Insect art: Monsters and creepy crawlies by Jonathan Wojcik

Warning: This post contains monster art. If you are a squeamish person or suffer from trypophobia, you might want to skip this one. 

From day one this website had a links page, and one of the first links to appear was for a website called “The Insidious bogleech”, an artistic platform for all-things-scary created by Jonathan Wojcik. The reason I initially included the link was his Pokemonology page that I wished more people would know about (and I secretly wish will be updated with more creatures). There is also a page with species that should have made it into Pokemon. But bogleech is so much more than just a dive into Pokemon science. Wojcik is a monster fanatic who dedicated his life to studying and celebrating the creepy. He is also an amazing artist with a hell of an imagination. All artwork shown here is courtesy of Jonathan Wojcik and posted with his permission.

Imaginary creature inspired by a scorpionfly (Mecoptera)

On bogleech every day is Halloween. The website, which I stumbled upon in late 2004 and has been in my bookmarks ever since, is probably the largest repository of anything gruesome or monster-related in existence. Jonathan tells me an early version of the site already existed in 2001, so it is a piece of history! Bogleech has entire pages dedicated to reviewing monsters in any form imaginable (fiction, media, toys etc’), popular science articles about misunderstood animals and parasites, reviews of store finds around Halloween, a printable horror game, and heaps of original artwork by Wojcik. There is an extensive webcomic that allows you to get to know some of his original monster creations better and see how they would act in different scenarios. The website has a large community of followers, many of them actively add content to it. There are even hidden corners on the site, like these toy octopus and mummy character pages. Jonathan is also active outside of his own kingdom on Tumblr and Devianart, and he also has an Etsy store where he sells some bogleech merchandise. He used to write articles for cracked.com as well.

Leeches by Jonathan Wojcik

The image above is taken from the article about leeches, check it out if you want to learn more about these magnificent animals. This is what I like about bogleech – it takes subjects that most of us will never dwell upon, and delivers them in a friendly and informative manner. Where else can you read about the different types of leeches and at the same time get a personal perspective on these animals? Bogleech is the place. When my Epomis research was published, Jonathan and I talked about it and he dedicated a page on his website to the beetles, including some first-hand impressions from me about the study. You can say that this was my first featured interview. Since then, I have not checked his website for some time, and… he has been busy.

Thanks to its long existence, the website is like a labyrinth full of surprises. You can spend an entire day going through its content and still have plenty more left to explore. Spiderween is a series of posts attempting to present information about spiders in a non-threatening way using cartoonish drawings, a one-of-a-kind spider guide for the arachnophobe. I think it is absolutely brilliant. It contains a lot of interesting facts about spider biology but also debunks common misconceptions (for example about widow spiders, brown recluses, and others). Remember the ogre-faced spiders from a few posts ago? Here is a family-friendly, anthropomorphized version of the spider by Wojcik:

Ogre-faced spider by Jonathan Wojcik

There is also series of articles about flies that is still in progress and worth checking out. One page I like in particular is Mortasheen, where Jonathan allows himself to go wild with creating his own world of monsters, occasionally inspired by real-life animals or by science fiction. When I find myself bored I like to get lost in this section of his website. This is where it’s fun to go and search for animals and plants you know, and see them from a slightly different perspective. When it comes to arthropods and other invertebrates, making the jump into imaginary creatures and monsters is almost expected and too easy. This is something I have already discussed in the previous insect art post on this blog – many of them seem alien to us because they are so different from other animals in their body structure, and some of them are so small that they are simply overlooked. Just to give a few examples, here is a creature based on a globular springtail:

Globular springtail by Jonathan Wojcik

Formicrawl is based on an Eciton army ant soldier:

Formicrawl – army ant by Jonathan Wojcik

Horrida is loosely based on a jumping stick:

Horrida – jumping stick by Jonathan Wojcik

Katydread is modelled after what seems to be a spiny devil katydid (Panachanthus cuspidatus):

Katydread – spiny devil katydid by Jonathan Wojcik

Exothresher is based on a camel spider. It makes you wonder how fortunate we are! As humans we are much larger in size than these voracious predators, so we do not have to worry about being chased and eaten alive by them.

Exothresher – camel spider by Jonathan Wojcik

Rotsucker is inspired by a botfly larva:

Rotsucker – botfly larva by Jonathan Wojcik

Eldoon is a cute worm-like creature that is inspired by hammerhead flatworms:

Eldoon – hammerhead flatworm by Jonathan Wojcik

And it’s not just invertebrates. Other animals get representation in Wojcik’s work as well, here’s one for example:

Abysmal by Jonathan Wojcik. If you are unfamiliar with anglerfish, they have a fleshy protrusion on their head to use as a lure for prey. This monster is an interesting interpretation when the prey is human

Fungi and plants are also represented. This guy is based on latticed stinkhorn (Clathrus ruber):

Funguslyme by Jonathan Wojcik

In addition to the bogleech website, Jonathan has a Patreon page, where he shares even more creature designs and bits from his creative process with his supporters. The characters in the sketch below were designed after carnivorous plants. You have to be very familiar with the plants to fully appreciate the small details in each of these drawings. For example, I have been keeping butterworts (Pinguicula) for years, and I can attest that they look exactly like the one in the top left corner!

carnivorous plants by Jonathan Wojcik

But Wojcik’s work is still so much more. It’s not just about animals and plants. He takes notes from whatever is around us, even everyday objects, letting his imagination dictate what is possible. Here are some examples (again, from his Patreon posts), check out that sawdust monster!

Angelworm, Mushroom berserker, and Sawdust juggernaut. Creatures by Jonathan Wojcik

Bogleech also contains a lot of information about parasites. After all, they are a wonder of nature that most of us don’t want to think about, but they do deserve respect for their importance and their evolutionary success. The influence of real-world parasites can be found throughout many of Wojcik’s creations. For example, the following monsters were inspired by Leucochloridium, a parasitic flatworm that infects snails:

Leucochloridium-inspired creatures by Jonathan Wojcik (Paraseethe, Eyezome, Parasidious, Pestare, Paraslob)

Speaking of parasites, Jonathan is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to launch the next series of enamel pins bearing his artwork – parasites.

Parasite pins by Jonathan Wojcik

I think they are simply stunning (they glow in the dark too, so cool!). One day I hope to see an artistic interpretation of Epomis larvae through his eyes. Until then, I recommend checking out bogleech if you have the time. There is a lot to see and learn from, and what I presented here is only a tiny fraction of the gigantic web-monster that bogleech really is. If you want to support Jonathan’s work and get access to even more cool stuff, including a chance to have a monster designed at your request, feel free to check out his Patreon page.