When it comes to bugs, there’s the good, the bad, and the downright scary. Here are some freaky critters that will make you want to grab a can of Raid. Of course, in these instances, that can might not be strong enough. Perhaps a blowtorch.

Siafu Ants

The Siafu live in colonies, sometimes with 20 million of them in one colony. But unlike other ants, they don’t have a permanent residence. They might live in hollowed trees or holes for only days at a time before they move along. They are capable of very powerful stings, but they primarily bite their prey, using a seriating type motion of their jaws. Although useful to some people by ridding them of natural pests like rodents, the Siafu have been known to kill people. Cases have been reported where young children and the ill have been overtaken by the ants and asphyxiated.

One case of a couple out in the bush of Africa left their infant asleep in their tent. They then heard the shrieking of their child. When they rushed in, swarming ants covered the child. Luckily their child survived. They are capable of de-fleshing small animals like frogs within minutes. Even though they can be nasty if you’re stupid enough to get in their way, they do have their resources. They’re used as sutures to close wounds. Their heads are placed over the wound where their large pincers bite the flesh. The head is then decapitated from the abdomen, and the head will then remain for days acting as a suture for the wound.

Scolopendra Gigantean

Otherwise known as a really big fricking centipede, these guys are known to eat lizards, frogs, birds, mice, and bats. Although they are not fatal to humans, their bite can be pretty painful. They can cause fever, chills, swelling, and well, if one ever bites you, you feel like you got the flu (minus the barfing and trots).

Camel Spiders (Solifugae)

Let’s clear up a rumor that’s been spreading on the Internet about these guys. Back in the 1990’s, some photos of these guys began to circulate. They were rumored to be able to eat the flesh of animals. Now with the war in Iraq, more rumors of these arachnids are swirling around. Well for one, they do bite, but they don’t eat flesh. And if one does bite you, while it is painful, it isn’t deadly. If you don’t clean the wound properly, it can get infected because of bacteria transferred from the insect to you.

They do not scream when attacking prey. I used to have one as a pet out here in Arizona, and never once did I ever here it “scream.” They do hiss, so I suppose people who are freaked out by them could mistake the sound as screaming. They’re called camel spiders because they live in the desert, but we call them sun spiders. They love to chase their shadows, which is why some people think that they are attacking them. The spider is just following your shadow. They are creepy looking if you ever see one.

Parasitic Nematode

This little roundworm is a parasite that loves to infect the Cephalotes atratus ant. It causes the ants abdomen to transform from black to red. The abdomen of the ant will end up looking like a juicy red berry. A bird flying by will mistake the ant for a berry. If the bird saw the ant in its natural form, with its black abdomen, it would never bother the ant. When the bird eats the ant, it ingests it and poops out the remnants. Other ants will then gather the seeds and insect parts and feed them to their larvae. When the ant larvae become infected, the cycle begins again.

Flesh-Eating Caterpillars

Okay, this name is a bit misleading. They only eat the flesh of snails. The Hyposmocoma are caterpillars that feast on escargot. Of the 350, only four species are known to eat snails. They trap snails on silk webbing, much like spiders. When a snail comes to rest on the silk, the caterpillar will poke the trapped snail to see if it’s still alive. It will then tie it down and ingest the snail alive. The snails who have silk encasings, will sometimes take the snails shell, and attach it to its encasing.

Dipetalogaster Maximus

This little guy is a bloodsucker. It can eat nearly four milliliters of blood in one sitting. And the host won’t even feel a thing due to the anesthetic it injects. Thanks so much little guy. A study has been done on nesting terns to measure stress hormone levels. The insects were placed into artificial eggs that had holes in them. The hole was large enough for the insect’s proboscis to fit through. The eggs were then placed into the birds’ nest. This kind of test is now being introduced as a way to get blood specimens from difficult animals in zoos. Good to know that some bugs are good for something.