14 of the world’s weirdest insects | Articles | CBC Kids (2024)


Insects are everywhere! Some people find them super interesting while others can’t even stand the thought of them. Either way, we share this planet with these alien-like creepy crawlies. Insects were here on Earth long before humans, and they are here to stay.

There are actually way more insects than humans on Earth. There are 900,000 known species and probably millions more that haven’t even been discovered yet! Check out this list of some of the weirdest (and coolest) ones we could find.

1. Hercules beetle

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(Wikimedia/Didier Descouens/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Also known as a rhinoceros beetle, the Hercules beetle is the longest beetle. It's also the strongest creature on Earth for its size — it can carry 850 times its weight! That’s like a person carrying seven elephants!

2. Giant long-legged katydid

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(Canva)

Also known as bush crickets, think of these green leafy-looking things as giant grasshoppers. They are most active at night. Because they look like leaves it’s easy for them to hide in plants and trees. Some katydids can be as big as or even bigger than your hand!

3. Assassin bug

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(Canva)

The assassin bug uses its straw-like mouth to inject prey with a toxin. It liquefies their insides, which it then sucks back up through its straw mouth. How creepy is that?!

4. Goliath beetle

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(Wikimedia/w:en:user:fir0002/CC BY-SA 3.0)

The goliath beetle is one of the largest insects on earth. Some people who have these giant beetles as pets will feed them dog and cat food! They are found mostly on the continent of Africa in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

5. Giant burrowing cockroach

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(Wikimedia/Urasimaru/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Also known as the rhinoceros cockroach, this is the heaviest cockroach species. They can weigh up to 35 grams, which is almost as heavy as a golf ball. These giant cockroaches like to burrow about one metre into the ground.

6. Titan beetle

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Like the Hercules beetle, the Titan beetle is one of the largest beetle species. They have super strong mandibles (jaws) that can easily slice a pencil in half!

7. Thorn bug

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Thorn bugs look just like thorns, but not just any thorns. They each have a cool-looking brightly coloured thorn sticking out of their heads! They are part of the treehopper family.

8. Devil’s flower mantis

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(Canva)

These mantises are very good at mimicking the flowers they sit on. They will wait completely still until prey arrives. Then they snatch them right up. They like to eat flies, moths, butterflies and beetles. Thousands of these insects are sold as pets every year!

9. Brazilian treehopper

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From the same family of insects as the thorn bug, these guys have a strange crown of fuzzy circular horns on their heads. It’s not clear why they have these ball-like horns. But they're probably a good way to keep their enemies away!

10. Australian walking stick

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(Wikimedia/Rosa Pineda/CC BY-SA 3.0)

When they sense danger, these woody-looking Australian insects give off a scent that smells like peanut butter to humans. As you can see, it’s easy for these guys to hide in trees because they look like the bark and branches they sit on.

11. Atlas moth

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(Photo by txbowen licensed CC BY 2.0)

These massive moths have a 25.4-centimetre wingspan (almost as long as a ruler) with wing tips that look like snakes! Because of the patterns on their wings, they're also known as cobra moths. Atlas moths can be found in India and South East Asia. They are often farmed for their silk.

12. Calleta silkmoth caterpillar

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(Canva)

This big caterpillar has wonderful colours and spiky barbs all over its back. You'll find these guys in Guatemala, Mexico and parts of the southern US.

13. Scorpion fly

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These flies looklike a cross between a scorpion and a wasp. Although the raised tail of the male scorpion fly looks like the tail of a scorpion, it does not use it to sting you like a scorpion can.

14. Giant weta

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This giant insect from New Zealand looks like a massive beetle but is actually a cricket. The largest weta ever captured weighed about 70 grams. That's about as heavy as a tennis ball. This was a rare case though. They normally weigh about 35 grams — about the same weight as the giant burrowing cockroach.

14 of the world’s weirdest insects | Articles | CBC Kids (2024)
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