This Is The Largest Known Insect of All Time, With a Wingspan of 2.5 ft (75 cm)

An enormous representative of the extinct dragonfly-like order of griffinflies is the largest known insect species to have ever lived on Earth.

The largest living insect species we know today are the atlas moth (which sport the largest wings by surface area at 160 cm2 or 25 in2), the white witch moth (which has the largest wingspan at almost 30 cm or 12 in), and the goliath beetle, the heaviest insect at 115 g (4.1 oz).

As in the case of most other animal groups, the ancestors of insects also tended to be bigger than their contemporary counterparts. Among them, giant griffinflies such as Meganeura monyi and Meganeuropsis permiana are the largest known insect species to have ever existed. These creatures had a wingspan of some 75 cm (28 in) – about three times that of the atlas moth. Their maximum body mass is uncertain, with estimates varying between 34 g and 240 g, so up to more than twice the size of the goliath beetle.