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 mega_bassist wrote:

 Ma55ter_fett wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
Botflies... dem some scary mofos

Actually kinda tame in my opinion.

What about Cochliomyia (screw worm)?

WARNING DO NOT GOOGLE COCHLIOMYIA IF YOU ARE FAINT OF HEART!!!!

But if you do scroll down to the picture of them in someone's mouth.

Its brutal.

WHY DID I GOOGLE THIS?

Not as bad as I expected...

 mega_bassist wrote:

 Ma55ter_fett wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
Botflies... dem some scary mofos

Actually kinda tame in my opinion.

What about Cochliomyia (screw worm)?

WARNING DO NOT GOOGLE COCHLIOMYIA IF YOU ARE FAINT OF HEART!!!!

But if you do scroll down to the picture of them in someone's mouth.

Its brutal.

WHY DID I GOOGLE THIS?

AAAAARGGH THE FRIKKING ONE IN THE MOUTH WHY DID YOU MAKE ME DO THIS

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24382107

Hornet attacks in northern China have killed 41 people since July, according to China News Agency.

Local officials say warmer weather may have contributed to the rise in the insects' numbers.

There is a video, showing the damage and how to deal with a nest (Which seems to involve fire, camo and guns - sounds like the perfect Dakka video)

Those Garuda wasps aint that scary, they're only like an inch long...

Mantis shrimp though... those fethers... when I was still mucking around with saltwater aquariums they prolly killed $100 worth of my fish (and no, I didn't intentionally put one in my tank...)

Mantis shrimp are brilliant! They will eat anything, and can smash through glass, but they are not that dangerous to humans and are impressive animals.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Those Garuda wasps aint that scary, they're only like an inch long...

Mantis shrimp though... those fethers... when I was still mucking around with saltwater aquariums they prolly killed $100 worth of my fish (and no, I didn't intentionally put one in my tank...)

What happened?

How do you accidentally get a Mantis Shrimp?

Seems like the sort of pet that would have all sorts of warning labels.

I accidentally one million Mantis Shrimp.

At least shrimp stay in the water - you'd have to go looking for one - but hornets man, they can fly! They live in the same sphere as us, and they actually kill people - I've never heard of a shrimp killing someone (directly, obviously "bad" seafood has claimed a few)

Hornets are much scarier, for my money.

The Oatmeal actually talked about the Asian Giant hornets as well.

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
At least shrimp stay in the water - you'd have to go looking for one - but hornets man, they can fly! They live in the same sphere as us, and they actually kill people - I've never heard of a shrimp killing someone (directly, obviously "bad" seafood has claimed a few)

Hornets are much scarier, for my money.

There will be a shrimp uprising... They will adapt to breath air...
THEN NOWHERE WILL BE SAFE.

I saw on the news this morning, England now has the false widow spider.
Apparently, it started on the south coast and has spread as far as london.
I know its nothing compared to proper aussie/us spiders, but for those of in the north of england, I propose walling the south of the country off.
At the moment, I'm looking into the ramifications of the following - what if I cut the bottom half of the country off and set it adrift? Would france accept them as maybe an extension for guernsey?

http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/venomous_false_widow_spider_spotted_in_hornchurch_as_numbers_creep_up_in_havering_1_2836982

This be a large sucker to, 3 inches long and females have a stinger thats 1/3rd an inch

.. Everyone get your Fat Man, we have Cazadore nests to remove

 PredaKhaine wrote:

I know its nothing compared to proper aussie/us spiders

And that is why I would have a gun if I moved to the US or Australia. For defense against your scary ass wildlife.

And a flame thrower. And probably some explosive...

In fact I think I'll just stick to the cold areas.

 Steve steveson wrote:

 PredaKhaine wrote:

I know its nothing compared to proper aussie/us spiders

And that is why I would have a gun if I moved to the US or Australia. For defense against your scary ass wildlife.

And a flame thrower. And probably some explosive...

In fact I think I'll just stick to the cold areas.

Yea, about that...

Maybe not quite THAT cold, Breotan

 Breotan wrote:

Polar bear enjoyed working on his mask - they'll never recognise me in this!

It's the other bear's own fault, it should have put the lotion on it's skin like it was told

Back OT, those giant hornets are one of the few things that put me off visiting Japan.

The other two are preying mantises, and the fact that at the moment I have to take a good look at my finances before I go to a japanese restaurant, let alone fly across the world...

Why would you be scared of a praying mantis? They can do feth all to you, they are also extremely cute and pretty. (used to have a pet orchid mantis, it was pink)

As for the hornets... NOPE.

I'm not a fan of insects when it comes to pets - its just something about the way they can nonchalantly munch on another insects face while its still alive that puts me off.
At least kill it first...shudder.

 Soladrin wrote:
Why would you be scared of a praying mantis? They can do feth all to you, they are also extremely cute and pretty. (used to have a pet orchid mantis, it was pink)

As for the hornets... NOPE.

ON the positive we put a preying mantis into a jar with a wasp once when I was in Cali. Mantis went samurai and lopped the front part of the wasp right off.

 Breotan wrote:

 Steve steveson wrote:

 PredaKhaine wrote:

I know its nothing compared to proper aussie/us spiders

And that is why I would have a gun if I moved to the US or Australia. For defense against your scary ass wildlife.

And a flame thrower. And probably some explosive...

In fact I think I'll just stick to the cold areas.

Yea, about that...

Ye, at least he isn't going to sneak up on me and sting me. I can be relatively safe from a bare by carrying a gun. It's the bastards that you can't see and can't keep out with a strong door and a good lock that scare me.

Theres a David Attenborough nature docu about japanese giant hornets.

They're watching one and a Preying Mantis grabs it.

What do you think won?
Answer

 Steve steveson wrote:

 Breotan wrote:

 Steve steveson wrote:

 PredaKhaine wrote:

I know its nothing compared to proper aussie/us spiders

And that is why I would have a gun if I moved to the US or Australia. For defense against your scary ass wildlife.

And a flame thrower. And probably some explosive...

In fact I think I'll just stick to the cold areas.

Yea, about that...

Ye, at least he isn't going to sneak up on me and sting me. I can be relatively safe from a bare by carrying a gun. It's the bastards that you can't see and can't keep out with a strong door and a good lock that scare me.

Ha, I'm in Aus, Just last night I found a nice little 2 inch spidie (I think it was a huntsman. I killed it before I could ask it.) scuttling along the ground. And we live in suburban Victoria!

 Soladrin wrote:
Why would you be scared of a praying mantis? They can do feth all to you, they are also extremely cute and pretty. (used to have a pet orchid mantis, it was pink)

As for the hornets... NOPE.

Praying Mantises are awesomesauce. My kids found one (alive) on the road the other day, so I put it safely in our yard. We usually see them around the yard and it's good to know that they're there doing horrible things to the rest of the bugs.

I'm not really scared of bees and vespidae, but I'm respectful. I've been fighting some battles with yellowjackets the past two summers. Last summer I was digging around in a bed and noticed a bunch a few yellowjackets sitting on a plant (which looked a little chewed up or something). So I thought, fine, I'm gonna remove that one. I dug it up, turned and threw it in the wheelbarrow. In a split second I knew something was wrong, and then turned back around, almost in slow motion...to see a hundreds of yellowjackets swarming 3 feet in front of me. Ain't that a corker.

I backpedaled with great celerity, stopped, and then pondered how I had in fact just dug into and exposed a yellowjacket nest. The pondering didn't last long, however, as I looked down and that some were on me, trying like crazy to sting me (fortunately it was fall and I was wearing jeans and a nylon jacket). I ran around the front into our garage to get out of there. Some even followed me in.

But I only got stung once. Four cans of hornet/wasp/jacket spray later and the exterminatus on their hive city was complete. They got their one sting in, but then I sure as hell finished that fight. That nest was right beside the front door, which was a little scary since my wife is allergic to stings. This summer I found another nest in another spot next to the house. Same thing...they got one sting in, and now they're no more.

Although it was dangerous for them to be so close to the house, their closeness also meant that I discovered them. It's the nests that go for a few seasons without being discovered that get really large. Yellowjackets love to move into old rodent burrows, so if you boot any rodents from your flower beds, keep in mind that they may move in.

 Soladrin wrote:
Why would you be scared of a praying mantis? They can do feth all to you, they are also extremely cute and pretty. (used to have a pet orchid mantis, it was pink)

As for the hornets... NOPE.

I don't know, I'm just creeped out by any insect larger than the nail of my pinkie finger. There's just something about the expression conveyed by the face of most mantidae that really gets to me. It's the look of a malign brooding intelligence behind those compound eyes. A wasp has an expression like 'yeah, I'm gonna come over there and sting you, you won't like that you little wimp!'. But a mantis, when I look at a mantis's face, it says to me 'yeah, I don't have potent venom, nor wicked sharp pincers large enough to do you serious harm, but I'm going to get a job at your office, work my way up the ladder and usurp your position by being better at it than you, then while you're sitting at home being all jobless and pitiful, I'm gonna convince your wife you're a deadbeat, and she will leave you for me, and your kid's will think I'm a better father than you.


That, and playing too much Fallout New Vegas, combined with having suffered very frequent nightmares since I was 4, led to a particular dream, in which a large beach ball-sized bag full of praying mantises exploded directly above my head, showering me in clawing biting 4 inch long insects. It woke me up with such terror and panic I grabbed onto my girlfriends arm hard enough to leave bruises, which kind of left me with unpleasant associations with the creatures...

Ah, the FONV mantises - still, better than Cazadores, which that giant Garuda bug from earlier remind me of... shudder...

 Leigen_Zero wrote:

But a mantis, when I look at a mantis's face, it says to me 'yeah, I don't have potent venom, nor wicked sharp pincers large enough to do you serious harm, but I'm going to get a job at your office, work my way up the ladder and usurp your position by being better at it than you, then while you're sitting at home being all jobless and pitiful, I'm gonna convince your wife you're a deadbeat, and she will leave you for me, and your kid's will think I'm a better father than you.

I'm not quite sure that's how I'd put it, but I (think) I know what you mean.

Hornets suck. Bees are pretty nice though.

 AduroT wrote:
Hornets suck. Bees are pretty nice though.

That gif creeps me out a bit... although bees are undoubtedly less nasty than hornets, I still don't think I'd put my hand into a huge swarm of them.