Invertebrates (animals without backbones) such as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans make up the vast majority of animals on Earth.
These amazing creatures are vital to our ecosystems because they are pollinators, pest controllers, soil creators, and waste managers.
Invertebrates are also food for many other animals. Despite their efforts, many of these creatures are often referred to as "creepy crawlies," as per Raw Story.
'creepy crawlies' you don't need to be afraid
Social huntsman spiders
Social huntsman spiders are native to Australia and live in large family groups beneath the loose bark of dead or dying trees.
Unlike most spider species, social huntsmans live in groups of up to 300 offspring of a large adult female. Spiders will aggressively defend their nest against intruders, implying that they have mechanisms for distinguishing nestmates from non-nestmates.
Individual huntsmans leave the communal nest at night to hunt their insect prey. Despite being solitary hunters, spiders that come across the same insect will share food rather than fight.
Spiderlings would rather starve to death than eat another spider.
Social huntsmans help to control insect populations by consuming large numbers of bugs.
Giant burrowing cockroach
Cockroaches are among the most feared and reviled insects in the world, which is unfortunate because most cockroaches are harmless animals that play an important role in our natural environment.
Consider the giant burrowing cockroach in Australia's warm tropical and subtropical forests.
This gentle giant is the world's heaviest cockroach, weighing in at 30 to 35 grams.
Unlike its infamous relatives, the giant burrowing cockroach is not a pest and prefers to spend most of its time in underground burrows.
Dry eucalyptus leaves are consumed by giant burrowing cockroaches, which they collect and drag into their burrows.
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Baphomet moth
The Baphomet moth appears to be an alien nightmare, with strangely pulsating tentacles, but these moths are simply looking for love.
When male Baphomet moths detect the presence of a female, they inflate enormous tentacle-like organs known as "coremata," which produce an irresistible chemical bouquet that attracts females.
While coremata are found in other moth species, Baphomet moths extend theirs to ridiculous lengths, with "tentacles" sometimes exceeding the length of their abdomens.
Male Baphomet moths get the ingredients they need to make their female-attracting scents as caterpillars by eating plant leaves containing chemicals called pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
Plants produce these alkaloids to repel plant-eating animals, but Baphomet moths have evolved a method of converting these chemicals into their own appealing scents.
Brahmin Moth Caterpillar
This caterpillar looks like an alien. Its spindles resemble tentacles, which adds to the alien appearance, along with the shiny black coloring on its body, as per Creative roots.
The spindles extend from its belly and serve as both a means of prey capture and a defense mechanism.
Scorpionfly
The scorpionfly, as the name implies, is a type of fly that resembles a scorpion, owing to its long tail.
While the appearance of this bug is frightening, its habit of living in and discovering human corpses is even scarier.
This feature, however, has made it useful to forensic scientists who use them in cadaver studies.
Tailless whip scorpion
Despite their name, tailless whip scorpions are not scorpions, but rather members of the amblypygid family of arachnids.
Despite their intimidating appearance, amblypygids lack venom and are fearful creatures that bite only when threatened.
These shy animals prefer to hide in humid environments like leaf litter, caves, or under the bark.
Amblypygids have elongated front legs that serve as feelers and aid in the arachnid's search for insect prey. When amblypygids detect prey, they impale it with their sharp pedipalps.
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