Puppies, kittens, infants: All adorable. And do you know why? Because they’re tiny. If you start to magnify these things, then you wind up with the substantially less cute wolves, jaguars and teenagers.
Yes, if there’s one thing nature teaches us, it’s that what may start out as an adorable little animal friend can quickly turn into horror when its itty-bitty mouth gets big enough to start eating your face. And when the little versions are already creepy, the big versions are the stuff nightmares are made of. Case in point: this ridiculously huge bug that was recently discovered.
Armed with huge, nightmarish pincers, this is officialy the world’s largest insect. It was recently discovered in China’s Sichuan province by local villagers who handed them over to Insect Museum of West China. Several of these odd critters were examined by the museum and found to be unusually large specimens of the giant dobsonfly, which is native to China and Vietnam.
The giant dobsonfly makes its home in bodies of clean water and is highly sensitive to any changes in the water’s pH as well as the presence of trace elements of pollutants. If the water is slightly contaminated, the giant dobsonfly will move on to seek cleaner waters.
The insect can be found in other provinces in China, India’s Assam state, and in northern Vietnam. This is the first time it has appeared in Sichuan province.
Holy Shit! Is it Dangerous?
Even though it looks like it could make the heads of 20 elephants explode with a single bite, they are in fact quite harmless. The female, whose mandibles are more functional, might nip if provoked, but she too is harmless.