Creepy Creatures And Weird Animals

Baculo viruses : Imagine there was a virus that could not only kill you , but actually force you to go out and infect as many other people as possible?
A virus like this does exists , in caterpillars at least.
Normal behavior for this caterpillar is that during the day it will climb to tops of trees to eat and return to the ground at night to sleep.
Unless , they are infected with the Baculo Virus.
The virus begins by dissolving and destroying the caterpillar's insides , then attacking the brain , manipulating the caterpillar's behavior in such a way that it spends what little strength it has left making its way high into the trees.
The reason for this is to better disperse the virus , of course.
The baculo virus doesn't just compel the caterpillar to climb to the highest point in the trees , it also uses the caterpillar's body to reproduce.
As it does so , the caterpillar dies , liquefies , and then disperses the virus all over the underlying foliage , infecting any other caterpillars it may
come in contact with.
Those caterpillars will then repeat the behavior.

Belostomatidae : can reach up to 4.7 inches.
All bugs in the Belostomatidae family are fierce predators which hunt , capture and feed on aquatic crustaceans , fish and amphibians.
This huge bug will lie motionless at the bottom of a
body of water , and then wait for it's prey.
They will then strike , injecting a powerful digestive saliva and
then suck out the liquefied remains.
Their bite is considered one of the most painful that can be
inflicted by any insect.
Although it is rare , their bite can do permanent damage to humans.
Occasionally when encountered by a larger predator , such as a human , they have been known to "play dead" and emit a fluid from their anus to make them look less appetizing. P.S. – Giant.
water bugs are a popular food in Thailand.

Black Widow Spider : After mating , the femal black widow will kill and devour the male.
Latrodectus is a genus of spider , in the family Theridiidae , that contains 31 recognized species.
The Black Widow is considered the most venomous spider in North America.
A bite from this spider is considered very dangerous due to the injection of neurotoxic venom , latrotoxin , resulting in the condition latrodectism , named for the genus.
But people receive less bites from this spider than you may think and the bites rarely kill human beings , if their wounds are given medical treatment.
There hasn't been a reported death in over 15 years.
In addition , only full grown female black widows are venomous , males and juveniles are harmless.
The female reaches only a maximum length of ( 0.5 ) long and ( 1.5 ) when her legs are fully spread.

Cochineal bug : Many foods we eat have insects or insect parts in them that we don't see.
The Levels.They are the limit which FDA will take legal action against the product and remove it from the market.
Cochineal extract and carmine are commonly used to dye food , rinks and cosmetics various Cochineal Beatle extracts have been hidden under the terms ‘artificial colors.’
Berries : 4 larvae per 500g or 10 whole insects per 500g.
Canned sweet corn : 2-3mm-length larvae , cast skins or fragments.
Canned mushrooms : 20 maggots per 100g.
peanut butter : 60 fragments per 100g (136 per lb).
Apple butter : 5 insects per 100g.

Cordyceps ( Parasitic Fungi ) : This parasitic fungi actually has the ability of mind control.
Cordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi that includes about 400 described species.
Is an air born Fungus that infects insects.
An ant for instance , will be infected via the tracheae.
It then begins to feed on the insect from the inside out until ready to mature , when it will enter the brain.
Using chemical pheromones this fungi will take control of it's host forcing it to climb to a high location that is an optimal environment for the Fungus.
The insect will then die by the fungi eating the brain.
It will then will sprout a stem with spores out of the top of the host head.
The genus has a worldwide distribution and most of the approximately 400 species have been found in Asia. Notably ( Nepal , China , Japan , Korea , Vietnam and Thailand ).
Cordyceps species are very common , wide spread , and diverse in humid temperatures and tropical forests.

Cuckoo Bird : The cuckoos are for the most part solitary birds that rarely occur in pairs or groups.
In addition to not liking the company of others , the female cuckoo bird is too lazy (or spoiled) to raise it's own baby.
So , it adapted a slightly odd behavior , it will raid the nest of
another bird called the Warbler and eat some of it's eggs , and then lays ones of her own.
Since the Cuckoos eggs look very similar to the warbler's , the mother Warbler doesn't notice and continues to incubate the cuckoo's egg until it hatches.
The Warbler then proceeds to feed her
babies including the Cuckoo's baby.
As the cuckoo grows to be three times the size of the
Warbler babies.
It's in the Cuckoo's nature is to be selfish and murderous.
To ensure it's , unknowingly , adoptive mother will be able to supply enough food , the young Cuckoo will push the other babies out of the nest killing them , just to make sure it gets enough food.

Super Soldier Ants : Scientist in Canada have created what is simply being called the Super Soldier Ant.
The scientists applied juvenile hormone to various ant larvae at crucial
stages in their development , resulting in the emergence of the super soldier ant. They believe that this process has "awaken" a prehistoric gene that lies dormant in many , if not all creatures.
Now studies are being done on the ants behaviors.
It has been discovered that under stress the ants body reacts by actually expanding in size.
Basically , when threatened or in combat mode , they grow.
The ants also have huge oblong heads and giant , vicious mandibles , which the
insects use to defend their colonies.
And the ants have also been seen using their giant armored heads to block the entrance and access to the nest and colony.
No word has been said whether or not this practice is being experimented on other animals.