Bizarre Creatures, Wild Wonders

Bizarre Crazy Wonders of Wildlife

Poisonous, Fearless, Hungry, Hairy Caterpillar

Some Will Even Kill You

This bizarre four inch (100mm) worm has no fear. And the reason is? Nothing will dare touch it with its very poisonous fine hairs all over. If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to rub against this bizarre creature, you will never forget the burn. You can see the eyes checking me out, under it’s hairy mantle.

The hairs are referred to as urticating – hollow bristles that contain poisons –  some like the giant silkworm moth caterpillar can even cause death! This South American caterpillar has caused more than 500 fatalities in modern recorded history.
 

Large Black Fly

 
This very large black fly is not a common species in our area, although the largest around here at 1.5 inch long (35mm). Insects are the biggest group of animal life on earth and Southern Africa has around 80,000 species – many we see regularly fit a broad category like “fly” or “spider” but forgive me if I can’t tell you more than that, its a big category.
 

Jumping Hunting Spider

 
You think there are no biting bits? Well you’ll be wrong, because this fast guy has mandibles to match his or her size at 2 inches (50mm) and eight eyes to hit its target right.
 

Bizarre Midnight Raider Grasshoppers

 
These bizarre bugs are not welcome guests to your garden while you sleep; seeing that by morning your garden gets a transformation, you won’t like. These huge bundles of the grasshopper family illustrate their ability to breed. The giant swarms of locusts that decimate whole countries every so often, start out the same way as these guys!
 

Plant Color Matching Locust Colony

 
These bizarre hoppers are there before you know they’ve arrived, because of their camouflage. Then you see things falling out of a tree en mass. I haven’t measured one because they stink. Although it never bothered the plated lizard, while they fell on top of it. It made short work of a few and gave up. Maybe the taste? Yuck.
 

Giant Plated Lizard Lunch

 
The giant plated lizard came out of hiding in the rocks, probably disturbed by the noise these crazy locusts made falling on the leaves by the hundreds. They hang onto one another in what I would call a chain gang bunch and as they get too heavy, they fall to the ground en mass. Obviously this is after a fair period of eating and growing from the contents of your tree.