Awesome Insects

Humans like to give flowers and chocolates as part of our dating ritual. Other species offer gifts as part of their courtship too, but their selections aren’t nearly as appealing. SciShow explains some of the strange and downright gross-out gifts that animals and insects present to each other as an offering to potential mates.

Scientists estimate that roughly 20 quadrillion ants are marching around the planet. Then they said visualizing them all was “unimaginable. VFX artist Wren from Corridor accepted that challenge and came up with a way to generate a massive virtual ant pile. The 2.5 million ants-per-person ratio is gonna keep us up at night.

This lantern not only provides a source of illumination for outdoor gatherings, but it also keeps mosquitoes away. It repels the buggers from a 20×20 foot area and the included Thermacell repellent cartridge offers up to 12 hours of protection. Both the light and repellant dispenser run on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack.

This crazy-looking flying machine resembles some kind of angry dragonfly as it takes to the skies. Instead of engines, the remote-controlled Serenity Ornithopter flies by rapidly flapping multiple sets of wings. The back half of the video is entirely in Russian, but it provides a brief up-close look at the unusual aircraft.

There are nearly a million species of insects from beneath our feet to high in the skies above Earth. But which bugs are the most powerful? TierZoo offers an in-depth analysis of the varied and impressive abilities that insects possess and attempts to rank some of the major factions and builds.

Ant Lab’s Dr. Adrian Smith is an expert at capturing slow-motion, macro footage of insects in motion. In this video, you’ll get up close and personal with a dozen species of moths and beetles as they take flight. It’s amazing to see the details of each insect’s wings and bodies and the subtle variations in their movements.

Ants are fascinating creatures. While some may battle other colonies for supremacy, there are kinds of ants that enslave others. Kurzgesagt explains how Polyergus ants raid colonies and force their offspring to do their bidding until they die. They’ve become so reliant on their slaves that they can no longer care for themselves.

When red fire ants find face flood waters, they quickly evacuate their tunnels and build a raft out of their bodies. This unique evolutionary trait helps the colony survive as a whole and is quite the sight floating atop flood waters in this video from Deep Look. You definitely wouldn’t want to swim up next to this thing.

The scorpions we encounter here in the U.S. are relatively small, but this oversize metal creature measures 8.25″ long. This awesomely creepy creation is made by Thailand artists Kreatworks using recycled automotive and machine parts. Also, it turns out that there are real scorpions that are almost the same size in South Africa.

Sriram Murali of Saving the Dark takes us to the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, India for a look at one of the most amazing sights on Earth. As night falls, millions of fireflies illuminate the forest, blinking their bioluminescent bodies in synchrony. Murali’s instagram features some incredible long-exposures of the insects.

Catching grasshoppers might sound like a playful childhood pastime, but for the people of Uganda, grasshoppers are part of the local diet and economy. Filmmaker Michelle Coomber’s documentary short immerses us in the culture of the East African nation, and the practice of luring in insects at night using lights and smoke.

We now present the most satisfying 46 seconds of video you’ll see today. Wildlife photographer David Weiller captured this close-up footage of a giant fire red millipede marching its 160-or-so feet across a branch in Madagascar’s Marojejy National Park. Crank up the volume for immersive forest sounds.

In the universe of living things, you might think that insects were pretty low in the pecking order. But as TierZoo points out, the individual abilities, collective mindset, and genetic makeup of bees, ants, and wasps make them some of the most impressive creatures on the planet.

VFX artist and filmmaker Buttered Side Down caught a monarch butterfly and placed it in a jar to admire its beauty. But nothing is simple in BSD’s wacky universe, and a swarm of the colorful insects would prefer that he releases their friend from captivity.

Nature can be pretty amazing. Take, for example, how this hive of honeybees discourages predators like wasps from attacking. Multiple layers of bees form a protective shield on the outside of their honeycomb and move in synchronized patterns that make the whole hive look like it’s one big creature.

Thanks to the photographic prowess and entomological expertise of Ant Lab, we’ve seen some amazing close-up footage of insects. This time, watch tropical butterflies as they emerge from their chrysalises and take flight. Then take a look at the tropical rainforest exhibit at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.