First she rises, then she hops, and then she eats you.

June 26, 2011 8:38 PM

(Sunday night arthropod terror filter): YouTube user memutic has uploaded several dozen high-quality backyard video recordings of exotic insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and millipedes native to Central America, Southeast Asia, and the US.

Some highlights:

• the neotenic female of the trilobyte beetle (Lycidae sp.)
• a vinegaroon video that starts out disturbing and gets more so
• giraffe weevil with bonus limerick
• a colorful orb weaver and the beating heart of one of its relatives
• hellgrammites and dobsonflies (Corydalinae sp.)
• a leatherleaf slug (Veronicellidae sp.)
• a charming little pill millipede

Enjoy!

posted by Nomyte (20 comments total)

Yeah, not going to look at this tonight...wait a sec...let me check here...nope...not going to look at this tomorrow, either.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:42 PM on June 26, 2011

The vinegaroon was kawaii, but I was disappointed that the pill millipede didn't roll up in a little ball. Isn't that what pill bugs are famous for?
posted by kozad at 8:43 PM on June 26, 2011

Noooooooooo!!!!!!
posted by mhum at 8:44 PM on June 26, 2011

First she rises, then she hops, and then she eats you.

Then she tries to run away from Bear Grylls, but can't.
posted by vidur at 9:01 PM on June 26, 2011

After listening to my reactions to these videos and the ones in nickyskye's snail attack post, mr. hgg asked me, "Why do you want to watch things that disturb you?" I didn't have an answer.

The giraffe weevil was really cute though.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:06 PM on June 26, 2011

Captain Beefheart fan, eh?

These are wonderful.
posted by munchingzombie at 9:09 PM on June 26, 2011

Yes, a tip of the hat to nickyskye, whose post inspired me to look up these videos.

Also, in response to kozad's question, the pill millipede is not a pill bug, although rolling up to protect the vulnerable underside is a common defense mechanism for both. Pill bugs/woodlice/roly polies are crustaceans from the family Armadillidiidae.
posted by Nomyte at 9:17 PM on June 26, 2011

Watching the hllgrammite / dobsonfly video, I was first afraid that it would bite his hand (as I was with the other videos where he handled the creatures), then I was amused as I watched the scary looking bug impotently pinch him over and over without even breaking the skin.
posted by idiopath at 9:30 PM on June 26, 2011

The vinegaroon video is just so special: the Thai ballad, the two-headed Tinky-winky clock, and the delicate reveal of the huge freakin' bug.

Raddest quote from a bug video ever, because apparently I'm 12 years old: "Imagine what YOU would do with TWO pairs of anal hooks!" I wish Billy Mays were alive to deliver this line.
posted by smirkette at 9:53 PM on June 26, 2011 [2 favorites]

The lesser of two weevils.

That Trilobite Beetle is incredible, a crawly Calder sculpture. The Vinegaroon one is delightfully disturbing.

I really like the spider heart beating one. Wow.

I love this guy's mischievous and educated enthusiasm.
posted by nickyskye at 12:11 AM on June 27, 2011

Insightful Youtube comment regarding the trilobite beetle:

Holy shit...it's ass slithers while it's belly walks...kind of like those half tank / half truck military vehicles.
posted by Anything at 5:25 AM on June 27, 2011

(Half-track vehicle)
posted by Anything at 5:47 AM on June 27, 2011

That vinegaroon video wasn't particularly disturbing to me. But this one, on the other hand...
posted by TedW at 6:01 AM on June 27, 2011

According to the Wikipedia article on vinegaroons, "they are valuable in controlling the population of roaches and crickets". Yes, because I would much rather have a HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE BUG crawling around my house than a few crickets.
posted by ixohoxi at 6:25 AM on June 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love this guy's mischievous and educated enthusiasm.

Heartily seconded. These bugs are gorgeous. And I too love his sense of humor.
posted by mykescipark at 8:00 AM on June 27, 2011

I just had to share this, which I discovered the other day thanks to reddit. I have not slept since. Meet the mole cricket.
posted by CunningLinguist at 11:36 AM on June 27, 2011

Oh god oh god that vinegaroon video. As a teenager in West Texas thought I had a decent knowledge of the desert's entolomological unpleasantness. Then one night at early o'clock I staggered to the bathroom still half-asleep. So it took me a while to notice the horrific nightmare THING in the bathtub maybe two feet away from where I was sitting. It was the size of my hand, all ferocious glistening mandibles and knobby blackness with skittery legs, like a scorpion crossed with a tarantula crossed with Satan. I must've made a noise or accidentally kicked the tub, because the Thing reared up threateningly and HISSED AT ME.

And then I calmly returned to my room and pondered the wonders of nature. Hahaha, not hardly, I shrieked and grabbed the Formula 409 bottle and started spraybombing it, because there was no way I was getting close enough to stomp on it. So it kept HISSING and lunging at me, and I kept screaming and spraying 409 like buckshot, and it was the Thing that would not die even under a white carpet of cleaning bubble foam, and when the too-many-legs-thrashing got especially frenzied I threw the spray bottle at it and fled down the hall to hide in my bed until it came after me.

No one else in the house bothered to wake up during this, because parents always sleep through the horror movie bit with the "HELP HELP DADDY MOMMY SATAN'S IN THE BATHTUB KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT" screaming. In the morning I made my dad remove and identify the corpse to ensure it was REALLY TRULY DEAD and not just lying in wait in the shower to eat my face. And that's how I learned about the existence of the vinegaroon, that time I violently acid-murdered a bug about as deadly as a grasshopper.
posted by nicebookrack at 1:05 PM on June 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

I shrieked and grabbed the Formula 409 bottle and started spraybombing it, because there was no way I was getting close enough to stomp on it.

and I thought I was the only one that ever used 409 to kill bugs! I have a deep, irrational fear of most insects, so when there's no Raid or Baygon, I'll grab the first thing handy, which in my house usally means 409. I've tried it on gecko's too (yep, I don't like them either), but they usually get away before I can drown them in it.

Oh well, at least they got a free cleaning out of it.
posted by KillaSeal at 3:19 PM on June 27, 2011

I would really love a catalogue of all the crazy-ass critters in this video.
posted by mykescipark at 7:50 PM on June 27, 2011

yep, I don't like them either

what
posted by geckoinpdx at 2:02 PM on June 28, 2011