3 Creepy Critters I Discovered This Week + Baby Bat Burritos

I wanted to post another strange animal today but I couldn't decide on one, so instead I will be sharing 3 strange critters the existence of which I discovered this week. Are you ready? Let's start:

1# Imperial Fruit Sucking Caterpillar (Phyllodes imperialis)

The first creepy weirdo of the day is the skull-faced caterpillar stage of Phyllodes imperialis, a moth found in north-eastern Queensland to northern New South Wales, Papua New Guinea, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The species is commonly known as the imperial fruit sucking moth although I think the skull-caterpillar suits it better. Why? Here's why: 

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Let's have a closer look:

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Creepy right? In case you wonder, there is a good reason behind the scary looks. You are not the only one creeped by the giant set of fake eyes and fake teeth.  When threatened, the caterpillar bends its head downwards beneath the raised front portion of its body, stretching the skin on its dorsum, revealing the skull "tattoo". It's usually more than enough for avian, reptilian or mammalian predators to shit their pants and leave the caterpillar live to see another day!

As for the actual moth, it's nothing special:

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2 # Thereuopoda

If you like legs you are gonna love Thereuopoda, a centipede genus in the family Scutigeridae. I am sure most of us would agree, "regular" centipedes are quite creepy. Just the idea of one walking on me makes me scream "eewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww"!

But Thereuopoda take creepiness to the next level:

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And here's a video of one attacking and eating a cockroach:

If you got really really creeped here are the good news. These guys are usually found in dark, damp habitats under stones and stuff so unless you live in a cave or something chances are you will never encounter one!

3# This spider-rabbit thing

Can't decide if this creature is actually cute or creepy. I am inclined to say cute though. What do you think:

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The bunny-spider thing depicted above belongs to the Metagryne bicolumnata species, and it's yet another harvestman species which in case you didn't know might look like spiders but are not actually spiders. 

This particular individual was photographed by Andreas Kay while exploring the Amazon rainforest of eastern Ecuador. I tried to find out more info about creeper but unfortunately there seems to be only one very old publication mentioning it, which is in Mexican language or something so I can't understand a thing :(

At least we are lucky to have some amazing footage by Andreas:

4# Baby Bat Burritos

Ok, enough with the creepy critters. Here's some cute baby bat burritos. Bon Appetit:

More Strange Animal Stuff  

If you enjoyed reading  this post I am sure you will love some of my previous work. Here are some of my latest posts:

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