page_title: Largest organisms
section_title: Insects (Insecta)
hierarchical_section_title: Largest organisms / Animals / Invertebrates / Arthropods (Arthropoda) / Insects (Insecta)
caption_attribution_description: Ornithoptera alexandrae Deutsch: Königin-Alexandra-Vogelfalter (Ornithoptera alexandrae) aufgenommen im Audubon Insectarium. English: Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) photographed at the Audubon Insectarium.
context_page_description: The largest organisms now found on Earth can be determined according to various aspects of an organism's size, such as: mass, volume, area, length, height, or even genome size. Some organisms group together to form a superorganism, but such are not classed as single large organisms. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest structure composed of living entities, stretching 2,000 km, but contains many organisms of many types of species.
  The organism sizes listed are frequently considered "outsized" and are not in the normal size range for the respective group.
  If considered singular entities, the largest organisms are clonal colonies which can spread over large areas. Pando, a clonal colony of the quaking aspen tree, is widely considered to be the largest such organism by mass. Even if such colonies are excluded, trees retain their dominance of this listing, with the giant sequoia being the most massive tree. In 2006 a huge clonal colony of Posidonia oceanica was discovered south of the island of Ibiza. At 8 kilometres across, and estimated at around 100,000 years old, it may be one of the largest and oldest clonal colonies on Earth.
context_section_description: Insects, a class of Arthropoda, are easily the most numerous class of organisms, with over one million identified species, and probably many undescribed species. The heaviest insect is almost certainly a species of beetle, which incidentally is the most species-rich order of organisms. Although heavyweight giant wetas (Deinacrida heteracantha) are known, the elephant beetles of Central and South America, (Megasoma elephas) and (M. actaeon), the Titan beetle (Titanus giganteus) of the neotropical rainforest or the Goliath beetles, (Goliathus goliatus) and (G. regius), of Africa's rainforest are thought to reach a higher weight. The most frequently crowned are the Goliath beetles, the top known size of which is at least 100 g (3.5 oz) and 11.5 cm (4.5 in). The elephant beetles and titan beetle can reach greater lengths than the Goliath, at up to 13.1 and 15.2 cm (5.2 and 6.0 in), respectively, but this is in part thanks to their rather large horns. The Goliath beetle's wingspan can range up to 25 cm (9.8 in).
  Some moths and butterflies have much larger areas than the heaviest beetles, but weigh a fraction as much.
  The longest insects are the stick insects, see below.
  Representatives of the extinct dragonfly-like order Protodonata such as the Carboniferous Meganeura monyi of what is now France and the Permian Meganeuropsis permiana of what is now North America are the largest insect species yet known to have existed. These creatures had a wingspan of some 75 cm (30 in) and a mass of over 1 pound (450 g), making them about the size of a crow.
  Cockroaches and termites (Blattodea)
  The largest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing cockroach (Macropanesthia rhinoceros). This species can attain a length of 8.3 cm (3.3 in) and a weight of 36 g (1.3 oz). The giant cockroach (Blaberus giganteus) of the neotropics reaches comparable lengths although is not as massive as the burrowing species. The termites, traditionally classified in their own order (Isoptera), have recently been re-considered to belong in Blattodea. The largest of the termites is the African species Macrotermes bellicosus. The queen of this species can attain a length of 14 cm (5.5 in) and breadth of 5.5 cm (2.2 in) across the abdomen; other adults, on the other hand, are about a third of the size.
  Beetles (Coleoptera)
  The beetles are the largest order of organisms on earth, with about 400,000 species so far identified. The most massive species are the Goliathus, Megasoma and Titanus beetles already mentioned. Another fairly large species is the Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) of the neotropic rainforest with a maximum overall length of at least 19 cm (7.5 in) including the extremely long pronotal horn. The weight in this species does not exceed 16.5 g (0.58 oz). The longest overall beetle is a species of longhorn beetle, Batocera wallacei, from New Guinea, which can attain a length of 26.6 cm (10.5 in), about 19 cm (7.5 in) of which is comprised by the long antennae.
  Earwigs (Dermaptera)
  The largest of the earwigs is the Saint Helena giant earwig (Labidura herculeana), endemic to the island of its name, which is up to 8 cm (3.1 in) in length.
  True flies (Diptera)
  The largest species of this order, which includes the common housefly, is the neotropical species Gauromydas heros, which can reach a length of 6 cm (2 ³⁄₈ in) and a wingspan of 10 cm (3.9 in). Species of crane fly, the largest of which is Holorusia brobdignagius, can attain a length of 23 cm (9.1 in) but are extremely slender and much lighter in weight than Gauromydas.
  Mayflies (Ephemeroptera)
  The largest mayflies are members of the genus Proboscidoplocia from Madagascar. These insects can reach a length of 7 cm (2.8 in).
  True bugs (Hemiptera)
  The largest species of this diverse order is usually listed as the giant water bug in the genus Lethocerus, with L. maximus from the Neotropics being the absolutely largest. They can surpass 12 cm (4.7 in) in length, with some suggesting that the maximum size is 15 cm (5.9 in). It is more slender and less heavy than most other insects of this size (princip
caption: Queen Alexandra's birdwing.
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