It’s almost Halloween, and the spooky season has begun! But, being iNatters, we can’t stick to ghosts and zombies and Frankenstein. Does anyone know any plant, animal, fungus, or other life form that has a spooky habit, scary appearance, or just gives you the chills? I’ll start us of with the black-and-white owl and this Pacific stargazer, both of which are pretty darn creepy. Your turn!
Myathropa florea
Evil pumpkin face on its back
Another seriously spooky one here, discretion is advised.
There are lots. The first two that come to mind are:
Vampire bats of the subfamily Desmodontinae. Creepy because they hit you while you’re sleeping.
The nematode Myrmeconema neotropicum, which incidentally has NO observations on iNaturalist. Creepy because it does mind control, like many internal parasites.
I don’t find lampreys to be as creepy, because it’s pretty obvious when you have a garden hose hanging off of you. They don’t have that “sneaky” factor of you being asleep, or doing mind control on you.
My favorite… Spined Micrathena.
When I got my first good look at one of these, my reaction was this: “It is the distilled, ultimate essence of ‘spider’ and deserves it’s own horror movie franchise. Not just one movie; a whole series. It’s just that cool.”
I found this wee friend a little eerie.
That splash screen picture when I log in to iNat.
Bunch of pipe cleaners with no head. Or body.
Gives me nightmares!
Any praying mantis, but especially this species. Just imagine an alien being 2 m tall.
Edit: I don’t find them creepy, but fascinating. But this alien face and when they chew up their prey is better than any zombie.
Omphalotus illudens. This mushroom is actually called “Jack-o’-Lantern.” Not only is it orange in color, but it glows in the dark! It is one of the sources of the “foxfire” of folklore.
Also, it is a poisonous mushroom that people sometimes mistake for the highly sought-after chanterelle, which is pretty creepy in itself.
Any of the parasitoid wasps.
Oh, they’re not spooky for humans. But if you were an insect, they are the monsters from the Alien movie franchise, whose young will devour you from the inside out.
I’ll say:
Any invasive species.
Can’t help but love these ominous little mushrooms…
Galerina marginata ~ “The Funeral Bell”
The spookyness is warranted - they’re fatally toxic, and often can be confused with Psilocybe species.
How do you feel about humans?
But seriously — if you measure when any human, anywhere on Earth, feels spooked, or scared, or gets the chills, and you check which species caused the fear, humans would be ahead of all other species, by orders of magnitude.
I think they are scary… Sometimes to me or critters.
Lampreys are awesomely creepy.
Looks like something straight out of a sci-fi thriller!
Here’s one more from Aracnids, who’s id is yet to be confirmed.
Let’s see… Some of my favorite spooky species are the death’s head hawkmoth featured as a symbol in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’; the stygian owl, both for it’s excellent name and the impressive red glow from the tapetum lucidum in its eyes when lit up in the dark; ghost bats (genus Diclidurus), again excellent name, might actually be startling to see at night, but adorable in daylight; and there are so many deep sea creatures that would fit the bill, but I’ll highlight the vampire squid: Not only does it have a wicked beak and spiked tentacles, but its red pigment makes it practically invisible in the deep sea and the bioluminescent photophores covering its body create a ghostly display. Its also full of ammonia, so it smells like some eldritch horror and it can spray bioluminescent ink as well!
Just a normal Heteropoda from Bharat :), they can make a painful bite
That’s true. I can think of many humans that frighten me.
Welcome to the forum @vandanjhaveri !