Heaviest Insects in the World

About This Dataset

The heaviest insects by recorded adult weight, in grams. A pregnant giant wētā from New Zealand holds the verified record at 71 g - heavier than a sparrow - though several giant beetles come close. Beetle figures are approximate; their larvae can weigh far more.

✨ AI Insight

The giant wētā (71 g) holds the verified record for the heaviest adult insect, a flightless New Zealand cricket relative that grew so large in the absence of mammal predators. Behind it sits a cluster of massive tropical beetles - the Goliath, Actaeon and elephant beetles (all around 50 g) and the titan beetle (≈40 g) - whose armoured bodies make them the heavyweights of the flying insect world. The giant burrowing cockroach (≈30 g) rounds out the list. A striking footnote: several of these beetles' larvae are even heavier than the adults, with Actaeon beetle grubs recorded above 200 g. The chart shows that insects, constrained by how their bodies breathe and support weight, top out at roughly the mass of a small bird.

Source: Wikipedia - List of Largest Insects

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Giant wētā leads with 71 in All Time.

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Average value in All Time: 49 · median: 50.

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Gap in All Time: Giant wētā is 2.4× larger than Giant burrowing cockroach.