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- Feb 27, 2005
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Sorry if this is considered far off-topic, I wasn't sure where it should go.
Being as into monsters as I'm into invertebrates, I research a lot of mythological creatures, but for all the millions of dragons and goblins and vampires out there, invertebrates are remarkably absent from most ancient folklore...over years and years, I've dug up only a handful of giant insect/arachnid legends, and nearly all of them are japanese. Again, I hope this isn't too far off-topic, but I thought people might find these cool. I decided to post them because I only just recently learned the details of the "Jorougumo", which had been eluding me for ages (it's only passingly mentioned in most books I've read, and the internet was no help at all)
This thread may, however, be more appropriate for the general arachnids board because virtually all of them are arachnids...
From japanese folklore:
Mukade - giant centipede with venomous breath, so huge and powerful that even dragons, including the local dragon king, live in fear of it. Only one hero knows Mukade's weakness to human saliva, and ultimately kills him with a spit-coated arrow through the eye.
Here's a GREAT illustration I've found.
Tsuchigumo - the "earth spider", a giant spider of semi-godly power featured in MANY different legends.
A very old depiction of Tsuchigumo vs. the legendary hero Raiko.
Ushi-oni - a huge, firebreathing spider with the head of a cow. Sometimes considered harmless.
Jorougumo - the "prostitute spider" (there's a real species with the same name, too)...appears in the form of a beautiful woman to lure men, then takes on her true spider form and devours them. Sometimes has hordes of baby spiders hidden under her robes.
This woodcut dates back centuries.
Some photos of the "real" jorougumo (some of you may know this species by another name)
From Malaysia:
Pelesit - a vampire cricket with a sawlike tail. It has a symbiotic relationship with the "polong", a spirit vampire resembling a tiny human woman. Together they enter human bodies as parasites and drive them insane.
From native american folklore:
Weewilmekq - a gigantic leech with a bright green body, red check marks all over, a pair of curving bony horns, a spear-like tail, and a serrated sucker-mouth that it could drain blood and body fluids. A good shape-changer in one story becomes a Weewilmekq to defeat an evil shape-changer who has taken on the form of a dragon.
Tlanusi'Yi - another giant leech, from Cherokee mythology. A red-and-white striped leech said to lurk at the base of a whirlpool. It would pull in its victims, poison them to death, and eat only their ears and noses.
There is also another japanese one, which resembles a huge mole-cricket, but I don't know its name or details.
But really, other than the kraken (which isn't exactly a myth anymore) those are the only mythological beasts based on any invertebrates at all...a bit sad. At least most of them are awesome, though.
Being as into monsters as I'm into invertebrates, I research a lot of mythological creatures, but for all the millions of dragons and goblins and vampires out there, invertebrates are remarkably absent from most ancient folklore...over years and years, I've dug up only a handful of giant insect/arachnid legends, and nearly all of them are japanese. Again, I hope this isn't too far off-topic, but I thought people might find these cool. I decided to post them because I only just recently learned the details of the "Jorougumo", which had been eluding me for ages (it's only passingly mentioned in most books I've read, and the internet was no help at all)
This thread may, however, be more appropriate for the general arachnids board because virtually all of them are arachnids...
From japanese folklore:
Mukade - giant centipede with venomous breath, so huge and powerful that even dragons, including the local dragon king, live in fear of it. Only one hero knows Mukade's weakness to human saliva, and ultimately kills him with a spit-coated arrow through the eye.
Here's a GREAT illustration I've found.
Tsuchigumo - the "earth spider", a giant spider of semi-godly power featured in MANY different legends.
A very old depiction of Tsuchigumo vs. the legendary hero Raiko.
Ushi-oni - a huge, firebreathing spider with the head of a cow. Sometimes considered harmless.
Jorougumo - the "prostitute spider" (there's a real species with the same name, too)...appears in the form of a beautiful woman to lure men, then takes on her true spider form and devours them. Sometimes has hordes of baby spiders hidden under her robes.
This woodcut dates back centuries.
Some photos of the "real" jorougumo (some of you may know this species by another name)
From Malaysia:
Pelesit - a vampire cricket with a sawlike tail. It has a symbiotic relationship with the "polong", a spirit vampire resembling a tiny human woman. Together they enter human bodies as parasites and drive them insane.
From native american folklore:
Weewilmekq - a gigantic leech with a bright green body, red check marks all over, a pair of curving bony horns, a spear-like tail, and a serrated sucker-mouth that it could drain blood and body fluids. A good shape-changer in one story becomes a Weewilmekq to defeat an evil shape-changer who has taken on the form of a dragon.
Tlanusi'Yi - another giant leech, from Cherokee mythology. A red-and-white striped leech said to lurk at the base of a whirlpool. It would pull in its victims, poison them to death, and eat only their ears and noses.
There is also another japanese one, which resembles a huge mole-cricket, but I don't know its name or details.
But really, other than the kraken (which isn't exactly a myth anymore) those are the only mythological beasts based on any invertebrates at all...a bit sad. At least most of them are awesome, though.
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(my personal favorite big bug movie is the more modern "ticks". Not very good, but it gets points for choosing a unique bug to monster-ize. I'd like to see a movie about giant fleas someday)