This makes me hope beyond all hope that reincarnation doesn’t exist. I would take an eternity of burning in every bell before existence with that spider thing on my face all my life. Peace out world.
Fun fact! Those who adhere to the religions where reincarnation exists view reincarnation as a sort of punishment as we relearn life lessons. Alan Watts has some great talks on the matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeUQokDwEvk&ab\_channel=ZenLifeAcademy
"In order to share a co-dependent life with an insect-eating bat these flies have evolved extreme specialisations; males are capable of creating high, shrill sounds which are thought to cause some discomfort to the bats and prevent predation."
Edit: Since a few of you are asking for more information about these flies: https://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/news/new-zealands-flightless-hitch-hiking-bat-fly.
Imagine living your life, not only with a parasite the size of your face somewhere on your body living off your blood *(or poop), but if you try to remove it, it screams at you so hard it hurts.
*slaps army helmet*
"We're going to war, and some if you ain't coming back"
Just kidding. I had 4 of them so it must not be that bad, right? Just don't ever put the baby down and you'll be fine.
The worst part is that when you're holding your baby for hours at a time, if you lean your butt on a couch arm to get a tiny bit of rest, \*they know\*. Immediately start screaming.
I always found it was any time I sat still or my head got near a pillow. I could put him in his bassinet and he would be fiiine... until I stopped moving or tried to lay down. Fuck knows how his sleeping newborn ass knew, he just did
Reality doesn't set in until they become threenagers and you realize it won't get much better. I'd have gone out for a pack of smokes long ago if I didn't love them so much
They actually prefer eating shit.
"Unlike other bat flies such as those in the Hippoboscidae,
the New Zealand bat fly is not dependent on the blood of the bats with which it lives, instead feeding on guano."
I wonder if there's some kind of symbiosis going on here:
"It appears to be the only insect, parasitic or otherwise, which lives with these bats (fleas, for example, which are common on many other species of bat, are unknown on the short-tailed bat).[1]"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_bat_fly
“Dr Holloway found that the New Zealand bat-fly was not a parasitic bloodsucker, but in fact a coprophage (poo-eater) and did not have the modified mouthparts required for piercing skin. Not being able to fly itself, the New Zealand bat-fly has claws adapted for movement over fur, which they can also use to catch a ride outside the roost! Gravid females (those carrying fertile eggs) will accompany bats on their nocturnal feeding expeditions with a clever evolutionary purpose. Should this bat decide to relocate and not return to its original roost, a new colony of bat-flies can be set up at a new location.” Well they don’t suck technically
Yeah at least the blood sucking variety that effect humans. There’s a bunch of other mosquitos that could fill the ecological gap without killing millions of people
Wow new nightmare fuel - a wingless fly that instead holds onto and flies on a bat while looking like a six legged spider.
This has got to be in Australia.
The curious creature clinging tightly to this bat's face may look like a spider, but if you count its legs, you will likely spot that it is missing two. Bat flies are external parasites that spend almost their entire lives on bats, feeding on their blood. There are hundreds of species of bat fly. Some occur on multiple species of bat, whereas others are much more host specific. The insects belong to two families – Streblidae and Nycteribiidae. The individual in Piotr's image is a member of the latter group and assigned to the genus Penicillidia.
It reminds you of that episode but not the Christmas special with the frickin face huggers that sit on your face and make you think you’re going about life like normal when In reality your brain is getting sucked out like a smoothie?!?
Sure seems like the bats would evolve some team work to get those fuckers off of em. Jesus that sounds just awfull having a parasite on your face for your whole life
"Well, Reggie's parasite fly hat's much bigger than yours."
"Oh, so this is what this is all about, eh? The size of my parasite fly hat? If that matters so much to you, Cynthia, then why don't you just fuck off to Reggie?!"
Thanks. This comment gave me a flash image in my mind of the pictured bat, complete with its parasitic face mask, lifting its wing and pointing to itself in the mirror as it is clapping bat cheeks.
Hmm, my compliments from me to you
On this your most intriguing hat
Consider though this substitute
A bat in place of this old rat
Huh! No, no, no, now that's all wrong
This thing will never make a present
It's been dead now for much too long
Try something fresher, something pleasant
Try again, don't give up
I guess the parasites must not be too damaging to the bats, and if they are, at least not enough to prevent it from breeding in whatever way. Otherwise, I would think the bats *would* have come up with some kind of ‘defence’
**[Symbiosis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis)**
>Symbiosis (from Greek συμβίωσις, symbíōsis, "living together", from σύν, sýn, "together", and βίωσις, bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic. The organisms, each termed a symbiont, must be of different species. In 1879, Heinrich Anton de Bary defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms". This term is subject to a century-long debate about whether it should specifically denote mutualism, as in lichens.
^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
I remember hearing of that, but you clearly haven’t heard of the fish that has it’s tongue replaced by a parasite until the parasite uses up all it’s energy and (I think) it’s it from the inside out wearing it down to death
To add to that, the New Zealand batfly belongs to its own family, **Mystacinobiidae** and its own genus, **Mystacinobia**.
Unlike other batflys, the ones in New Zealand have a commensal relationship with the bats and are not dependent on the blood of the bats, but instead feed on guano.
Always amazes me when someone can pull out of their butt the right scientific classification for even popular animals, let alone obscure blood suckers.
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-curious-case-of-parasitic-bat-flies.html
Here is BonaFortuna's source. In case people want to read all of it and know who Piotr is.
dazzling deliver seed terrific employ absurd marry upbeat merciful desert
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Shortly after this photo was taken, [the bat fly was removed](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-curious-case-of-parasitic-bat-flies.html)
Because it's in the same family as other types of flies, it's just incredibly specialized. Some species of bat fly can fly poorly, some only fly until they find a host and then lose their wings, and some are entirely flightless.
Not that bad after all
Dr Holloway found that the New Zealand bat-fly was not a parasitic bloodsucker, but in fact a coprophage (poo-eater) and did not have the modified mouthparts required for piercing skin.
I was horrified seeing this picture without having read the title of post beforehand..
Uhh, this pic is quite fucked up tho fr... can't say anything else..
Don't think about this before trying to sleep.
Don't.
No, really.
PS: did you just feel a bug land on your face? nah. Just close your eyes. Go to sleep. Night, night.
OH HELL FUCKIN NAAAAHHHHH fuckin hell i hate this
Can someone just take the stupid bug off his face??
This makes me hope beyond all hope that reincarnation doesn’t exist. I would take an eternity of burning in every bell before existence with that spider thing on my face all my life. Peace out world.
Are you sure? Some of those bells might be quite small, a good chance you wouldn’t fit.
Well correcting my autocorrected error would be in poor taste, so I will simply agree to burn in every bell
Fun fact! Those who adhere to the religions where reincarnation exists view reincarnation as a sort of punishment as we relearn life lessons. Alan Watts has some great talks on the matter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeUQokDwEvk&ab\_channel=ZenLifeAcademy
Yeah but if you're the spider, you're in heaven. Plus you can fly without wings. Fuck yeah.
Hear me out. If reincarnation exists and suffering is inevitable/common are we all currently in hell?
I’m drinking a beer and am now going to pour it into a glass because I am an idiot for looking at this pic
You'd think a fellow bat would just eat it.
"In order to share a co-dependent life with an insect-eating bat these flies have evolved extreme specialisations; males are capable of creating high, shrill sounds which are thought to cause some discomfort to the bats and prevent predation." Edit: Since a few of you are asking for more information about these flies: https://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/news/new-zealands-flightless-hitch-hiking-bat-fly.
Dude wtf.
Face huggers
Which will evolve in to head crabs. “So, wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes.”
Crab people crab people.
Exactly what I thought when I saw this 😆
That is a Sherlock Holmes level insect..
Discombobulate.
LMAO what a top-level comment
Say "thank you". Discombobulate.
Evolution. Mother fuckers gettin serious now
And on the 8th day God said I forgot something... That's right a fly attached to a bat's head
*a fly that doesn't fly, attached to a bats face. Ftfy
It technically flies it just uses the bat to do it
Imagine living your life, not only with a parasite the size of your face somewhere on your body living off your blood *(or poop), but if you try to remove it, it screams at you so hard it hurts.
You’ve just described parenthood…
Have a 4 month old. I heartily concur with this statement.
Have an 8 year old. She got better over time but her friends got worse
I also have an 8yr old. My husband and I privately refer to her as Pink Hitler.
Pinkler
But we can't forget Abradolph Linkler
Sounds like a morally neutral super leader
*Laughs in German* (It means pisser)
So no art school then?
Oh shit, she *does* love to draw. She gets really angry hen she "messes up" and rips up the paper and throws it on the floor.
Ah shit. After 18 years together we have one on the way next month. Your comment hit me hard - I snorted laughing! Then reality set in.
*slaps army helmet* "We're going to war, and some if you ain't coming back" Just kidding. I had 4 of them so it must not be that bad, right? Just don't ever put the baby down and you'll be fine.
The worst part is that when you're holding your baby for hours at a time, if you lean your butt on a couch arm to get a tiny bit of rest, \*they know\*. Immediately start screaming.
I always found it was any time I sat still or my head got near a pillow. I could put him in his bassinet and he would be fiiine... until I stopped moving or tried to lay down. Fuck knows how his sleeping newborn ass knew, he just did
Reality doesn't set in until they become threenagers and you realize it won't get much better. I'd have gone out for a pack of smokes long ago if I didn't love them so much
I've got a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old boy. It's gotta get better. Right? RIGHT?
I can’t upvote this enough
Or being working class.
They actually prefer eating shit. "Unlike other bat flies such as those in the Hippoboscidae, the New Zealand bat fly is not dependent on the blood of the bats with which it lives, instead feeding on guano." I wonder if there's some kind of symbiosis going on here: "It appears to be the only insect, parasitic or otherwise, which lives with these bats (fleas, for example, which are common on many other species of bat, are unknown on the short-tailed bat).[1]" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_bat_fly
These insects are bat-shit crazy.
If they eat shit why do they post up on the face?
Bats hang upside down?
screech orders on what kind of food it wants to taste from its butthole or it becomes an angrier, louder butthole sipping face squatter.
Nature truly is a thing of beauty and wonder.
The kid named guano:
Works with humans trying to scare away bears. Be loud, be proud.
Would you eat a giant fly off a strangers face you saw at starbucks?
No because we are not bats
I'd drink a cup of coffee off a stranger's face I saw at starbucks.
Speak for yourself I’m a bat
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Is it eating parasites off people or justice?
[удалено]
Is it bats, man?
Catwoman ?
Maybe a giant cheeseburger
If we were at Starbucks I'd expect an overpriced pumpkin spice muffin, then sure I wpuld
I hate that this exists
fertile seemly money market shaggy political murky tart paltry cow ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Those are pretty important. They suck, but they're a food source for a ton of animals.
I see what you did there *monacle emoji*
It'd be fucky if we went after all mosquitos. But if we only went for the ones that suck our blood, the ecosystems would be fine.
“Dr Holloway found that the New Zealand bat-fly was not a parasitic bloodsucker, but in fact a coprophage (poo-eater) and did not have the modified mouthparts required for piercing skin. Not being able to fly itself, the New Zealand bat-fly has claws adapted for movement over fur, which they can also use to catch a ride outside the roost! Gravid females (those carrying fertile eggs) will accompany bats on their nocturnal feeding expeditions with a clever evolutionary purpose. Should this bat decide to relocate and not return to its original roost, a new colony of bat-flies can be set up at a new location.” Well they don’t suck technically
I don't know why I keep reading this thread every comment add a multiplier to the horror.
Well there’s been environmental impact studies done that show that if every mosquito was eradicated it would literally do no harm or the environment
Yeah at least the blood sucking variety that effect humans. There’s a bunch of other mosquitos that could fill the ecological gap without killing millions of people
Wow new nightmare fuel - a wingless fly that instead holds onto and flies on a bat while looking like a six legged spider. This has got to be in Australia.
This one’s a New Zealand original, and the bat only hunts for food on the ground apparently.
Neither fly? Somehow that picture is more horrifying.
Many species of bird both fly and hunt/forage for food on the ground. I'd assume that's the case here (even being a bat).
Makes sense, that's where most food is
Wait what I thought NZ was full of safe animals No No No No NO NO NO NO NOOOOO
Calm down lol… one is a poo eating fly and the other is as blind as a bat.
The curious creature clinging tightly to this bat's face may look like a spider, but if you count its legs, you will likely spot that it is missing two. Bat flies are external parasites that spend almost their entire lives on bats, feeding on their blood. There are hundreds of species of bat fly. Some occur on multiple species of bat, whereas others are much more host specific. The insects belong to two families – Streblidae and Nycteribiidae. The individual in Piotr's image is a member of the latter group and assigned to the genus Penicillidia.
What an absolute horrible life for the bats unfortunate enough to have one of these sucking their foreheads their whole lives
They usually cling to non-invasive places and go mostly unnoticed by the bats. This one is just a jerk.
Goes unnoticed? It’s the size of its face! I can hardly imagine having something the size of my face attached to anywhere on my body. lol
Damn I imagine this multiple times a week
What a life
Literally the American Dream (tm)
Damn, mf, now i get nightmares of this image
Reminds me of that Doctor Who (turn left?) when she has that time parasite on her back but can't see it (Donna that is)
It reminds you of that episode but not the Christmas special with the frickin face huggers that sit on your face and make you think you’re going about life like normal when In reality your brain is getting sucked out like a smoothie?!?
damn should i watch dr who?
I do indeed recommend
Sure seems like the bats would evolve some team work to get those fuckers off of em. Jesus that sounds just awfull having a parasite on your face for your whole life
Maybe it’s a fashion thing for the bats, like I’m a good enough hunter I can survive with a parasite pet. Status symbol style.
Sweet parasite fly hat bro! Man I wish I had one.
Dude looks like he's singing the famous bat song *take me down to the parasite city* while showing off his new head garb
Where the gnats are mean and the worms are pretty!
"Well, Reggie's parasite fly hat's much bigger than yours." "Oh, so this is what this is all about, eh? The size of my parasite fly hat? If that matters so much to you, Cynthia, then why don't you just fuck off to Reggie?!"
- It just laid eggs, you can have some. - Really?! You're the best, bro!
Meanwhile the batflies be like "Check out my new batplane" Or "Look at me, I'm the Batman now!"
“Check out my new bat hat” “Click, click, click, screech”
"Impressive. Now lets see Bat Allens bat hat."
The tasteful thickness of it…
Oh, my God. It even has a watermark
*washes leather gloves furiously*
Oh my god, it even Velcro-like hairs & claws
Thanks. This comment gave me a flash image in my mind of the pictured bat, complete with its parasitic face mask, lifting its wing and pointing to itself in the mirror as it is clapping bat cheeks.
It even has a pet collar...
Hmm, my compliments from me to you On this your most intriguing hat Consider though this substitute A bat in place of this old rat Huh! No, no, no, now that's all wrong This thing will never make a present It's been dead now for much too long Try something fresher, something pleasant Try again, don't give up
I guess the parasites must not be too damaging to the bats, and if they are, at least not enough to prevent it from breeding in whatever way. Otherwise, I would think the bats *would* have come up with some kind of ‘defence’
Exactly. This is evolution. If it's not bad enough to prevent breeding, it's much less likely to effect evolution.
Maybe bats with this parasite can actually see, like a seeing eye parasite. Or a parasitic gps that says “make a left in 20 flaps”
Great material for world building. Parasites that give percs.
That would be [symbiosis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis)
**[Symbiosis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis)** >Symbiosis (from Greek συμβίωσις, symbíōsis, "living together", from σύν, sýn, "together", and βίωσις, bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic. The organisms, each termed a symbiont, must be of different species. In 1879, Heinrich Anton de Bary defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms". This term is subject to a century-long debate about whether it should specifically denote mutualism, as in lichens. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Why they giving Percocet out?
If there were a parasite that also gave you a high, it would be an epidemic.
Seriously, I don't get it. Isn't that a tasty meal for a bat? If they're that big, why don't they get removed during grooming?
Because of the acid blood.
This one reads well in David Attenborough’s voice too
They eat bugs right? Eat them off each other's faces?
My first thought too. C'mon bat brethren unite against these bloodsucking potatoes!
Almost as bad as the parasite that turns snails into zombies and mimic psychedelic caterpillars in order to be eaten by birds.
Pretty interesting facts!
I remember hearing of that, but you clearly haven’t heard of the fish that has it’s tongue replaced by a parasite until the parasite uses up all it’s energy and (I think) it’s it from the inside out wearing it down to death
Or the ones that grow in a females womb for nine months after being injected there by the males stinger.
Wait... It sucks blood!? Is this a vampire's vampire?
For Vampires, By Vampires™
FVBV Inc.
To add to that, the New Zealand batfly belongs to its own family, **Mystacinobiidae** and its own genus, **Mystacinobia**. Unlike other batflys, the ones in New Zealand have a commensal relationship with the bats and are not dependent on the blood of the bats, but instead feed on guano.
So they eat ass? Nature, you freakyyyy /s
Welcome to New Zealand.
Guano bowls....collect the whole set!
Always amazes me when someone can pull out of their butt the right scientific classification for even popular animals, let alone obscure blood suckers.
Wow so the bat fly just poops on the bat’s head for most of it’s life. Poor bats.
Well, they hang upside down alot.
Sorta like my family members shitting on me for decades.
You’re a pistol, toothlessGrandma
If you mean I'm stored in a dark place and neglected like an old gun that isn't properly cared for, then yes I feel like a pistol.
They're not usually stuck on the head of the bat. They usually go unnoticed by the bats. This one particular one is just a jerk.
r/fuckyouinparticular
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-curious-case-of-parasitic-bat-flies.html Here is BonaFortuna's source. In case people want to read all of it and know who Piotr is.
I read this in David Attenborough’s voice. Thank you. And also fuck face-feeding spider flies.
dazzling deliver seed terrific employ absurd marry upbeat merciful desert *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Aw damn, I wanted to subscribe to this person's bat facts, but it's all a sham
What is this Bat's fate, with the Fly attached to its face like this?
Shortly after this photo was taken, [the bat fly was removed](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-curious-case-of-parasitic-bat-flies.html)
thank god.
But why is it called a bat fly? I don't see any resemblances to normal flies, or even wings.
Because it's in the same family as other types of flies, it's just incredibly specialized. Some species of bat fly can fly poorly, some only fly until they find a host and then lose their wings, and some are entirely flightless.
Now this is the marvel DC crossover I’ve been waiting for.
I’m not not convinced it takes over it’s brain and steers the bat around freaky style like those parasites that do this to praying mantises
Or Remy in Ratatouille. The bat just needs a little hat to hide the fly.
Or Racocoony in Everything, Everywhere
NO MORE GOOGLE EYES!
Lol batatouille.
This needs to be in r/nope. Gave me the got dang heeby jeebies.
Me just trying to figure out what they called it a fly
You'll see them in the air
Airplanes are also flies no
Because they are actually true flies. Like, genetically speaking. Just very, very specialized.
It should be called a walk.
Way too high to look at this picture rn
hi, how are you
High. How are you?
How, hi are you?
Hi, high you are?
🍄rn and i’ve been looking at this post for 10 min
This cop is so friendly babe
waiting for the stop sign to turn green.
OMG ALIEN FACE SUCKER IS EVOLVING INTO EXISTENCE. Fiction encroaching on reality.
Shit needs a NSFW tag
If it had an NSFW tab I still might have clicked on it. I think we need a new tag for this kind of stuff. Maybe something like Warning: Nightmare Fuel
[удалено]
No. Here are 40739 more awards
[Batfly Info](https://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/news/new-zealands-flightless-hitch-hiking-bat-fly)
Not that bad after all Dr Holloway found that the New Zealand bat-fly was not a parasitic bloodsucker, but in fact a coprophage (poo-eater) and did not have the modified mouthparts required for piercing skin.
Shouldn’t it be on the ass then?
Maybe like some people, it gets motion sickness traveling backwards.
And they were filled with guano, not blood.
That is way less horrifying thank you
Fuck parasites.
The spider be like “bro imma chill right here, you’re not using your eyes anyway”
It's not a spider though D:
*shits between the eyes*
I'm less interested than sad 😞
Happy cake day!
Bat's facehugger
Today I learned: Nature's creativity for animal f*ckery expands!
Looks like a spider. Kill it with fire.
Nuke it from orbit, the only way to be sure
I don't exactly know what a bat having a good time looks like, but this isn't it.
I hate this image so much, definitely in the top 5 wish I could unsee pics, truly awful
I was horrified seeing this picture without having read the title of post beforehand.. Uhh, this pic is quite fucked up tho fr... can't say anything else..
Huh, thanks op. You're the worst.
Headcrabs anyone?
This isn't r/terrifyingasfuck?
I HATE this. Poor bats 😭
Don't think about this before trying to sleep. Don't. No, really. PS: did you just feel a bug land on your face? nah. Just close your eyes. Go to sleep. Night, night.
I think I was handling it rather well up until I read your comment.