In the UK, we tend to think of insects as being quite small, with the ones we would consider our largest – whether that be in length, wingspan or by weight – being a pretty unusual and impressive sight.
A contender for Britain's largest insect could be the largest UK beetle, the stag beetle (Lucanus cervus, measuring in at 35-75mm long, including their jaws/mandibles, and weighing a chunky 2-6g.
Other contenders include the UK's largest moth, the emperor moth (Saturnia pavonia), which can have a wingspan of up to 80mm and the UK's longest insect, which is probably the non-native, naturalised unarmed stick insect (Acanthoxyla inermis), measuring up to 125mm in length.
Other insects in the UK that could fall into the largest insect category might be the hornet robberfly (Asilus crabroniformis), our largest species of fly which can reach up to 28mm in length; the noisy and incredibly clumsy cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha), a beetle growing up to 30mm in length; or maybe even the emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator), which averages around 78mm in length with a 105mm wingspan.
But the biggest British insects pale into insignificance when compared to the world's largest insects...
Did you know the UK's biggest arachnid is the fen raft spider, with a a leg-span of up to 70mm and a body length of up to 23mm?
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Main image: stag beetle © Getty Images
