Creepy Crawlies

Fun Facts About Creepy Crawlies

• Beetles are Earth's most diverse animal group. They make up about 40% of all described insect species, with over 350,000 known types.
• Caterpillars possess an incredible number of muscles, around 4,000, allowing them incredible flexibility and movement. This far surpasses the roughly 625 muscles in humans.
• Some species of centipede mothers exhibit remarkable parental devotion. They will wrap around their eggs to protect them, meticulously grooming them to prevent fungal growth and bacteria.
• Cockroaches can live up to a week without their heads. They breathe through small holes in their bodies and don't rely on their brain for basic functions like circulation.
• No, earwigs don't actually crawl into ears. They prefer damp soil, logs, or leaf litter.
• Maggot therapy is a formally recognized medical treatment used to clean wounds. That's because maggots will only eat dead tissue, so they help heal infections without harming healthy skin.
• Snails can hibernate for up to three years to survive harsh conditions like drought by sealing their shell with mucus and drastically slowing their metabolism until conditions improve.
• Spider silk is stronger than steel by weight. It is incredibly elastic, capable of stretching up to five times its length without breaking.
• Termite queens can live for up to 50 years in some species, laying thousands of eggs per day to sustain massive colonies — a stark contrast to workers who live only months to a few years.
• Ticks don't jump or fly. They instead climb vegetation and extend their front legs, waiting for a passing animal or person to grab onto for a ride and a bite.