CHENGDU, China — The Chinese media reports that the biggest aquatic insect has been found in the mountains of Chengdu in Sichuan province.
The claim is supported by a series of photographs uploaded to the news agency website showing the large insect belonging to the taxonomic group of Megaloptera.
“A specimen of an insect in the order Megaloptera which is discovered in a mountain of Chengdu, Sichuan province. With its wingspan measured as 21 centimeters, the insect won the title of the largest aquatic insect in the world,” wrote Ecns, the state-run China news service.
The photos show an insect with a wingspan of 8.3 inches, resembling a giant dragonfly with huge mandibles similar to those of the Coleoptera family. According to entomologists only the male is equipped with the exorbitant mandibles, which are not used to eat or as a defense mechanism, but to attract female members during mating season.
The new species have been reported as hiding under the water when they are larvae, only emerging when they pupate and become adults. They then spend the rest of their life looking for mates.
The biggest insect in the world is the Thysania agrippina, also known as the White Witch Moth, with a wingspan of 11.8 inches.
- White Witch Moth. Credit: Acrocynus CC BY-SA 3.0
The group of Megaloptera include dobsonflies and fishflies and their behavior is poorly known. They can live in clean water such as streams and rivers, but can also withstand muddy and even polluted waters.
Giant insects are of interest to cryptozoologists as some believe that members of the supposedly extinct genus Meganeura, from the Carboniferous period, could still be alive.
Gauthier Chapelle and Lloyd S. Peck (May 1999) wrote an article on this subject, “Polar gigantism dictated by oxygen availability”, Nature 399 (6732): 114–115. doi:10.1038/20099. They theorized that gigantism during the Carboniferous period could have been possible due to the atmospheric oxygen being as high as 35%. According to this theory, giant insects could not survive today’s decreased oxygen levels.
The Meganeura exhibited a wingspan of 25.6 inches and is the largest known flying insect species.
Chengdu is the fourth most populous city in mainland China
Front page picture, Chengdu, by Paul Wolneykien under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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