One of the most interesting mystery insects is a moth which lives on Madagascar. In the mid nineteenth century Charles Darwin predicted that a Hawk Moth with a ten inch tongue would be discovered in Madagascar. He made this prediction following his discovery of an orchid which could only be fertilised by a moth with an extremely long tongue. Xanthopan morgani praedicta was finally discovered in 1903.

Picture reproduced by courtesy of Michel Raynal

History seems to be repeating itself. American entomologist Gene Kritsky of the Mount St. Joseph on the Ohio College in Cincinnati, recently made a hypothesis similar to Darwin's prediction. Another orchid found on Madagascar has a rostrellum still deeper than the one noted by Darwin. Consequently Gene Kritsky predicted in 'The American Entomologist' of Winter 1991, that there is an undiscovered Sphyngid in Madagascar with a proboscis 15 inches (38 cm) long.

Another elusive beast, which many entomologists hope will eventually be discovered is the Giant Earwig of St Helena (Labidura herculeana).

This extraordinary insect, which reaches the huge (for an earwig) size of between 2½ and 3 inches, was discovered in 1798 by the Danish zoologist, Fabricus. It then vanished for nearly two centuries. In 1962 an expedition looking for bird bones buried in the sand of this isolated and tiny South Atlantic island discovered body parts which appeared to come from a giant earwig. Three years later another expedition found living ones, but since then no Giant Earwigs have been found. It seems almost certain, however that, in this particular case the truth IS out there!

The last mystery insects in this article may not even be living creatures at all. Borley Rectory in Suffolk, popularly known as the 'most haunted house in England' burned down, under mysterious circumstances in early 1939. The summer before it was destroyed, a lady was painting in the garden when she had a curious experience: "Looking up I saw the queerest object with impelling eyes advancing toward me at about eye level. It seemed to be coming out of a mist. It was accompanied by a wasp on its left..."

Picture source: "Mystery Animals of Britain and Ireland", Graham J. McEwan. Copyright unknown.

Alarmed, she hit out at the creature knocking it to the ground. Worried, both that she might have injured it, and that it might attack her she searched around for it, but it seemed to have disappeared. She later described it as being "quite three inches in length, its body entirely black and composed of sections enabling it to expand and bend at ease. Its eyes were large and the colour of bloomy black grapes"... The picture she drew appears to be of a long serpentine insect with huge eyes. It appears to be anatomically correct; the wasp in the same picture is perfect, but it does not correspond to any recognisable insect species!

Although what can only be described as 'insect ghosts' are rare they are not unknown. Another record which seems very similar to the last creature was noted by one of our representatives in Kent a few years ago. In a report to us at The Centre for Fortean Zoology he described a browny-green creature, somewhat like a centipede with wings. It was about six inches in length, had many 'legs and antennae'. This 'creature', was seen hovering outside a block of flats, where it apparently scared at least one witness.

These are the only two specifically phantom insects that we have been able to discover, although bees and other insects are common items in British folklore.

Back down to earth, however, I have another mystery, which perhaps some reader of this article could help me solve. I was a child in Hong Kong during the nineteen sixties and I collected and kept a lot of the local invertebrate wildlife. There was a small arthropod, (I think it was an insect, but after about thirty years I cannot be sure), which the local children called the "blood sucker".

It was about an inch and a half in length and appeared like a very thick set ant with 'knobbly' legs and a fairly heavy chitinous covering. I suspect that it may have been the immature form of one of the small ground mantids, but I am not sure. If anyone reading this either lived, or lives in Hong Kong, and could help me solve a problem which has been 'bugging me' (if you'll excuse the dreadful pun), for many years I would be extremely grateful.

Most of our work at the Centre for Fortean Zoology involves cataloguing data of unusual, unknown and out of place animals from all over the world. We have an enormous archive of such records, and these, perforce, include many out of place invertebrates. There are three main groupings:

1. Animals who have arrived at their 'new' location because of a natural expansion of their population range. This has happened on several occasions recently, and several species, usually thought of as southern European species have been recorded as establishing themselves in the southern parts of the UK.

2. Accidental Importation. If you know anyone who works at any of the major supermarkets, have a word with them, especially if they work in the fruit and veg. department. I have a number of records of invertebrates, (centipedes and spiders mostly) and even larger animals which have been found hidden in shipments of imported fruit and flowers. These include a magnificent scolopendra spp centipede from Portsmouth and a South American Tree Frog from the same supermarket.

3. The third grouping is escapees from captivity. With the burgeoning popularity of invertebrates as pets, escapees from private collections, pet shops and even zoos are not unknown. It seems unlikely whether these animals (mostly spiders and butterflies) will ever escape in numbers sufficient to establish a breeding population, but the invertebrate keeper should be vigilant, and remember what havoc can be wreaked upon our ecosystem by unfamiliar and exotic species.

There are anomalies in my records. The type specimen of one butterfly species, for example was caught in Camden, North London, over a hundred years ago. No other specimens were ever caught and British Entomologists began to suspect that it was an individual mutation. It had in fact been deleted from the British List, when many years after the type specimen had been caught, other specimens were at last discovered. They were found breeding in a remote valley in Central Asia. How the type specimen ended up, alive, in Camden remains a mystery to this day.

These particular animals are taken practically at random from my files. Most mystery invertebrates are not as frightening as the 'Borley Bug', but they are just as interesting. To once again quote from Bernard Heuvelmans, the 'father' of Cryptozoology: "The Great Days of Zoology are Not Done!"