5 Pretty Gross Insect Facts
We all love bugs, don’t we? Actually, don’t answer that. It’s safe to say that a significant portion of people in the United States either can’t stand bugs or at least dislike them greatly. There’s plenty of reason for that, and it’s not just the aesthetic. Bugs are known to do some nasty things, even if it’s just to survive. If you’re looking for a few reasons why bugs are considered gross, here are some of the biggest ones.
5. House Flies Poop EVERYWHERE
We all have to deal with house flies, especially in the summer months. It seems that if you leave your door open for just a nanosecond, one or two of these little buggers sneak in and all of a sudden you don’t go fly-less in your house until winter comes. Every time you see a fly land, you might want to start retching, too. That’s because every time they land, house flies defecate. Not only that, but flies eat their own vomit as part of their liquid diet. Needless to say, these disease ridden pests are gross.
4. Cockroaches Have Milk
No matter how clean your house is, you might have a cockroach infestation, and it’s extremely annoying. Now, when we think of cockroaches,we think of scurrying and the gross little antennas. We don’t think about milk as that type of talk is reserved for cows or even goats. Cockroaches do produce milk, though, which is packed with calories and protein. In case you wanted to be even more grossed out, cockroach milk has been considered by some to be a superfood thanks to a recent study that showed the nutritional breakdown.
3. Caterpillars are Jacked
You might think you’re pretty strong, and there’s a good reason for that. After all, the human body consists of 629 muscles that help you to move around and lift heavy objects. What if I told you that a caterpillar makes you look like a weakling in terms of scale, though? It’s true, though, as caterpillars have 248 muscles, and that’s just in their heads. Overall, caterpillars have more than six time the amount of muscle as humans, totalling in at about 4,000.
2. Slugs are Super Stretchy
Slugs are one of those gross looking little creatures that you don’t run away from, but you tend to not want to touch. Nobody can really blame you, as there are some weird things that slugs do. Not only do they leave behind a trail when they move (in their weird little way), but they are also incredibly stretchy. Slugs can squeeze through just about anything because they can stretch to 20 times their normal length. Oh, and by the way, they have about 27,000 teeth.
1. Praying Mantises Eat at a Weird Time
The mating ritual for a Praying Mantis is a pretty weird and morbid one. To attract a mate, a male mantis will literally fight a female. If the male wins, then they get to mate. The stakes for losing are incredibly high, though. That’s because the female will eat the male if he can’t show his prowess in battle. Why do the females do this? Well, for the nutrition while they’re pregnant, of course.