Jambo, Mr. Nature here. And today it’s bitter cold outside, so let’s mosey on down to South America and check out big bugs.
What’s the world’s largest insect? There are many contenders for that title; but I give the overall crown to the Titan Beetle, also known as the South American Longhorn Beetle, which can grow to almost seven inches long and, with its powerful jaws, bite a pencil in half. How many chances it gets to bite pencils in half, I don’t know. Just don’t offer it one of your fingers.
There are some insects that are a little longer, and a few a little heavier, but the longer ones are lighter and the heavier ones are shorter.
We have oversized beetles in the summer that bumble around in the air and repeatedly bump into the wall of our apartment building, which doesn’t seem to slow them down a bit. I wonder what it would sound like if a Titan Beetle flew full-tilt into our screen. Our cats like to chase beetles, but this one might well give them pause. I think they might wind up under the bed if they saw one.
God’s stuff–to paraphrase Shakespeare, nothing can stale its infinite variety. He was talking about Cleopatra, but we’re talking bugs.
Oi! That beetle grosses me out. I prefer only horror movie versions only of bugs that don’t make me “squirm.”
When I was a child, I was fascinated by insects and admired the way they were created. I loved them then and continue to be in awe of the ingenious way they were created. We have some big insects in Arizona, but that beetle is off the charts.
In the river valley of Arkansas we have a plethora of insects in the summer months that keep my wife inside a lot (plus intolerable humid hear). But when one goes to the Amazon or Congo jungles it is a different world of over sized everything. I wonder if that Longhorn Beetle is good to eat – it looks there’s a lot of protein available.
Be my guest, and bon appetite.
Whoah…