MusingS
Insect Monsters in Mythology
Ron Cherry
“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.
And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
(Friedrich Nietzsche)
T
he subject of monsters lies somewhere in a misty realm between zoology and folklore. This realm is called
cryptozoology, which is the study of animals
that may or may not exist (Cohen 1982).
Although the word monster has several
definitions, I will be discussing monsters as
huge animals with destructive powers and
generally regarded as evil.
Monsters run rampant in general mythology. Most common and best known are
vertebrates found in mythologies around
the world. From Greek mythology, we have
Cerberus, the doglike monster who served
as a guardian to the gates of Hades (Hell).
Another canine monster is Fenris in Teutonic
mythology. Fenris is a huge wolf whom even
the gods could not control. In the Bible, there
are several mentions of a sea creature called
Leviathan, which has been identified with
everything from a sea serpent to the whale.
This huge monster had the ability to breathe
fire and deflect spear thrusts. And again from
Greek mythology is found Polyphemus, the
one-eyed Cyclops. He devours human flesh
and has his eye burned out by Odysseus
during his famous travels in The Odyssey by
Homer. The polyphemus moth, Antheraea
polyphemus (Cramer), was named after
this monster because of its large eyespots.
Numerous other insect names derived from
Greek and Roman mythology are noted by
Cherry (1997). Lastly, we have ubiquitous
dragons found in the mythologies of both
Old and New World peoples. The dragons
of all countries must be propitiated by human sacrifice, commonly a virgin princess
(Leach 1984).
In contrast to vertebrates, invertebrate
monsters occur much less frequently in
mythology. However, although little known,
there are several interesting examples of
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insects and their relatives as monsters in
mythology. These are largely unknown to
entomologists because they are found in
non-entomological sources. Charles Hogue
(1987) and more recently Cherry (2004)
have noted that cultural entomology is often
found outside of entomological literature in
such areas as mythology and anthropology.
A survey of insect monsters shows that
they are cosmopolitan, rather than being
limited to one culture or area, and are taxonomically diverse. For example, mosquito
monsters are found in two diverse cultures.
Several tribes of Native Americans in New
York State have stories of the Great Mosquito.
This mosquito monster swooped down on
forts and destroyed many people in the past.
Mayor (2005) suggests that this mythology
may have derived from observations of fossils and/or ancient memories of large raptor
birds. And, on the other side of the world,
mosquito monsters are found in Thai mythology. While journeying through the World of
the Dead, one encounters terrifying demons
and numerous monsters, including mosqui-
toes as big as chickens (Knappert 1992).
Also found in two diverse cultures are
monstrous caterpillars. In South America,
the Wayana live on the border of Surinam and
French Guiana. Several animals are found
in their mythology, including two-headed
caterpillars that are said to cut off and devour
human heads (Kaplan and Kaplan 1993).
Kuluwajak (Fig. 1) is the most important of
all monstrous caterpillars, playing an important part in the mythology and art of the
Wayana culture (Duin 2006). Not far away,
the Barasana of Columbia monitor the seasons by observing the constellations. One of
their constellations is the Caterpillar Jaguar,
which we call Scorpius. This constellation
is associated with the seasonal collection of
caterpillars as a food source. However, the
Caterpillar Jaguar is also associated with uncertainly and danger (Krupp 1991). (Additional examples of arthropods in astronomy
may be found in Carlson and Cherry [1996]).
Other examples of mythological insect
monsters are found in non-entomological
sources. The Voyage of Máel Dúin’s Ship is
Fig. 1. The monstrous two-headed caterpillar Kuluwajak as painted by Aimawale Opoya (a Wayana
from French Guiana) on a maluwana (wooden disk). Image courtesy of Dr. Renzo Duin.
American Entomologist  • Fall 2012
found in Celtic mythology. This story entails
a highly adventurous sea journey reminiscent of Odysseus’s travels. Máel Dúin’s journey takes him and his crew to various islands
with different terrors, including swarms of
ants as big as foals (MacInnes 1998). In the
traditions of ancient Egypt, the journey of the
soul after death is described by the Book of
the Dead. This ancient and famous mythological source is used for consultation after
death for spells to ward off numerous dangers, including giant beetles (Turner 1993).
In contrast to monstrous beetles encountered after death, other monstrous insects
attack the living. Nifoloa is a Samoan insect
with one sharp tooth the size of a man’s
finger, whose bite results in death unless
medicine is given immediately. This insect
especially preys upon lone people walking
home (Matthews and Matthews 2008). The
Altaic Tatars also have a fascinating mythology involving a giant insect. The story
begins when the world was very cold and a
giant and powerful insect known as Metshin
gorged on animals and people. A khan who
resided in the Big Dipper ultimately caused
the destruction of the monster, which was
pulverized into seven pieces. Six pieces
escaped to the sky to become the Pleiades,
(Fig. 2) and the seventh was captured by
the khan and remained with him as the star
Alcor in the Big Dipper. Hence, even today,
the Pleiades chase the Big Dipper across the
horizon (Krupp 1991). The main function of
mythology is to explain, and the explanation
of astronomical observances through this
tale of a monstrous insect is a prime example.
Numerous functions of insects in general
mythology are discussed by Cherry (2002).
Besides insects, mythological monsters also take the form of other terrestial
arthropods. Two are an arachnophobe’s
nightmare. Djieien is a vast and hideous spider monster found in the mythology of the
Native American Seneca people. Although
considered indestructible, it is eventually
killed by the hero Otheigwendha (Matthews
and Matthews 2008). In Japanese mythology, the gigantic Earth Spider (Fig. 3), which
harried the Minamoto hero Yorimitsu with
its demonic armies, could make itself invisible. However, even with its awesome powers, the Earth Spider was eventually slain by
the Minamoto clan (Ions 1999). Also found
in Japanese mythology is the giant centipede,
Mukade. Mukade, a terrifying, man-eating,
mountain-sized monster with venomous
breath, lived in the mountains of Japan.
Like most monsters, it would eventually be
American Entomologist  •  Volume 58, Number 3
Fig. 2. According to Altaic Tatar mythology, the stars of the Pleiades constellation are remnants of
the insect monster, Metshin. Image courtesy of Chris Picking.
slain by a hero; in this case, the famous hero
Hidesato (Knappert 1992).
A truly fascinating story involves Big
Centipede in Native American mythology
as discussed by Mayor (2005). The Navajo
and related Zuni mythology are extremely
complex, involving a series of past worlds
that were destroyed before this world. Many
insects are found in this mythology, as has
been noted in numerous entomological
and anthropological publications found in
Kritsky and Cherry (2000). Also, numerous
monsters are found in this mythology. One
of these Navajo monsters was Big Centipede,
which was huge and leapt upon its victims.
Zuni mythology also features a giant cen-
tipede. Mayor (2005) speculates that Big
Centipede may have been inspired by the
sight of a fossil impression of Arthropleura,
a six-foot-long centipede of the Carboniferous era, or a large Cambrian trilobite fossil.
Trilobites have antennae, segmented bodies, and many legs, and were collected for
amulets by many western tribes.
Insect monsters in movies are well
known to any serious addict of science
fiction. Them (1954), a movie about giant
ants (Fig. 4), was the pivotal film in the history of arthropod movies and for the entire
fantasy movie genre. It set a plot pattern
that was frequently followed: i.e., scientific
tampering may unleash awful consequences
Fig. 3. Tsuchigumo, the giant Earth Spider, is slain by the Minamato clan. Image courtesy of the
Tokyo National Museum.
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Fig. 4. Giant ants rule in the 1954 classic science fiction movie Them.
(Mertens 1986). This film was the biggest
moneymaker for Universal Studios that
year and was actually a good movie—well
plotted, well directed, and featuring several
big-name actors (Berenbaum 1995). Insect
monsters as the focus of later movies are discussed in Mertens (1986) and Berenbaum
(1995). Insect monster movies are also a
mainstay of the Insect Fear Film Festivals at
the University of Illinois. This festival was
started in 1984 by May Berenbaum and has
grown into a nationally recognized event
(Berenbaum 2012). Of course, any discussion of films based on arthropod monsters
must include the Alien film series. Alien was
released in 1979 and followed by three movie sequels until Alien Resurrection in 1997.
These movies featured Sigourney Weaver as
Ellen Ripley battling the extraterrestrial life
forms. However, long before Them became
a classic of science fiction monster movies
and Sigourney Weaver gained fame as a real
femme fatale battling arthropodian aliens,
insect monsters stalked the world in mythology. Mosquito monsters in Native American
mythology terrorized the living and beetle
monsters in Egyptian mythology terrorized
the dead. In the immortal words of the great
Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
References Cited
Berenbaum, M. 1995. Bugs in the system:
insects and their impact on human affairs.
Addison-Wesley Publ. Co. New York.
Berenbaum, M. 2012. History of the Insect
140
Fear Film Festival. www.life.illinois.edu/
entomology/egsa/ifffhistory.htm
Carlson, J. and R. Cherry. 1996. Arthropods
in astronomy: cases in Western and Mesoamerican ethnoentomology. Amer. Entomol.
42: 149-158.
Cherry, R. 1997. Insect names derived from
Greek and Roman mythology. Amer. Entomol.
43: 212-216.
Cherry, R. 2002. The functions of insects in
mythology. Amer. Entomol. 48 (3): 134-136.
Cherry, R. 2004. Praying mantids as symbols
for headhunting. Amer. Entomol. 50: 12-16.
Cohen, D. 1982. The encyclopedia of monsters.
Dorset Press. New York.
Duin, R. 2006. Maluwana, pinnacle of Wayana
art in the Guyanas. Baessler-Archiv. Band
54: 119-143.
Hogue, C. 1987. Cultural entomology. Annu.
Rev Entomol. 32: 181-199.
Ions, V. 1999. The history of mythology. Quadrillion Publ. Inc. New York.
Kaplan, J. and M. Kaplan. 1993. Tropical South
America. Pages 260-266. In Mythology: an
illustrated encyclopedia. R. Cavendish (Ed.).
Barnes and Noble. New York.
Knappert, J. 1992. Pacific mythology. Diamond
Books. London.
Kritsky, G., and R. Cherry. 2000. Insect mythology. Writers Club Press. Lincoln, NE.
Krupp, E. 1991. Beyond the blue horizon.
Harper Collins. New York.
Leach, M. 1984. Funk and Wagnalls standard
dictionary of folklore, mythology, and legend.
Harper. San Francisco.
MacInnes, J. 1992. The Celtic World. Pages
176-190. In Mythology: an illustrated guide.
R. Willis (Ed.). Barnes and Noble. New York.
Matthews, J. and C. Matthews. 2008. The
element encyclopedia of magical creatures.
Barnes and Noble. New York.
Mayor, A. 2005. Fossil legends of the first
Americans. Princeton University Press.
Princeton, New Jersey.
Mertens, J. 1986. Arthropods on the screen.
Bull. Entomol. Soc. Am. 32: 85-90.
Turner, A. 1993. A history of Hell. Harcourt
Inc. London.
Ron Cherry is with the University of Florida
(IFAS) at the Everglades Research and Education
Center, 3200 E. Palm Beach Road, Belle Glade, FL
33430. His research interests are insect pests
of rice, sugarcane, and turf. He also has a passion for mythology and has published several
papers on insect mythology. In 2000, he and
Gene Kritsky published Insect Mythology, the
first book dedicated specifically to showing the
important roles insects have played in mythology
(see References Cited).
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