📸 PhotoPhoto: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Titan beetle
Titanus giganteus (Titan beetle · タイタンオオウスバカミキリ)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Guinness World Records lists the titan beetle as the longest beetle species in the world by body length.
- 💡 The largest individual at 16.7 cm is about the length of a little over six Korean 500-won coins (diameter 26.5 mm) laid side by side (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The titan beetle is a beetle living in South America that is the longest beetle in the world by body length alone.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its average body length is about 15 cm, females measure 12.4–15 cm, and the largest measured male was 16.7 cm. Its mandibles are very strong, and its antennae reach half the body length.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Adults are nocturnal and fly toward lights, and adults of this group (subfamily Prioninae) generally do not take food. Because the larva has never been scientifically described, its diet and life cycle remain almost unknown.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • catalogueoflife.org — 5784S
- • wikidata.org — Q858284
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Titanus giganteus MHNT.jpg
- • guinnessworldrecords.com — 445504-longest-beetle-body-species
- • ebi.ac.uk — fullTextXML
- • doi.org — insects11020120
- • bok.or.kr — contents.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Melissa Broussard · CC BY 3.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Cerambycidae)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.