World's Largest Aquatic Insect Found In China
- 10 years ago
If enormous, flying insects make you squeamish, you may want to avoid taking any trips to the mountains of China’s Sichuan Province.
If enormous, flying insects make you squeamish, you may want to avoid taking any trips to the mountains of China’s Sichuan Province.
What’s known as the largest aquatic flying bug in the world was recently discovered to be living there.
It’s a supersize version of the giant dobsonfly and has a wingspan large enough to wrap around a human face.
Measured at 8-and-a-half inches, the spread betters that of the current record holder, the South American damsel firefly, by about an inch.
As if that weren’t enough, the giant dobsonfly also has quite a set of pincers on it.
Many locals simply refer them as, "weird insects that resemble giant dragonflies with long teeth."
It was area residents that actually found the specimen.
After coming across it they handed it over to the Insect Museum of West China.
The experts there said that the airborne giant actually does more than just fly around and freak people out.
It’s apparently an excellent judge of water quality.
The species prefers clean, fresh aquatic environments and is incredibly sensitive to pH levels.
If it detects pollutants in its habitat, it’ll move along to find more pristine waters.
If enormous, flying insects make you squeamish, you may want to avoid taking any trips to the mountains of China’s Sichuan Province.
What’s known as the largest aquatic flying bug in the world was recently discovered to be living there.
It’s a supersize version of the giant dobsonfly and has a wingspan large enough to wrap around a human face.
Measured at 8-and-a-half inches, the spread betters that of the current record holder, the South American damsel firefly, by about an inch.
As if that weren’t enough, the giant dobsonfly also has quite a set of pincers on it.
Many locals simply refer them as, "weird insects that resemble giant dragonflies with long teeth."
It was area residents that actually found the specimen.
After coming across it they handed it over to the Insect Museum of West China.
The experts there said that the airborne giant actually does more than just fly around and freak people out.
It’s apparently an excellent judge of water quality.
The species prefers clean, fresh aquatic environments and is incredibly sensitive to pH levels.
If it detects pollutants in its habitat, it’ll move along to find more pristine waters.