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[RedKing]

Ladybugs come in swarms? 

Apparently they can. Colonies do form, and they have a wintering method that basically consists of all of them glomming together in one giant ball. The outermost few layers will freeze to death. This will create an insulating "crust" of dead ladybugs that will insulate the rest of the swarm enough to survive hibernating through the winter. Once the temperature rises to a certain threshold, the insects will come out of hibernation and the ball dissolves into hundreds of thousands of very hungry ladybugs.

In retrospect, we had noticed that there were remarkably few mosquitos, flies, even spiders for a dusty, unused cabin on top of a mountain. *shudder*

[Urist Imiknorris]

Hate cocroaches! I think that sentiment is universal, though. They are ugly, live in filthy environments, big, and live in huge swarms.

My attitude toward them is meh.

[i2amroy]

Hate cocroaches! I think that sentiment is universal, though. They are ugly, live in filthy environments, big, and live in huge swarms.

My attitude toward them is meh.

Normal cockroaches? No thanks. Madagascar hissing cockroaches are pretty cool though, I mean they are clean enough that even the whole "doctor hand sterilization" procedure leaves your hands at only slightly dirtier then they are. I think I can blame that sentiment on my fifth grade science teacher though, what with his whole raising them for fun thing.

[Jacob/Lee]

Anyway, spiders and such don't really bother me much. But, centipedes. Goddamn centipedes. I hate them with all my heart. Not the little ones you find in your basement, the other kinds.

Ohoho, you're scared of THOSE?
Wait until you've seen this.

Pretty cool, about half a metre long, and mad strong.

Please tell me which pit of hell that centipede climbed out of. I have a very strong letter for it.

[Yoink]

I don't mind cockroaches. They're kinda cute, and besides, if you squish them their guts come spurting out of their exoskeleton.

But I have the most horrifying tale of invertebrate terror ever. Gather ye 'round, children, and listen good!

This was when I was doing volunteer conservation work, planting trees and weeding areas etc. One time the team decided to go on a bushwalk, through a national park. It was pouring with rain when we went, which put a dampener (har har) on the whole thing. Still, we trudged along for hours and then got back to the van.

I was pretty used to getting leeches, so I wasn't too worried when I had a couple. I burnt one off with a lighter, the other one became dislodged when I rolled my pants leg up to check. Later on at home, I took a hot shower and discovered one more on my stomach. Still, no big deal, some hot water got rid of it. I finish my shower and go to make myself a nice, hot cup of coffee.
I think I'd just put in the sugar when I realise my nose is bleeding.
Not one to freak out over the occasional nosebleed, I go to rinse it out in the bathroom sink, rubbing at my nose to clear it.
Blood keeps fountaining out, I'm getting a bit worried, and then I feel a strange pressure in my nose and suddenly, with a sort-of pfthfft sound, a fat, bloated leech shoots out of my poor nostril and goes splat in the sink.

I just stared at it for a long moment, horrified.


Then I smushed it into little pieces. God, that was horrifying. It was the leech which had come off my leg, I'd assumed it was long gone. Somehow it had clung to my clothing, survived a scalding hot shower and then come for vengeance.
There was blood everywhere, of course.

[Graknorke]

WHAT. How did.... how did it get up your nose and you not notice it?
Did it use some sort of ninja majyyks? In fact, why were there so many leeches on you in the first place, did you go swimming or something?

Also you shouldn't really burn them off, it makes them reflexively vomit blood back into you. And also not close up the wound. It's better to just let them finish on their own and they drop off.

[SalmonGod]

Cicadas are awesome.  I find them very neat looking.  I used to love finding their molts when I was little.  I've never experienced a swarm of them.  I'd be receptive to eating them.

I am very familiar with the lady bug swarms.  They can get pretty bad in Indiana.  From age 8-16, I grew up in a ~140 year old house that was in really bad shape.  My bedroom had a huge hole in the wall right next to the bed that I could feel wind through.  Every winter, ladybugs would cram themselves into the upstairs walls and windows, almost exclusively on one side of the house.  Then for about a month in the spring, they would completely coat huge chunks of the house (but only on that one side) around windows and cracks and stuff where they had crammed themselves in to hibernate.  The bedroom across the hall from mine would get pretty badly infiltrated by them.

My dad grew up on the bank of the Mississippi River, and can trump that with tales of the mayfly swarm.  I believe he called them barge flies, but a little googling reveals that he must have been referring to a species of mayfly.  The local population all reaches sexual maturity at once for a single day, and that one day every year the air would be so thick with insect orgy that it was impossible to go outside.  The next day was dedicated to sweeping up the several inch thick layer of dead barge flies over everything.  The city had a street sweeping machine exclusively for that purpose.

Neither of the above can compare to Daddy Long Leg nests.  Those are some chilling insect horror -- a writhing, incomprehensible mass of legs.

[DeKaFu]

Neither of the above can compare to Daddy Long Leg nests.  Those are some chilling insect horror -- a writhing, incomprehensible mass of legs.

Daddy Long Legs, Daddy Long Legs or Daddy Long Legs?

The first one is what I've always known as Daddy Long Legs. I never used to have issues with them as a kid... They can barely walk properly, let alone bring you harm. Then I spent a week at a camp where the cabins were infested with them. Ones with legspans like CDs. On the bottom of the bunk above my bed. Two feet from my face. While I'm trying to sleep.

I've never liked them since then for some reason.

[SalmonGod]

Opiliones.  These fuckers.

[StLeibowitz]

Does it look like this?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yup, that there's a cicada.

And it. Is. Adorable!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Or, at least when not bumbling into the fence gate as I take out the trash at midnight. It was about that size too, and first thought "Oh Jesus, it's a wasp!!! Run awaaaaay!!!

[miauw62]

I hate insects in general.
Spiders a bit less tough, spiders are cool.

[Yoink]

WHAT. How did.... how did it get up your nose and you not notice it?

Heck if I know.
Hence why I was so utterly shocked when the thing burst out of my nose.

And I usually just let them drop off, myself. It's nicer.
Setting them on fire is fun, though...

[RedKing]

WHAT. How did.... how did it get up your nose and you not notice it?

Heck if I know.
Hence why I was so utterly shocked when the thing burst out of my nose.

And I usually just let them drop off, myself. It's nicer.
Setting them on fire is fun, though...

Where on God's slimy Earth do you live that you have that much contact with leeches??

[Yoink]

Australia.
Actually, where I live isn't that bad in terms of creepy/dangerous/disgusting wildlife(Probably the only unexpected critters I've seen here would be the big carpet python that lived on the verandah for a while and a rat that lived under the stove), but that incident happened out in the bush.
Also it was raining fairly heavily. And it was rainforest. And we waded through a flooded creek, which wouldn't have helped. All-in-all, I was definitely expecting to get a few leeches, just not... There.

[Reudh]

Here in Australia, the Cicadas chirruping can actually damage your hearing if you stand too close.