40 Slimy Bits of Trivia About the Creepiest Creatures on the Planet

Ugh! You can actually feel these facts crawling down your spine
40 Slimy Bits of Trivia About the Creepiest Creatures on the Planet

This list took us quite a while to compile, since we had to stop and shudder after finding each tidbit. We really couldn’t shake the feeling that their gross little appendages were somehow tickling us under our clothes.

Stripping down didn’t even help. We could still feel them, and now everyone in the office is staring at us. Great! Another nudity-related write-up!

Here, you guys check these facts out while we go beg to keep our jobs.

Roaches

Cockroaches can make decisions collectively They are even stronger together because of differences in their personalities. It'd be a beautiful lesson if they weren't so gross. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Fruit Flies

Sexually rejected fruit flies drink more alcohol When female fruit flies reject their sexual advances, male flies drink far more than their sexually satisfied peers. Let's just hope they don't discover the incel subreddit anytime soon. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Bedbugs

Bedbugs evolved more than 100 million years ago The worst bedmates were around during the time of dinosaurs. Forget about respecting your elders. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Gnats

Fabric softener sheets repel gnats In one study, researchers found that fungus gnats didn't care for dryer sheets, specifically Bounce Outdoor Fresh Scent. Maybe it was a biased study, or maybe gnats just really hate the idea of soft clothing. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Ants

Some people can smell ants Jury's out on whether it's genetic or just that some people are just paying more attention to the many chemical signals ants release. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Termites

Termite queens can live for up to 20 years The longest-living queen is that of the Macrotermes bellicosus species. In comparison, workers only live up to a few months. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Roaches

The largest cockroach in the world is called the Megaloblatta longipennis (Natural size Megaloblatta longipennis It can grow up to almost four inches, with an eight-inch wingspan. Not the kind of longipennis we want in our life. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW

Locusts

CRACKED LOCUSTS WENT BIBLICAL IN MADAGASCAR. At 15 km long, this Madagascan locust swarm is one of the biggest ever recorded. They infested over half of the island's cultivated land, causing the loss of 630,000 tonnes of rice.

Mosquitos

CRACKED MOSQUITOS DRAINED 15 COWS LIKE KEGS OF BLOOD. In 1980, a Texas farm was so overrun with mosquitoes that 15 cows died from blood loss. One researcher calculated that it would take 3.8 million mosquito bites to drain one cow of that much blood.

Mice

CRACKED THE LARGEST MOUSE INFESTATION IN U.S. HISTORY. In 1927, a mouse army was 50 million strong when it reached Taft, California. The main highway was slushy with dead mice, and they ate an entire sheep in its pen. At its peak, The Bureau of Biological Survey calculated the population at over 100 million.

The Great Hanoi Rat Massacre

CRACKED THE GREAT HANOI RAT MASSACRE. In 1902, tens of thousands of rats infested Hanoi's sewer system. Rat hunters were paid for every rat tail, and they brought in 4,000 - 20,000 tails per day. To ensure long-lasting profits, the hunters just cut the tails off to keep the rats alive and breeding.

The Plague

CRACKED WHO'S REALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PLAGUE? An estimated 75-200 million people died in Eurasia's bubonic plague of the 1300s. Rats took the blame for a long time, but the fleas that they (and humans) carried were the actual superspreaders.

Rats

CRACKED A CONTINENT-WIDE INFESTATION. Australian rats today are descendants of a single invasive rat species that arrived on floating coconut palm leaves over 6 million years ago. Today, it is estimated that Sydney, Australia alone has over 500 million rats.

The Bed Bug Czar

CRACKED THE BED BUG CZAR OF NYC. In 2010, NYC had around 24,000 complaints of major bed bug infestations. People avoided stores, theaters, and even fled the city. Then-mayor Bloomberg set up a bed bug advisory board, and appointed a Bed Bug Czar.

Roaches

CRACKED ANKLE DEEP IN ROACHES. In 1979, a Schenectady, NY apartment was ankle deep in cockroaches. Millions of them blanketed the street, and overtook responding cop cars. The 64 year old resident was covered in bites and hospitalized.

Bees

CRACKED BUSY, BUSY BEES. Hundreds of thousands of bees infested the Houston home of Josie Parra. They terrorized her family for over 2 years, but on the bright side, she harvested over 200 lbs of honey.

Snakes

CRACKED SNAKE WATER. The Idaho home's previous owners stated that the house had snakes, but current owner Ben Sessions found out it had so many snakes that his family could taste them in the water. They could hear them in the walls at night, and the house was foreclosed.

Spiders

CRACKED SPIDERS BLEEDING FROM THE WALLS. Shortly after Brian and Susan Trost moved into their Missouri home, spiders started bleeding out of the walls. Roughly 5,000 fanged and venomous brown recluse spiders to be exact.

Carpet Sharks

Carpet Sharks CRACKED.COM The carpet shark swallows other sharks whole. It got its name because it lies around on the ocean floor looking like a throw rug until it strikes.

Honeypot Ants

Honeypot Ants CRACKED.COM The honeypot ant is a living pantry. It gorges itself on flower nectars during the rainy season then feeds other ants mouth-to-mouth the rest of the year.

The Geoduck

The Geoduck CRACKED.COM Here's a clam that may be 140 years old and can weigh 20 pounds. Its meat is a delicacy and is considered an aphrodisiac because of the clam's phallic appearance.

Zebrafish

Zebrafish Larvae CRACKED.COM Scientists love the zebrafish because it can regrow its fin, tail, heart, and even brain. They think this offers us useful biological information and is not at all terrifying.

Bats

Anoura Fistulata CRACKED.COM This South American bat has a tongue that extends to one and a half times the length of its body. That's why it has a name that sounds like a sex act.

The Torpedo Ray

The Torpedo Ray CRACKED.COM Electric torpedo rays can dispense 220 volts of electricity at any given moment, easily enough to knock an adult over. Saltwater amplifies the effect.

Crabs

The Yeti Crab CRACKED.COM Besides looking strange, the yeti crab is crawling with bacteria. Scientists think it cultivates these bacteria, which live in its arm hair, to eat.

Ticks

The Paralysis Tick CRACKED.COM This Australian bug dispenses a toxin that can paralyze you. This doesn't help the tick-as a parasite, it prefers you healthy and mobile-but it does it anyway.

The Fishing Spider

The Fishing Spider CRACKED.COM The fishing spider doesn't need a web. It plucks its prey out of the water, often while balancing on the surface. It also branches out: One was spotted trying to kill a bat.

Weevils

The Giraffe Weevil CRACKED.COM The giraffe weevil can crane its neck. It lives in Madagascar, and that long neck helps the male fight off rivals and build nests.

Lobsters

Dinochelus Ausubeli CRACKED.COM The name of this Australian lobster translates aptly as terrible claw. It's blind, and it uses that elongated saw claw to catch and dice up prey.

The King of Wasps

Megalara Garuda CRACKED.COM Scientists call this insect the king of wasps. That's because it's over 2 inches long, venomous, and has jaws that wrap around its own head.

The Squid Worm

The Squid Worm CRACKED.COM This bug is perfectly named. It's a worm with a head that looks like a squid. It uses those tentacles for breathing and grabbing stuff.

Caterpillars

Harris' 3-Spot Caterpillar CRACKED.COM When it molts, it keeps old heads and wears them as mock-dingleberries to gross out predators. If that doesn't work, it uses the heads to bash any attacker.

Wolf Fish

The Amazonian Wolf Fish CRACKED.COM It can weigh over 80 pounds and has been known to jump onto land or into canoes, trying to catch prey. Also, it has antifreeze in its blood.

Bombardier Beetles

Bombardier beetles project hot, noxious chemicals from their anuses. GRACKED.COM If the beetle is caught by a toad, this defense mechanism forces the predator to puke them back up.

Roasted Ants

People eat dried ants instead of popcorn at the movie BE theater in Colombia. CRACKED COM The roasted ants, known as hormiga culona, are eaten by the handful and are considered an aphrodisiac.

Barnacles

Barnacles have the biggest penises of all animals, relative to body size. CRACKED COM A barnacle's penis is up to eight times their body length. Barnacles like to attach themselves to blue whales, who have the largest penis of any animal in total size, at ten feet long.

Wasps

The wasp subgenus Pison contains 145 different species so far, with many remaining undefined - there will eventually be many more named, defined species within it. One species, defined in 1988, sports the delightful name Pison eu. No! Please don't! CRACKED

Fartulum

A subcategory of gastropods - the group that contains snails and slugs - that's defined by a lack of ridges in their shells is known as Fartulum. Every species within the group is tiny and pretty much looks like it was plucked from someone's nose. CRACKED

Beetles

Idiosyncrasies of language can mean two things share a name. This is what happened with the beetle Colon rectum, a leiodidae beetle named by Melville Hatch in 1933, an interesting beetle you should never do a Google Image search for. CRACKED

Spiders

There are good places for spiders and bad places for spiders. The worst possible place for a spider, however, is suggested by the name of one of its species, discovered in Inyo County, California, Eremobates inyoanus. CRACKED

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