These massive bugs are among the heaviest insects on earth. One female specimen of the species Little Barrier Island giant wētā (Deinacrida heteracantha) was found to weigh 2.5 ounces, the heaviest adult insect ever observed.
The largest insect ever know to inhabit prehistoric earth was a dragonfly, Meganeuropsis permiana. This insect lived during the late Permian era, about 275 million years ago.
The largest insect of all time was Meganeuropsis Permiana, a dragonfly that lived in the late Permian era, around 275 million years ago. These dragonflies had a wingspan of about 75 centimeters (2.5 feet) and weighed over 450 grams (1 pound).
It's believed that largest insect that ever lived was a Meganeuropsis, dating back hundreds of millions of years. Related to current day dragonflies, these gargantuan predatory creatures grew to have an 18-inch body, with a wingspan of nearly two-and-a-half feet.
Meganeuropsis existed during the Artinskian age of the Permian period, 290.1–283.5 mya. The wingspan of Meganeuropsis permiana is estimated to have been between 28 and 75 centimeters (11 and 30 inches). This makes it the largest known insect that has ever lived.
Fossils show that giant dragonflies and huge cockroaches were common during the Carboniferous period, which lasted from about 359 to 299 million years ago. (Explore a prehistoric time line.)
Kalligrammatids seem to have lived almost exclusively on land that is today Europe and Asia during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. They were large, with wingspans in excess of six inches, and would have been some of the largest and most conspicuous insects of their day.
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, and a maximum wingspan which is confirmed to 28 cm (11 in) while unconfirmed specimens have spanned ...
Dung Beetle
Relative to its size, the dung beetle is not only the strongest insect in the world but the strongest animal. It can pull over 1,000 times its own body weight.
Noun. (often capitalised as “King of Insects”, as is the convention for monarchic titles) The bee.
The Australian tiger beetle, Cicindela hudsoni, is the World's fastest running insect recorded to date, with an average speed of 5.5 mph (9 km/h).
In the Journal of Biomechanics, researchers report that the neck joint of a common American field ant can withstand pressures up to 5,000 times the ant's weight.
The smallest known adult insect is a parasitic wasp, Dicopomorpha echmepterygis. These tiny wasps are often called fairyflies. Males are wingless, blind and measure only 0.005 inches (0.127 mm) long.
The diabolical ironclad beetle, which dwells in desert regions of western North America, has a distinctly hard-to-squish shape.
The Lord Howe Island Phasmid or Land Lobster, Dryococelus australis, may be the rarest insect in the world and is possibly also the rarest invertebrate.
#1: Mosquito
The most dangerous insect of all, the mosquito causes more deaths than any other animal or insect on the planet.
“It's probably because of the urban heat-island effect and prey availability,” says Lowe. “Most invertebrates will grow to larger sizes if they are warmer. They are very sensitive to temperatures.” Urbanisation probably benefits these spiders in several ways, she says.
Entomologists from the University of New South Wales and Western Australian Museum have made the fascinating discovery of a stink bug species that is believed to be new to science, during a two-week Bush Blitz expedition near Kepa Kurl/Esperance in Western Australia.
#1.
Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly on green grass. They are thought to be one of the rarest species of butterflies found in the world because they are endemic to their very small range of habitat.
Monarch. It's the world's most famous kind of butterfly. The monarch is renowned for its migration, when multiple generations work their way north during spring and summer, then a fall generation flies all the way to southern Mexico or to the California coast to spend the winter.
Devonian Rhyniognatha hirsti, from the 396 million year old Rhynie chert is known only from mandibles, and considered as the oldest insect.
But there's another reason giant insects disappeared. As ancient dinosaurs evolved the ability to fly, eventually becoming modern birds, they put a cap on insect size through predation and competition. The earliest known bird – Archaeopteryx – appeared about 150 million years ago.
No, bugs do not have lungs. Bugs also do not breathe through their mouths like we do! Their respiratory system is made up of a network of tubes called tracheae. Openings, called spiracles, allow oxygen to flow throughout the bug's body through the tracheae.