List of largest insects
Insects, which are a type of arthropod, are the most numerous group of multicellular organisms on the planet, with over a million species identified so far.
[1] The title of heaviest insect in the world has many contenders, the most frequently crowned of which is the larval stage of the goliath beetle, Goliathus goliatus, the maximum size of which is at least 115 g (4.1 oz) and 11.5 cm (4.5 in).
The highest confirmed weight of an adult insect is 71 g (2.5 oz) for a gravid female giant weta, Deinacrida heteracantha,[2] although it is likely one of the elephant beetles, Megasoma elephas and Megasoma actaeon, or goliath beetles, both of which can commonly exceed 50 g (1.8 oz) and 10 cm (3.9 in), can reach a greater weight.
Representatives of the extinct dragonfly-like order Meganisoptera (also known as griffinflies) such as the Carboniferous Meganeura monyi and the Permian Meganeuropsis permiana are the largest insect species ever known.
The largest wing surface area of any living species of odonate belongs to Chlorogomphus papilio, a dragonfly.
The largest insect of the order Palaeodictyoptera, Mazothairos enormis from the Carboniferous period, reached a wingspan of about 56 centimeters (22 in).
[8] Related to modern orthopterans, Triassic insects of the extinct suborder of Titanoptera[9] surpassed them in size.
[12] The largest certainly living species is the Australian giant earwig (Titanolabis colossea), which is about 5 cm (2.0 in) long.
[18][19] Other very large species, formerly believed to be longest but now considered second longest is Phobaeticus chani; a specimen held in the Natural History Museum in London is 56.7 cm (22.3 in) in total length, including extended legs, and it has a body length of 35.7 cm (14.1 in).
[31] The heaviest is the Australian giant burrowing cockroach (Macropanesthia rhinoceros), which can attain a length of 8.4 cm (3.3 in) and a weight of 33.5 g (1.18 oz).
Other species of Toxodera and Ischnomantis, and other genera of “stick mantises” (Heterochaeta, Solygia and Tauromantis), can attain lengths almost as large (over 16 cm).
[32] These can surpass a length of 12 cm (4.7 in),[33] although they are more slender and less heavy than most other insects of this size (principally the huge beetles).
[41] Some forms of this ancient order could grow extremely large during the Jurassic period and may have ranked among the largest insects ever.
[42] Found in the Early Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, Makarkinia adamsi had wings nearly 140–160 mm (5.5–6.3 in) in length.
[8] The largest icebug species, Grylloblatta campodeiformis, 3 cm (1.2 in) long, excluding ovipositors and cerci, and are fairly elongate, wingless insects.
[47] The largest of ants, and the heaviest species of the family, are the queens of Dorylus helvolus, reaching a length of 5 cm (2.0 in).
However, the white witch of Central and South America, Thysania agrippina, has the widest recorded wingspan of the order, and indeed of any living insect, at up to 30 cm (12 in).
[8] The largest lepidopteran species in terms of adult body mass is the giant wood moth Endoxyla cinereus from Australia and New Zealand.
The Hercules moth (Coscinocera hercules), in the family Saturniidae, is endemic to New Guinea and northern Australia, and its wings have the largest documented surface area (300 square centimeters) of any living insect,[49][50] and a maximum wingspan which is confirmed to 28 cm (11 in) while unconfirmed specimens have spanned up to 35.5 cm (14.0 in).
If the legs are extended in front of and behind the body, then an overall length of 25.8 cm (10.2 in) makes it the longest true fly.
It might also have the longest body length of any fly at 7 cm (2.8 in) (although it is rivaled by Microstylum magnum and Phellus piliferus for this title).
The largest of this order of very small insects is the barklouse of the genus Psocus, the maximum size of which is about 1 cm (0.39 in).
