My vote for the ugliest insect goes to the adult female Dobsonfly, seen in all its glory in this somewhat nightmare-inducing picture.
Does anyone have worse?
Perhaps not ugliest, but it certainly frightens me from the sheer size of it.
I’ve personally caught a female Dobson fly noted in the OP. While they are fierce-looking, they also tend to be slow and don’t seem all that threatening.
They sure can bite, though.
Potato bugs. I can’t define exactly why, but they really gross me out.
Antlions aren’t pretty, but they sure are cool.
I am SO not opening this thread.
Here are some others- I think most in that list are quite cool vs being ugly
Top 10 World’s Scariest/Ugliest Insects
Female scale insectsscore high on my freaky meter
The common housefly does just fine if magnified to horrific enough size.
Ugliest to me is the earwig. Probably because when I see one I can’t help but imagine the sensation of one crawling in the ear. Shudder.
Giant waterbug? I am NOT googling since I have seen one and they are UGLY
Dragonfly nymphs are pretty creepy looking, especially their extendable jaw.
I’d like to say Dick Cheney, but I’m waiting for the post mortem dissection to confirm Phylum.
Why did I click on that link?
Derleth, may I present the hellgrammite, a delightful critter we found under rocks on the banks of the Lamoille river in northern Vermont while swimming with the kids. Interestingly, it’s the larval form of the dobsonfly, and worse, if possible. Big. Creepy. Fast. Giant pincers. Fishermen love them, apparently. Two guys came by on their lunch break to flip over rocks and scoop them into a plastic container for later use as bait. Said the bass really go for them.
eta
Side note: I have absolutely NO idea why “My Little Bronies” are in the background of that google searched pic…
Call me old fashioned, but for grotesque insects, you still can’t beat a German cockroach, complete with eggsack, rolled over on its back, kicking its legs.
That’s my vote, too.
Tarantula Hawks are scary looking. Not “ugly,” but scary. Like the alien from Alien. Mean-lookin’. Don’t want to meet one in a first-contact scenario.
Not an insect, but snails. Ugh, this slimy tentacle monster oozing its way out of its shell. I find them repulsive. I’d kill them with impunity, but squishing them just grosses me out even more.
I believe this gem, The Jungle Nymph, was the model for the first **Men in Black **bug
As long as they’re not where I don’t want them to be I find insects to be rather fascinating to look at, and even beautiful. They are engineering marvels to me. When they show up unexpected my response is more “eek” than “ooh pretty.”
Of what’s been linked here I’d run screaming from the potato bug, the earwig (same as Sam I Am. If it was called a corn wig I might be able to relax.) and the larval hellgrammite thing in sangfroid’s link.