The nine largest insects in the world

Considering the vast variety of insects in the world, it's difficult to name the largest, and determining which insect is the largest is a tricky business. The word "big" has many meanings, depending on who you compare it to. It could be the length of the insect or its weight, its wingspan—perhaps even its general volume. Here are the contenders for the world's largest insect, and it's up to you to decide which one you think is the biggest!

1. The longest insect in the world

The world's longest insect, and a contender for largest, is currently the giant Chinese stick insect (Phryganistria chinensis); most recently discovered in China in 2014. The adult female first discovered in the wild measured 624 mm in length with its legs extended, but was surpassed by a juvenile in captivity, reaching 640 mm in length! The Malaysian jungle nymph stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata), although not as long as its Chinese cousin, is one of the thicker "stick insects" and is often considered one of the heaviest, weighing up to 65 grams.

2. The largest dragonfly or damselfly in the world

The blue-winged helicopter (Megaloprepus caerulatus) is a damselfly from the rainforests of Central America and is the largest living member of the order Odonata. With a body length of approximately 130 mm and a wingspan of 190 mm, it is almost twice the size of the British emperor dragonfly and can easily prey on its prey of choice - an orb-weaver spider, capturing it directly from the web.

3. The largest butterfly in the world

The Queen Alexandra birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) is the largest butterfly in the world. Found in eastern Papua New Guinea, adult females are about 80 mm long and have a wingspan of just over 250 mm.

4. The heaviest insect in the world

The small barrier island giant wētā ( Deinacrida heteracantha ) may also appear on lists of the world's largest insects. The closely related grasshopper, which can grow up to 100 millimeters long, is endemic to New Zealand and only lives on small barrier islands and some predator-free reserves to which it has been moved. It is often considered the heaviest insect in the world, with a captive female weighing up to 71 grams.

5. The largest beetle in the world

Many beetles are large, but the royal Goliath beetle ( Goliathus regius ) is one of the largest, reaching a length of up to 115 mm. Found in western equatorial Africa, this giant insect feeds mainly on tree sap and fruits and is a very good flyer despite its size. Giant beetle larvae can become much larger, reaching lengths of up to 250 mm and weights of over 100 grams!

6. The longest beetle in the world

The award for longest beetle probably goes to Dynastes hercules, which lives from southern Mexico all the way to South America. Due to its huge "horns" it can reach a length of 181 mm. The Wallace's long-horned beetle (Batocera wallacei) from New Guinea can grow to about 266 mm in length, but about 190 mm of that is its antennae.

7. The world’s largest giant water bug

Giant water bugs (Belostomatidae) are freshwater hemipterans or true water bugs of the family Belostomatidae. Found throughout the world, but most species are found in the Americas, Australia, and Asia, they are usually found (as their name suggests) in or around water, namely freshwater streams and ponds. The largest giant water bugs can grow to over 120 mm in length.

8. The largest lacewing in the world

The largest lacewing is the blue-eyed lacewing (Nymphes myrmeleonides), an Australian insect found in New South Wales and Queensland. This lacewing can grow up to 40 mm in length and has a wingspan of approximately 110 mm. Like dragonflies and damselflies, similar species also existed during the Jurassic period and were also incredibly tall. Partially preserved fossils of Makarkinia adamsi indicate that this ancient species had a wingspan of between 140-160 mm!

9. The largest insect ever in the world

If we go back nearly 300 million years ago, the largest known insect was a predator that resembled, but was only distantly related to, a dragonfly. Meganeuropsis permiana has a body length of approximately 430 mm and a wingspan of an incredible 710 mm (nearly 1 m). Their maximum weight is uncertain, but is estimated to be between 34 g and 240 g.

Insects come in all shapes and sizes, and new species—both living and fossilized—are discovered regularly. Given that the Chinese giant stick insect has only been discovered in recent years despite its size, is it possible that the world's largest insect has yet to be discovered?

animal tags： hexapod