What Is The Largest Insect In The World?
The class Insecta , which belongs to the phylum of arthropods, includes the largest variety of multicellular beings on the planet. It is estimated that within this taxon a total of 1 million species have been described, although the number of undiscovered animals could exceed 30 million. Among all this variety, could you tell which is the largest insect in the world?
Finding an answer to this question is not an easy task, as various invertebrates fight for this position throughout the globe. In the following lines, we present a list of the largest and most curious insects in the world. Do not miss it.
Which insect gets the biggest prize?
To find the largest insect to ever walk on Earth, it is necessary to go back to the Permian, a geological time that is located almost 300 million years ago. Here lived an extinct genus of arthropods related to dragonflies: Meganeuropsis.
It is believed that the 2 species included in this taxon were the largest insects that inhabited the planet, since they could add a total wingspan of more than 71 centimeters. Each wing, by itself, reached a length greater than 30 centimeters.
Anyway, we have not come to talk about extinct animals. Next, we show you some of the insects that today are fighting for the record for the largest size. Depending on the part of the globe where you live, you may even run into one in your lifetime.
Wetas: They may not be the largest insects in the world, but they are the heaviest
Weta is the common name for some 70 species of large Orthoptera native to New Zealand. Within this group are the heaviest adult insects in the world. Unfortunately, their size does not save them from threat: many of these species are endangered by the introduction of domestic mammals, such as rats.
Of all the wetas species, Deinacrida fallai attracts attention. A female can measure up to 7.3 centimeters and weigh 40 grams, which makes this invertebrate one of the heaviest in the world.
The titan beetle ( Titanus giganteus )
The titan beetle ( Titanus giganteus ) is a huge beetle of the Cerambycidae family . This native Amazon species quickly dethrones the wetas, as specimens up to 17 centimeters long have been observed. Very little is known about this invertebrate because, without going any further, none of its larvae have yet been seen in nature.
Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing Butterfly ( Ornithoptera alexandrae )
This species competes with the Atlas moth for the top spot of the world’s largest lepidopteran. The female of this species can reach 31 centimeters in wingspan, with a total mass of 12 grams.
Unfortunately, it is precisely because of its size that this species is in a state of threat. The conversion of the natural forests of New Guinea into palm plantations and hunting as a decorative element have considerably reduced their natural populations.
The belostomatids
This term refers to insects included in the Belostomatidae family , better known as giant water bugs. The South American species Lethocerus grandis and Lethocerus maximus normally exceed 9 centimeters in length. This makes them the largest hemiptera in the world.
Although so far we have talked about peaceful and herbivorous animals, it is necessary to emphasize that water bugs are deadly predators. It is not strange to see them, for example, with their proboscis nailed to a fish, crab and even amphibian. Their bite can cause intense pain in humans, although these animals are quite elusive and avoid conflict.
The world’s biggest insect
As you may have seen, there is no larger insect in the world, but rather a larger representative within each order. The class Insecta is very heterogeneous and, as such, it is not possible to cut all the animals represented here with the same standard.
If we had to give a definitive answer, we would surely opt for some kind of beetle. Due to its large cuirass and the length of the horns and external structures of many species, possibly the largest and heaviest insect in the world is represented by some type of beetle.
