Plants
Meet the Hammer Orchid: The Plant That Pretends to Be an Insect
Learn about the devious plant that fools male wasps into pollinating it by pretending to be a female insect.
Filed in the Field Guide
Author: nicJB
Insects
The Moth That Jams Bat Sonar Like a Tiny Fighter Jet
Learn how a seemingly ordinary insect engages in sophisticated acoustic warfare, using biological sonar jamming to outsmart one of…
Fish
The Pufferfish Crop Circle Is the Ocean’s Weirdest Work of Art
Learn about the small, lovesick pufferfish that spends a week building a massive, intricate sand sculpture as part of…
Animals
The Lizard That Shoots Blood From Its Eyes
This desert reptile has one of the strangest and grossest defense mechanisms in the animal kingdom.
Fungus
The Fungus That Turns Flies Into Spore Cannons
Discover the gruesome life cycle of a parasite that transforms its insect hosts into mindless puppets for its own…
Animals
The Frog That Breaks Its Own Bones to Make Claws
Discover the strange amphibian that intentionally shatters its skeleton to produce bony weapons for protection.
Insects
The Caterpillar That Wears Dead Ant Heads as a Helmet
Discover how the lacewing larva, a tiny predator, constructs a gruesome shield from its dead enemies to survive in…
Fish
The Fish That Hides Inside a Sea Cucumber’s Butt
Discover the unsettling and hilarious story of a fish that has evolved to live inside the rear end of…
Insects
The Spider That Builds a Fake Spider to Scare Enemies
Learn about the creepy and clever spider that constructs a lifelike puppet of itself to survive in the wild.
Insects
The Spider That Throws a Net Like a Tiny Gladiator
Explore the chillingly precise hunting methods of a unique arachnid that crafts and throws a silken trap.
Insects
The Ant That Explodes Its Own Body to Save the Colony
Learn about the bizarre insect that literally blows itself up to protect its family from danger.
Insects
The Worm That Shoots a Sticky Death Web From Its Face
Discover the strange world of an ancient predator that uses a biological glue cannon to hunt its prey.
Birds
The Bird That Impales Its Victims on Thorns
Learn about the small songbird with a gruesome habit of skewering its meals on sharp objects.
Fish
Why the Slingjaw Wrasse Has a Built In Face Cannon
Explore the bizarre mechanics of a reef fish that launches its mouth forward to capture food.
Crazy Animal Stuff
The Garden Snail’s Violent Love Affair
Discover the shocking truth about how garden snails use a sharp, hormone-laced projectile in a brutal reproductive strategy.
Scientific Discoveries
What Drives a Snail to Sacrifice Itself for a Parasite?
Discover how a parasitic flatworm turns a common snail into a 'zombie' to complete its own life cycle.
Insects
The Caterpillar That Tricks Ant Colonies Into Raising It
Learn about a parasitic larva that infiltrates ant nests by faking its identity and even mimicking the queen.
Fish
The Archerfish That Shoots Bugs Out of the Air With Water
This small fish has evolved to become a natural sharpshooter, using weaponized water to hunt prey with unsettling accuracy.
Animals
The Star Nosed Mole That Eats Faster Than You Can Blink
Learn about the unsettling biology of one of nature's strangest and most efficient hunters, which uses a star-shaped touch…
Fish
The Parrotfish That Sleeps Inside a Bubble of Its Own Slime
This colorful reef fish has a truly disgusting nightly habit that is essential for its survival.
Animals
The Suriname Toad That Gives Birth Through Holes in Its Back
Learn about the strange amphibian that incubates and hatches its young directly from its own skin.