "Bats, when not striking fear in the hearts of criminals everywhere, are true DCs of nature."
ReplySpider-man, get out and give way to... FLY-man! With his amazing Fly sense and his ability to... FLY! (It'd be awesome)
ReplyI took an Entomology class once and caught an ironclad beetle for my collection. I bent -BENT- 5 pins on that damn beetle before finally giving up. Insect pins are expensive, too...
ReplyIf flies live in the Matrix and are so quick, then how come my cat catches (and eats) them all the time?
Reply Hide All See All 4 RepliesThe answer to that question is obviously you have a Sennin ninja master cat that would laugh in the face of Mister Miyagi and Jackie Chan.
Glitch in the Matrix...
we may have an anomaly on our hands, alert the agents
Because cats are bad-asses
I loved the mosquito-hat image :3
ReplyI need some of those termites for my place and my parents' yard.
Replywhat about pistol shrimp he fires a supersonic bubble that get as hot as the surface of the sun that deserves number one and he did not even appear
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesAlready been done on cracked of course. Just like the mantis shrimp has already been done.
Not to mention the fact that this article is about INSECT superpowers, not crustaceans...
McMurderpaws, it does SAY insects, but it has spiders on here too, so it's about arthropods, not insects.
I've actually heard of the tiger moth one before from a book in which all of the main characters were bats. The Tiger Moth was considered the hardest to catch bug and anyone who did catch one got bragging rights.
ReplyThats interesting. I'd never heard of the tiger moths abilities until I started researching for this article.
Silverwing. f**k yeah.
"that's like you being able to detect dinner from a mile away."
ReplyAs long as my dinner is the size of Godzilla it should be no problem
huh, true. didn't think of that.
But could you detect godzilla's blood type?
We seriously need more science articles like this on cracked.
ReplyGlad you liked it. Most of my article will be science-y.
I second that
Agreed. Screw mosquitoes. So hard.
Reply