The World of Insects

A peek into the world of insects. Interesting fun facts about insects – courtesy of Facebook pages ‘Colours of Nature’, ‘Ancestral Stories’, ‘Weird Facts’, ‘Unbelievable Facts’, ‘Today I Learned’, Science and facts, Crazy creatures, The Knowledge Factory, The study secrets etc… However, I do not know if they are true. Some of them sound really incredible.

A tiny mantis has stunned scientists with an extraordinary behaviour that looks like a living dance of survival. This newly discovered species performs a sinuous, snake-like movement during and after mating, a unique strategy that allows the males to avoid being eaten by females, a dramatic twist on the well-known phenomenon of sexual cannibalism in mantises.

Males of this species are remarkably agile and deliberate in their movements. Their bodies sway, coil, and flick in ways that mimic snakes, creating a hypnotic display that appears to signal their intentions to females. This dance reduces aggression from the female and gives the male a higher chance of surviving after mating. Observations show that the display works effectively, as males are rarely attacked during or after this ritual.

This discovery sheds light on the incredible behavioural diversity of mantises. Often seen as simple ambush predators, these insects are actually sophisticated communicators, using movement, body posture, and rhythm to navigate life-or-death situations. The snake-like dance is a remarkable example of how evolution can shape behaviour as creatively as it shapes physical traits, ensuring survival in dangerous circumstances.

Beyond its life-saving purpose, the dance also serves as a fascinating glimpse into insect courtship and communication. It reveals that even in the smallest creatures, evolutionary pressures can produce astonishingly intricate strategies for survival. Each movement of this mantis is a reminder that nature often balances beauty, danger, and survival in ways humans are only beginning to understand.

Strange Fact: Some mantis species can continue moving and even attempting to mate for several minutes after losing their heads, thanks to the unique arrangement of their nervous system, a survival trick that seems almost impossible yet is very real. – A Facebook post

That fuzzy caterpillar crossing your path in fall? It's preparing to become a frozen popsicle for months. Their secret isn't the fur - it's the biochemistry that lets them survive temperatures down to -90°F. Nature's antifreeze at work. Have you spotted woolly bears prepping for winter in your yard? – A Facebook post

Deep in the Amazon basin, there is a sound that terrifies every living thing. It isn’t a roar or a hiss. It sounds like rain on dry leaves. If you hear it, you don’t investigate. You run.

That sound is half a million army ants moving as one.

Meet Eciton burchellii. An army ant is not an individual but a single cell in a vast superorganism made of millions of bodies. They are blind, guided by pheromones instead of sight.

They don’t build nests. Army ants are the nest. When resting, they form a bivouac, locking their bodies together to protect the queen and larvae inside living walls of flesh. When hunger comes, the structure dissolves.

The raid spreads across the forest floor, consuming everything that cannot escape. If you can’t fly, you are food. Gaps are crossed by living bridges made from their own bodies.

Army ants remind us that nature does not value the individual. In their world, there is no self. Only the colony.

If the ground begins to move beneath your feet, step back. You are in the path of something that has been eating the world for a hundred million years. – A Facebook post by 'Cronus'

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