Australia's Largest Insects
| Australia's Largest Insect: Titan stick insect (Acrophylla titan) Ctenamorpha species of stick insect found in the wet tropics. An overall body length measuring up to 50 cms. Photo: © Peter Chew |
 Brisbane Insects and Spiders |
| Australia's Largest Butterfly: Cairns Birdwing (Ornithoptera euphorion) A wingspan of up to 18cms. Photo: © australian-insects.com |
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| Largest spider in Australia: Whistling Spiders or Bird-eating Spiders (Selenocosmia crassipes) Up to 6cm in body length and a total length of 16cm (amonline, 2006). Photo: © Steve Nunn. |
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| Australia's Heaviest Stick Insect: Goliath stick insect (Eurycnema goliath) Smaller than the titan (stick insect), but weighing up to 30 grams. Photo: © australian-insects.com |
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| Australia's Largest Cicada: Double Drummer (Thopha saccata) The largest cicada in Australia with a wingspan up to 13cm. It is also the loudest insect in the world! Photo: © australianfauna.com |
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| Australia's Largest Ant: Bulldog ant (Myrmecia brevinoda) The largest ant (and probably the largest ant in the world) reaching 36mm in length. Photo: Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.5 |
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| Australia's Largest Sucking Bug: Giant water bug (Lethocerus insulanus) Growing up to 7.5cm in length. This bug can even feed on small fish. Photo: |
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| Australia's Largest Bee: Carpenter bee (Xylocopa aruana) Wingspan up to 5cm. Photo: © Peter Chew |
 Brisbane Insects and Spiders |
| Australia's Largest moth: Hercules moth (Coscinocera hercules) A wingspan up to 27cm. The female has the largest wing area of any moth in the world (AusGeo, 2006). Photo: |
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| Heaviest moth: Giant wood moth (Endoxyla cinerea) Weighing up to 26 grams makes the Giant wood moth the heaviest moth in the World. Photo: Unrestricted use. |
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| Largest cricket: King Cricket (Anostostoma australasiae) Growing to 7cm in length (AusGeo, 2006). Photo: |
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| Largest katydid: Shield-backed katydid (Siliquofera sp.) Growing to 13cm, the largest in Australia and one of the largest in the world. Photo: © Barbara Strnadova |
 God of Insects |
| Largest fly: Robber fly (Phellus olgae) A wingspan of up to 8cm. Photo: © Peter Chew |
 Brisbane Insects and Spiders |
| Largest cockroach: Giant burrowing cockroach (Macropanesthia rhinoceros) Weighing up to 30 grams. It is the world's heaviest cockroach. Photo: |
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| Largest earwig: Colossus earwig (Titanolabis colossea) Reaching up to 6cm in length, and one of the world's heaviest earwigs. Photo: |
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| Australia's Largest dragonfly: Giant Petaltail (Petalura ingentissima) A wingspan up to 15cm. Photo: © Philip Bowles |
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| Largest weevil: Giant pine weevil (Eurhamphus fasciculatus) Growing to 6cm is Australia's largest weevil. Photo: |
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| Largest longicorn: Wallace's longicorn (Batocera wallacei) Reaches a length up to 8.5cm, with antenna that can span an amazing 40cm. This is Australia's largest beetle. Photo: |
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| Largest lacewing: Antlion lacewing (Heoclisis fulva) A wingspan up to 15cm. Photo: © Bill Horn |
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| Largest grasshopper: Giant grasshopper (Valanga irregularis) Photo: © australian-insects.com |
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| Largest wasp: Spider Wasp (Hemipepis australasiae) With a wingspan up to 6.8cm. Photo: |
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| Rarest insect in Australia (and the World): Lord Howe Island Stick Insect (Dryococelus australis) (ABC, 2002). | |
| Largest insect nest: Up to 7 metres in height built by termites (EBO, 2007). | |
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s245820.htm http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/features/insects/keeping/giantroaches.asp
http://www.australianfauna.com/cairnsbirdwing.php
http://www.amonline.net.au/spiders/resources/general.htm#australia
"Australia: Insects". (2007). In Britannica Student Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 18, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-196900 Monteith, Geoff. Sep-2006. Giant Insects. Australian Geographic. No. 83. pp54-61.