Because I feel like it, here are some assorted cool invertebrates you may not know of, that definitely deserve more love and attention
Red-dotted planthopper (Lystra lanata) - the ‘feathers’ on its abdomen is actually a waxy secretion that’s meant to deter predators, help it glide while falling, and protect eggs. It’s also hydrophobic, meaning it repels water!
Giant polynoid worm (Eulagisca gigantea) - The first picture actually shows the ventral side! The worm’s back is covered in two rows of large, plated scales called elytra. The ‘head’ (which is really a proboscis) in the pictures is turned inside out and is thus visible, but usually it’s retracted. The worm is about 20 cm/8 inches long.
Whip spider (Ariamnes) - This may look look like some odd non-spider arachnid, but it actually is a true spider! The long ‘tail’ is really it’s abdomen (read: belly/butt). The abdomen apparently isn’t segmented like such parts are with most invertebrates, but it’s still very flexible, almost like a tail.
Antarctic medusa (Desmonema glaciale) - This jellyfish’s bell can grow up to 1 m (3 ft) in diameter, and while it has less than 10 tentacles, they can grow up to 5 meters long!! Like most larger jellies it eats fish and small shrimp, but it has also been known to eat starfish! It’s just… really beautiful and alien-looking.
Trilobite beetle (Platerodrilus) - Yup this is a regular beetle. If you look at photos of the males, it’s pretty clear that they’re just beetles, but for some reason the female looks like this. Because of that insane sexual dimorphism, it took almost a century to even figure out what the males looked like, because they just don’t look like the same species. Also, you see that tiny segment at the front? That’s the entire head!
Fifty-rayed predatory starfish (Labidiaster annulatus) - This is an Antarctic species of starfish that’s roughly 60 cm (24 in) in diameter. It most commonly eats krill and it’s completely harmless despite looking like the spawn of Cthulhu!
Arctiine moth (Creatonotos gangis) - The weird tupes at the bottom are enlarged coremata, a pheromone signaling structure that all male moths and butterflies have. For some reason they’re just exceptionally large in a few species like this.
Piure (Pyura chilensis) - This may look like a rock full of bloody organs, but it’s actually a tunicate, one of the few invertebrate chordates of the world! It eats by sucking up seawater and filtering out the micro organisms. They’re all born male, but become hermaphroditic as they age. No one knows how or why, but its blood is clear and contains an extremely high concentration of the element Vanadium.
Lobster moth (Stauropus fagi) - This is actually the caterpillar. The adult moths look like pretty standard moths. The caterpillar is believed to mimic a spider or ant. When disturbed, it’ll thrash around violently like an injured ant, and its front legs are described as “ever nervously twisting about.”
There is such an amazingly intricate wealth of animals right under our noses, but they’re so small we rarely give them any thought 💕
