Awesome Insects

Formic is a CGI/live-action short animated by Roman Kaelin and Florian Wittman which gives us an ants-eye view on the universe, as the tiny insect does its best to survive the dangers of a typical day at a skatepark.

Craig “Wheezy Waiter” Benzine of Mental Floss explores another question that you’ve probably wondered about at some point : Why is it that spiders don’t get caught in their own webs, when everything else seems to stick to them?

N’awwwwwww… When we first saw this clip of a caterpillar emitting the sound a squeaky toy might make, we figured it was a bit of internet fakery. But apparently there are caterpillars who can make these kind of sounds.

YouTuber M Valenz had a problem with flies in his house, but instead of whipping out a can of Raid or a newspaper, he turned his pet praying mantis into an improvised fly swatter. Yes, we said “pet praying mantis.”

Insects need to keep in shape too. So that’s exactly what this guy is doing, as he lies on his back and does some spinning lifts with his medicine ball. Apparently, he kept this up for three hours straight.

It may only be 10 seconds-long, but Wayne Unten’s animated short film of a grasshopper transporting an unexpected passenger could be the best thing you watch today. We can imagine an entire Disney flick based on this theme.

While bees are some of nature’s most helpful stinging insects, wasps are just nasty buggers. Here, one does in a poor bee with the ultimate finishing move – the full body slice. We have a saying around here: “Nature… it’s disgusting.”

On his trip to the Amazon Rainforest, Destin of Smarter Every Day found a group of caterpillars that seem to have figured a way for all of them to move faster. How? By acting as each other’s conveyor belt. Unedited video here.

While most of us do everything we can to avoid getting near a wasp’s nest, Ultraslo put their Phantom Miro 4 high-speed camera right in the middle of one. Everything you see here took place in less than 8/100ths of a second.

You might want to wait to eat your lunch until later after watching ZeFrank’s latest educational clip about these nasty critters that roll around giant balls of poo. Naked. With their mouths.

YouTuber Erick Reis came upon thousands of spiders suspended in very thin webs across power lines. A local biologist claimed that it was a normal phenomenon. Doesn’t make it less creepy.

On his trip to the Amazon, Smarter Every Day encountered a tailless whip scorpion, a harmless arachnid. Sure, it’s not venomous, but its fearsome appearance could still cause a heart attack.

Gin is truly a drink for men’s men, and you’ll truly be manning-up when you gobble down the intoxicated invertebrate floating in this bottle of dry English Gin, clearly inspired by Sauza tequila.

We’ve all heard how ants can lift an insane amount of weight, but did you know there’s a bug that so strong you need a drill to crack its shell? Or one that can jump up to 140 times its own height?

Motion design artist Friedrich van Schoor shot footage of spiders running around a scale model, and then projected the shadows through the windows of an actual building.

Dr. Fred Urquhart tracked Monarch Butterfly migration for 40 years to find their secret hideaway. Now we can all enjoy the magic of discovering a forest teeming with millions in IMAX.

The Bureau of Common Goods’ fascinating film series Made by Hand features NYC artisans crafting local and sustainable items. This latest piece showcases an urban rooftop beekeeping farmer.

A soothing video about harvesting honey, made by creative studio Tiger in a Jar for Kinfolk Magazine. The music is Hope Valley Hill by Keith Kenniff aka Helios, from his album Caesura.

Florida Marlins’ LF Logan Morrison eyes an unlikely attendee at a recent game, a praying mantis. He must have looked at the insect the wrong way, because the bug decided to move in for the kill.

MC Mr Napkins has put together an entertaining vid about a mean and annoying bee who used to dive-bomb him outside his residence; too bad he doesn’t know he inspired a song. (Thanks Martin!)

This close-up video by Ahmet Özkan shows an ant being hog-tied by a spider. Not only is the photographic detail incredible, there’s an extra-special surprise if you stick around until the end.

Jollibee is known in the Philippines as a fast food chain mascot. What people don’t know is that this bee’s got skills. He starts off slow, then amps up the cuteness, then he just goes loco.

Some people have too much time on their hands. Take, for instance, the guys who rigged up a tiny little catapult to launch even tinier pies at bees and other bugs, then filmed it all in slow-mo.