…because his enemy wasn’t real. Whoa. That was Zen-like.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Don’t fear for the insect folks, it was released into the wild after the enlightening encounter, hungry but wiser than ever before.

[via Neatorama]

This crazy thing could actually be the biggest fly you’ll see this year. Turns out this mammoth-sized bug was created by the guys over at Plunge Productions for a recent show on UK channel T4 called Red Bull Rivals.

The massive fly is actually a Red Bull Flugtag vehicle, which means that’s it’s designed to be plunged off of a cliff in a futile attempt to fly through the air.

As a matter of fact, the fly was eventually plunged into the drink for the recent Red Bull Flugtag in Marseille, France. Here’s an annoying little video clip from the show called “Fly School Musical” for your viewing pleasure…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While the white guy rapping in the video clip isn’t nearly as cool as the fly itself, at least you get to see the giant bug fly off the ramp in a brief cameo at the end.

It’s official – flies cannot swim.

Designer Chico Bicalho’s MxyKikker crawler is my personal favorite, what with its dozen or so spinny elbow macaroni looking legs which help it move along your floor. Each of these unique creations has a slightly different way of ambling around, but they all are about as whimsical as can be.

Here’s a brief video clip showing off MxyKikker and his pal Bonga in action…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can find these guys, along with Kikkerland’s entire collection of creepy, crawly automatons over at their online shop. Prices range from $6 to $40 (USD), depending on the size and mechanical complexity of the critter you select.

The pair of dragonflies use a solar-powered motor and a mechanical wire rig to make their wings beat. And while these dragonflies don’t actually fly anywhere, I think that’s a good thing. Have you ever tried to get a good look at a dragonfly up close and personal? They don’t like to stick around for long. Here’s a video clip of the solar dragonflies in action…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can catch the Tamiya solar dragonfly kit over at Amazon for about $36 (USD).

Created by Mike Libby of Insect Lab, these steampunk bugs combine mechanical components with REAL bug carcasses. Libby takes preserved insect specimens and delicately adorns them with watch gears, springs and other antique analog elements.

As these are serious Art (with a capital “A”), Libby’s insects aren’t inexpensive. The one-of-a-kind bugs cost anywhere from $400 to $2500 (USD) and more. If you like these, you can always pick up one of his 11″x14″ giclee prints for $120 each.

You can check out the full collection over at Insect Lab. Don’t blame me if you can’t sleep tonight.

[Thanks for the tip, Jay!]

Japanese studies on insect brains recently led a team of researchers to wire a moth to a robot. Using the scent of female moths to control the moth’s motion, they learned “the moth can steer the [robot] car and quickly adapt to changes in the way the vehicle operates — for example by introducing a steering bias to the left or right similar to the effect of a flat tyre.”

The article is full of magical fun uses for insect bots, but all I’m seeing is my imminent demise. Got to go; time to stock up on bug spray.

[via Hacked Gadgets]

Let’s start off with something spooky. Those are some spooky eggs, from the Spooky Insect. Okay I don’t know what insect comes out of those eggs. Which adds to the mystery, don’t you think?

It’s easy to see how mystery eggs number 2 may freak the hell out of other insects and animals. They look like tiny webcams.

That’s a Papaya fruit fly, depositing its “milky, white eggs” into a fruit. Good thing I don’t eat papayas.

These Spined Soldier Bug eggs look like something out of a Contra or Metroid game. As you may have guessed, their shiny, spiny shells deter would-be predators from munching on them. The shells stiffen as time goes by, further protecting the critters inside.

Check out the original article at Webphemera for more strange, and sometimes disgusting insect eggs. Don’t forget to check your fruits for eggs.

[via The Presurfer]

Created by Uncle Milton’s (the same guys who made the original ant farm over 50 years ago), this updated version features a brightly illuminated green environment for your 6-legged friends to crawl around in. Instead of sand, the tunnels are loaded with a moist, nutritious green gel (I prefer to call it goo). The see-through colony is designed to be break-proof and escape-proof, so that should keep the ants inside where they belong.

The entire contraption is illuminated LEDs to give you a bright, up-close-and-personal view of your budding ant civilization. You can even connect multiple farms to create a massive above-ground ant city. All you need is a magnifying glass and the power of the sun, and you’ll be all set.

If you don’t have any spare ants lying around, Uncle Milton’s will ship you about 25 to 30 (non-breeding) harvester worker ants to populate your world with (assuming you can wait the requisite 3 to 6 weeks for delivery).

You can grab the Uncle Milton’s LED Gel Ant Farm over at Entertainment Earth for $29.99 (USD).

Look at all the shiny plastic. Brando is kind enough to include a chain so that you can make a necklace with the bug as its pendant, although why anyone would do so is beyond me.

On second thought, it’s not half bad. But still, why a cockroach? Nevermind. If there’s one thing I can say about Brando, it’s that they’re consistent. Consistently weird. The jewel bug necklace flash drive is only available at 8 Gb capacity. It’s for sale for $33 USD at Brando’s online store.

[via Everything USB]

Here’s iunewind’s description of Night Watch: “Model of robot mosquito, killer of vampire – real mosquito.” Based on that statement, you’d think that Night Watch is going to hunt down real mosquitoes right?

Well then what do you make of this line from another image of Night Watch that he posted – and is available for purchase – at deviantart?: “NIGHT FLYING VAMPIRE BLOODPUMPED ROBOT!!!”

Oh dear. Let’s hope DARPA won’t take this concept seriously.

[via LikeCool]

The Seahope ANTS watch tells time using a bunch of the little 6-legged buggers. At first glance, you’ll have no idea what time it is. But once you figure out that the the red ones are hours, yellow ants are five-minute intervals, and the green ones are single minutes, you’ll know that the watch in the picture above says its 1:57. At least that’s what the ants told me.

While trying to make heads or tails of the current time might be painful, at least its better than 27 ant bites on your wrist. Ready to stick you hand in the ant hill? You can find the ANTS watch over at Dynamism for $119.99 USD.

[Rather not have ants on you wrist? The TokyoFlash Infection watch looks suspiciously similar, but is completely bug-free.]

This massive R/C black widow spider is designed to be an “educational toy”, but if I had one of these in class when I was a kid, it would have ended me up in the principal’s office for sure.

Created by London’s Natural History Museum, the larger-than-life (appx 12″ long by 10″ wide) mechanical arachnid can creep forward, backwards, left, right, or even spin itself around on a dime. The remote control works from up to 30 feet away, letting you stalk your unwitting victims from around a corner or hiding in their closet.

Ready to unleash havoc? Head on over to UK gadget retailer Play.com and plunk down your £17.99 (appx. $28 USD). Venom not included.

Smith takes broken down electronics and machine parts to create her amazing menagerie of animal and insect sculptures.

While they aren’t mechanical works themselves, many of her “robots” do feature posable joints, which she’s used to produce stop-motion animation of her critters.

Ann’s works are sold in galleries and shops around the US, and have been featured as illustrations in a number of magazines and other publications.

Find out more about Ann and her art over on her website burrowburrow. And when you’re ready to buy one of her pieces for your very own, be sure to check out her Etsy shop. Prices range from as little as $22 for simple insects, all the way up to $2500+ for her most intricate creations.

[via The Presurfer via designboom]

Created by German industrial designers Ding3000 for Fred, the delete key flyswatter will keep your typing hands clear of that sticky goo from smashing flies with your bare mitts. And of course, it’s much better for you than inhaling DDT.

The swatter comes in both charcoal grey and ivory to match your computer keyboard color, and can be found over on Amazon for $8 bucks a pop.

Now if only they produced an Insert key version too, I could finally release a plague of flies on the guys in the accounting department down the hall.

Created by Japan’s Taiyo Toy, the Mecha-Chu HeliBug buzzes around the place with its brightly colored body, dual copter blades and transparent insect-like wings. Measuring in at over 6-inches long, it definitely puts those Southern flying bugs to shame. While it doesn’t really take flight like a real insect does, it’s still creepy enough to give me nightmares.

The flying bug can ascend/descend or turn left or right around its helicopter-like rotors. Oddly enough it doesn’t offer forward or backward flight. It’ll fly for about 5 minutes on a 30-minute charge, and is controlled using an included infrared transmitter.

Entomologists and other bug lovers can get their feelers on one from GeekStuff4U for about $50.

Designed by artist Nifer Fahrion of NifNaks, these invertebrate USB drives are handmade using wool felting techniques. Her creations include such charming characters as Maggie the Maggot and Gizzy the Data Worm.

According to Fahrion, “Maggie is smart as a whip, and can recite pages and pages of poetry… Maggie is very calm and patient and loves to solve problems. She strives to fill her life with the new and fresh in her life, and this reflects in her eating habits too. Maggie can be found dining at all the new trendy restaurants every night, and has even been occasionally accused of being a food snob. She makes a loyal and loving friend to anyone who will have her.”

On the other hand, “Gizzy will astound you with his ability to remember things – 4 gigabytes worth, in fact! He loves super tart gumballs, and won’t eat anything orange. He enjoys bungee jumping, but most days he’s content just to sit around and read a book. Gizzy is of course an amazing speller and will knock your socks of in Scrabble.” Being one to frequently assign personalities to the inanimate objects around me, I can certainly relate.

Each data worm stores 4GB, and prices range from $66 to $68 each. Since each NifNaks creature is handmade, expect to wait about 10 days to get your hands on one.

Volume and power controls are concealed beneath a set of flaps reminiscent of a ladybug’s wings, but they can be used in the closed position thanks to perforations in the wings. They’ll run on either USB power or on AAA batteries, so you can take your sound wherever you go.

Purveyor of imported Asian curiosities, DealExtreme sells these for about $14.

Designers Soner Ozenc and John Wischhusen created these electroluminescent butterflies called GloWings. Each see-through winged critter is loaded with blue electroluminescent wire to produce a soft blue-green glow. They can be hung on a wall, or from a ceiling, and look really cool when you have a bunch of them hanging together in a group.

They can run on either AAA batteries or on AC current (it sounds like they only include a European A/C adapter, so you might need to grab your own). You can net these butterflies for yourself from Generate for $139 USD each.

[via Funfurde]

Harold’s Mercury BEAM Robot was scavenged from a variety of junk parts, but an old PlayStation console was the primary contributor, giving the ‘bot its two motors and other internals that keep it chugging along.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Just like a real insect, Mercury has an innate desire to seek out sources of light. It took Ilano many weeks of painstaking effort in order to get the light tracking just right.

Glad to see the old console is still being put to some good use. (For those of you who don’t know what a BEAM robot is, there’s a good explanation here.)

[StreetTech via MAKE]

Developed by Hirose-Fukushima Robotics Lab, the Roller-Walker robot walks like an insect when in walking mode, but then can transform itself into a rolling, wheel ‘bot when it’s instructed to. You’ve definitely got to watch the video clip to get the full effect – it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen a robot do.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’m assuming that this dual approach allows the robot to deal with more challenging terrain when in walking mode, then move around more quickly on flat land in wheel mode. It’s all very cool stuff indeed.

[via Robots.Net]