A disappointingly large proportion of the general population appears to be unable to tell the difference between centipedes and millipedes. Is it possible that the “centipedes” you saw were actually millipedes? If so, they may have been “fucking”, or at least the millipede equivalent of it.

Additionally, it appears that this “fact” is actually wrong (big surprise, huh?). Many species of centipede do have courtship strategies that involve males and females meeting up. The sexes may even employ various forms of physical touch as part of the process. So, it’s certainly possible that the critters you saw where centipedes courting each other.

I won’t speak for all “white dudes” but I know why I do it.

First, my thermostat is just different from average. If it’s 70F/21C, there’s a very high chance I’m going to be sweating, especially if I’m indoors and there’s limited air movement or I’m outdoors and there’s any bit of direct sunlight. Shorts make that a bit more bearable.

Second, given my warm nature, the climate where I live and my lifestyle make wearing shorts practical for much of the year. In the “colder” months of the year, it’s usually a case where it’s cold in the morning but warms up to a reasonable extent during the day. Guess what? I have an indoor, office job. I don’t give a flip about how cold it is during the early parts of the day because I’m going to be indoors where the temperature is pretty much guaranteed to be above the 70F/21C limit I mentioned in my first point. By the time I’m off work and out of the office in the evening, it’s warmed up to the point where shorts are totally appropriate and comfy (for me). Sure, I could waste time and energy doing multiple wardrobe changes throughout the day, but that’s just bullshit and quite frankly, stupid, if I don’t have to do it.

Third, who gives a fuck? Apparently a lot of people – as it’s very common to get questions or comments when I wear shorts during colder weather that lesser humans can’t tolerate in shorts. I don’t go around acting as the fashion police for your stupid crocs or question your multiple changes of clothes per day like you’re Beyoncé doing a concert. So leave my cargo shorts in the middle of winter alone.

Seeing the up votes and down votes in this thread, I realize this is an unpopular “opinion” but the flowers didn’t necessarily evolve to look like hummingbirds specifically. That many people see it as looking hummingbird-like is more a reflection of the human mind’s ability to find patterns and connections even when they don’t exist. It’s interesting and pretty for sure, and definitely a curiosity.

Same thing for the “monkey orchid”. You see a monkey because the flowers are photographed at an unnatural angle and forced perspective, the photos online where the effect is most visible are the ones with lots of compression artifacts and generally poor quality, and because of the power of suggestion. If you saw these in person (without prior context of the photos), there’s a good chance you wouldn’t even notice the face-like visage unless pointed out.

On the other hand, the “bee orchids” actually are an example where it seems that the flowers have evolved in a way that specifically mimics the appearance of bees (and wasps). These flowers mostly attract male bees and wasps who confuse them for lovely lady bees and wasps and try to mate with the flowers. In the process, they pick up a pollen sac / pollinia, and if all goes well they end up pollinating the flower (or move on to pollinate another one).