Discover the Bizarre and Amazing: Top 14 Fun Facts About Arthropods You Won't Believe!

1. Iron Man Arthropods

If Iron Man were a bug, he'd feel right at home among the arthropods: these tiny creatures come equipped with their very own exoskeleton made of chitin, proteins, and minerals, allowing them to sport highly specialized body parts for protection and movement, just like our armored superhero.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

2. Fashionista Insects

Did you hear about the insect who tried on new clothes every season? Well, it turns out it's an arthropod thing: These creatures, including insects and crabs, grow by shedding their exoskeleton and replacing it with a larger one through a process called ecdysis, controlled by a complex cascade of hormones and neuropeptides that evolved much earlier than once thought – even jellyfish and molluscs share some of these!
Source => elifesciences.org

Did you know ants are skilled farmers? They herd tiny aphids, collecting sweet honeydew like micro ranchers! But beware, this can lead to plant damage and home invasions!

=> Fun Facts about Ants

3. Romantic Chocolate Bugs

You know those fancy chocolates with surprise fillings that romantic partners gift each other? Imagine that, but the chocolates are actually moths and snails, and the filling might just save your life: Arthropods, like some species of moths and hermaphroditic land snails, engage in nuptial gifting during mating, offering material gifts that can range from food items loaded with essential nutrients to potentially harmful "love darts" that can improve the donor's reproductive chances but come with possible risks for the recipient.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

4. Arthropod Avengers

Move over Avengers, there's a new team in town – the Arthropod Alliance: a diverse cast of creepy-crawlies, seafood superheroes, and buzzing buddies, taking over the world one thorax at a time! The serious reveal: arthropods are the most successful animal group, dominating Earth with over 85% of all known species, outperforming all other animal groups combined, and acing the art of adaptation in a multitude of habitats and diets.
Source => manoa.hawaii.edu

5. Daddy Daycare Arachnids

Move over, daddy daycare: some arachnid dads have taken parenting to new heights – or rather, their backs: In certain species like toe-biters and giant water bugs, it's actually the male who carries the eggs on his back until they hatch, all thanks to the female's special coating from her reproductive glands after several rounds of mating.
Source => nationalgeographic.com

6. Bumblebee and Butterfly Warriors

Who knew the buzz around town could be so serious? As Bumblebee and Butterfly – our unassuming avengers who save the day by pollinating flowers – see their comrades vanish faster than a Thanos snap: scientists attribute this population decline in North America to factors like habitat loss and pesticide use, emphasizing the urgency to protect these real-life superheroes who safeguard our ecosystems and food production.
Source => nature.com

7. Leggy Millipede Champions

When leg day at the gym leads to some serious gains: Females of a nearly extinct California millipede species boast up to a staggering 750 legs, efficiently propelling them through moist leaf clutter, fungi, and decayed plant material on the ground. While this species has us beat in sheer leg power, most millipedes have a more modest 40 to 400 legs that they use to navigate and burrow through soil, ultimately aerating and enriching it for us mere bipeds.
Source => loc.gov

8. Crustacean Color Change

Crustaceans have a shell of a secret, and they're not just being coy: when crabs, lobsters, and shrimp are exposed to heat, hidden pigments called carotenoids reveal their true vibrant red colors, due to a protein called crustacyanin changing the pigment's light-absorption properties from a blue-green to a bold red. Flamingo fashionistas take note – those pink feathers are all thanks to carotenoid proteins in their shrimp-filled diets, which dissolve during digestion to gift them their fabulous feather shades!
Source => mentalfloss.com

9. Globe-trotting Spider Explorers

Spider-Man's got nothing on these global explorers: Spiders have conquered the world, making their homes in the Arctic's chilly neighborhoods, desert heat waves, and even scaling the tallest peaks known to life.
Source => cnn.com

10. Hermit Crab House Parties

Step aside, house hunters: hermit crabs are hosting the ultimate shell-ebrity conga line event for prime real estate! In a crustacean collaboration worthy of an MTV Cribs episode, they've cracked the code on resource sharing with style: When a new, roomier shell washes up on shore, hermit crabs form an orderly line from biggest to smallest, each one scooping up the vacated shell in front of them after their big neighbor moves on up. But beware - ocean acidification can be quite the party pooper, causing thinner shells and making these little shell-ectors less picky about their next abode.
Source => discovermagazine.com

11. Dancing Peacock Spiders

Did you hear about the eight-legged Michael Jackson of the arachnid world? It moonwalks, it breakdances, and it wears a peacock-inspired outfit that would make Elton John jealous: The Australian peacock jumping spider has a colorful mating dance that involves unfurling a fan-like peacock tail, energetically trying to wow the female audience, who still might eat him after their passionate encounter, proving that even in the spider world, a lady's heart is still the final frontier.
Source => pbs.org

12. Scorpion Rave Parties

Did you know scorpions throw their own rave parties? That's right, they're natural-born glow sticks: Scorpions gleam in bluish-green under ultraviolet light due to the hyaline layer in their exoskeleton, which possibly helps them detect UV light and know when to hunt, although the exact reason for their glow remains unknown.
Source => terminix.com

13. Magnetic Moth Navigators

You might say that Bogong moths are more than just "magnet-ic personalities" - they're aerial navigators par excellence! These night flyers have a secret weapon up their hairy sleeves: they tap into the Earth's magnetic field for traveling assistance. Seriously folks: researchers from Lund University in Sweden, along with international colleagues, have discovered that Bogong moths use the Earth's magnetic field much like birds do, employing it in conjunction with visual landmarks to steer their flight. It's also believed that moths in northern Europe use this magnetic compass in a similar fashion during their migrations – that's metal, moth style!
Source => lunduniversity.lu.se

14. Aphid Parent Traps

Aphids must have watched "The Parent Trap" too many times, because they're experts at switching things up: These little green bugs can actually swap their reproductive modes from parthenogenesis to sexual reproduction based on environmental cues, like shorter days and chilly temps, helping them produce frost-resistant eggs and survive the harsh winter.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov