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Huge Insects
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:14 pm
by Jack Ruby
I saw this pic a few days ago:
Thats the biggest wasp in the world, see more of him here:
http://www.hornissenschutz.de/manda.htm
Last summer I had a nest of wasps in my attic, my apartment was in the attic, the nest was right above my head when I sat at my desk, behind about 1/2 inch of plaster, I could hear this scraping noise, thought they were tunneling through, it made my skin crawl it was horrible. The pest control guy said the noise was because they were trying to cool the nest down, they all line up and beat their wings in unison to get a cooling draft going through the nest and the crackling noise was the nest flexing with the air pressure.
I hate wasps.
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:28 pm
by jv_map
Yikes I wouldn't prefer that one in my room
Anyway had to edit your topic title for consistence, pure caps titles are not allowed

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:58 pm
by tltrude
Maybe we need to breed and train them to kill only Africanized "Killer Bees".
"The Vespa mandarinia attack and crush honeybees one after another with their mandibles until all the honeybees are wiped out, then carry away all of the larvae."
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:44 pm
by lizardkid
this isn't an insect... but since we're on the freaks of nature sort of theme, here's a vid of the biggest species of centipede known to man.
measures about 1.5-2 ft long, not sure what that is in metric though. about up to your knee.
http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/224 ... s_Rat.html
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:23 pm
by TopTiger
OMG!!! I don't wanna meet that fella. Just horrible haha. Can't sleep now
The wasp is nothing compared with it hehe. I've read it's not even full grown yet?

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:20 pm
by Jack Ruby
No way man!
What was that thing?
damn, thats scary, where do they come from?
I have to find out so I NEVER visit there.
I reckon if that thing happened to stumble across the giant wasps nest it would lose the fight though
I was just thinking that these would be cool non lethal weapons for clearing out a house full of bad guys, throw that centipede in the window, the house would be clear in seconds, same with a bag of big wasps
I just found myself checking around me for insect invaders

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:09 am
by Splaetos
Lizzy your overestimating its size slightly....
the ruler shows it at over 9" around 25ish cm... 2 feet would be enormous!
wikipedia says thats about as big as they get... which is still pretty big =p but under a foot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scolopendra_gigantea
south america... its commonly called the 'peruvian giant centipede' also lists a vacation destination though... Jamaica =p
oh and dont pet one...
The centipede has modified claws called forcipules which curve around its head and can deliver venom into its prey to assist in immobilizing it. The venom is toxic to humans; (the poison contains acetylcholine, histamine, and serotonin) and causes a local sharp pain (similar to a hornet-sting), and severe swelling, chills, fever, and weakness.
S. gigantea is a popular pet among arthropod fanatics ? however, the centipede should not be handled without protective equipment given that even a trace of the venom coming in contact with skin can cause a reaction
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:43 am
by Jack Ruby
I thought it was eating a rat which made it look huge, its a mouse, even so a terrifying insect, wiki says its similar to a hornet sting, I wonder if they are comparing it to the giant wasp sting, that wasp is also considered a hornet I think?
Any Australians here? They have most of the venomous creatures there, doubt I will ever visit.
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:13 am
by Splaetos
Id love to see the barrier reef.... (and Great white sharks!) up close someday. Would like ot see alot of down under really...
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:40 pm
by Jack Ruby
I just saw this, the worlds biggest shrimp has just been caught, seems Jung's Synchronicity theory might be working on this thread ( if you dont know about synchronicity have a google):
http://www.local6.com/problemsolvers/87 ... etail.html
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:23 pm
by Rookie One.pl
Whoa, now that's a BIG shrimp!
Jack Ruby wrote:( if you dont know about synchronicity have a google)
I say you'd better
have a Wikipedia.

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:37 pm
by jv_map
Yikes
An example of the world's largest species of centipede, Scolopendra gigantea , has been brought to the Natural History Museum for identification, having been found crawling up a living room wall in Islington.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2005 ... _6293.html
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:45 pm
by k47a
well,
this actually worried me more
*sorry for being offtopic*
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:00 pm
by Jack Ruby
JV that scared me, my friend lives in Islington, and Ivan that story was crazy, how can they not have saved that guys house

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:38 pm
by At0miC
ieeek interesting stuff

. Well this is not an insect, but just have a look at it

:
"It?s a colossal squid or Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. The one in the photo is 17ft high, but they may grow to 49ft. And that freaky eye actually glows to illuminate its surroundings"
(saw this in my science magazine once, dunno if this one is fake tho)