Eggs are very common things we are all familiar with, but there are weird eggs out there that you don’t know. The mention of weird eggs is to let you know that they look unbelievably real. Some eggs don’t even resemble the look of ordinary eggs that we know, and that is the peculiarity of it. Animals with weird eggs are not just birds but also fish and insects as well. Let’s see how many of these weird eggs you have seen before, don’t forget to share your thoughts with us.
1Ghost Shark
The name of the shark is already strange, but the look of their eggs is even more peculiar. What you see is the egg case of the ghost shark that is made of a leathery watertight sac. The case protects the baby sharks inside from predators as the mother swims away after laying the eggs. The eggs of the ghost sharks have spindle shapes that allowed them to be wedged in the sand or between rocks. That will protect and prevent the eggs from floating in the water, and shield the babies from predators.
2Green Lacewing
Looks like some kind of plant when looking upside down, these are actually the eggs of green lacewing. The mother hangs the eggs off plants individually by a line of silk in order to protect the eggs. Doing so is also to reduce the likelihood of cannibalism by sibling larvae as well. Usually, the mothers deposit their weird eggs close to a food source for the larvae to find after hatching.
These larvae will attack anything living it comes across, and they are fierce right from birth. The moment they are out of the egg, they immediately take themselves on a feeding frenzy. Once they found the prey, they will eject a digestive fluid that can liquefy an aphid in just 90 seconds. These cool-looking eggs are just stuff of nightmares, but they don’t do any harm to humans.
3Horn Shark
Who would expect that an egg of a shark would look like that? Even scientists thought it was some kind of plant at first, well until a baby horn shark emerged when it opens up. The shape of the egg is to ensure that the mother shark can tightly screw it into a small crevice. By doing so, the egg will not drift away as the mother shark is gone. The mother usually picks up the eggs after laying them and wedges them into gaps and rocks. The corkscrew shape that sticks between rocks will hide the eggs from predators and protect them from the ocean’s current. The egg will hatch after 6 to 10 months, and the young will be on their own.
4Praying Mantis
Not many animals lay eggs inside the case, and that is why the eggs of praying mantises are among the weird eggs. Looks like a cocoon, this is actually the egg case of a mother praying mantis that she deposits. People usually find this brown foamy case on a shrub, twig, most suitable structure, and sometimes in the garden. The she-mantis uses special accessory glands on her abdomen to cover her eggs with a frothy substance that hardens quickly.
Since praying mantises usually lay their eggs in late summer or fall, the young may develop over the winter months. This foamy case plays the role in insulating and protecting the offspring from the cold and some predators. When the praying mantis nymphs hatch from their eggs, they are still inside the case. It may take them from 3 to 6 months to emerge from the case which is in spring or early summer.
5Seahorse
The peculiar thing about seahorses is that the male is the one who carries the eggs and delivers the babies. Little do we know that those babies are inside the weird-looking eggs on top of their fascinating reproduction. Looks like marbles but are a little scarier, seahorse eggs are spheres and red in color. The male has a pouch on the ventral where he stores all the eggs and carries them for 9 to 45 days. The eggs are very small, and the male releases about 100-1000 young but only a few survive in the ocean.
6Snail
Many of us are aware of the pink eggs of snails, but let’s dig deeper into the detail a little. Immediately after being laid, the eggs are colorless, and they have a slick shell that is delicate and breakable. As time goes by, the eggshell will harden as the color changes to pinkish-white, pink, or white. Snail eggs usually hatch between two and four weeks after being laid, and only some of them survive the predators. Also known as snail caviar, some restaurants even serve them as food as well.
7Stinkbug
When it comes to weird eggs, stinkbugs kind of have a definition of their own. The eggs of stinkbugs look like a cluster of underwater mines planted on leaves. Those spiky spheres can be found in most gardens throughout the United States, well it is like they are everywhere. A bit about them, they can be nuisances when getting into homes but they don’t bit people. And just like the name suggests, these bugs have a foul odor that you wouldn’t like. If you find them in your garden or home, your vacuum cleaner can totally clean them up.
Related Post: Animals With The Largest Eggs
