But I found something new. Something really crazy. Something that gives the platypus a run for his money. You just gotta see this.
In Malaysia, there is a fly that will freak you out. When the infant fly emerges from his pupa case, he looks like clear plastic the consistency of jello. He’s about as cute as week-old carrion, with buggy eyes and a waspish body.
He climbs a branch and begins gulping in air and forcing it into his cranium (kinda like plugging your nose and blowing to clear your ears).
He keeps blowing, forcing the air into the stalks supporting his eyes. You know those guys at the fair who blow up long balloons and twist them into fantastic shapes? This is the same thing. The fly blows his eyes out. Waaaaaaaay out. As in ‘you have to see this to believe it’ out.
Oprah even said, “This a bug whose eyes really bug out. Literally.” It is the stalk-eyed fly, scientifically known as Teleopsis breviscopium.
His newly formed body and eye stalks harden and darken into the respectable critter you see above. And the fly with the longest eyes gets the girls. Okay, are you ready to see a video on how they blow their eyes out?
Well here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGX7zZk0Eo4
This is a 2 minute clip from a fantastic documentary called “Life” by BBC. Oprah Winfrey narrates. Is has to be good to get Oprah, right? Right.
If you get a chance to see the rest of the program, you won’t be sorry. (Our library even has it.) I can’t believe we live in such a strange world. Truth really is stranger than fiction.
So what’s the weirdest critter you know about?
That is freaky. :)
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