Megabugs: The World's Largest Insects


By Lester Black


Giant Helicopter Damselfly

Wingspan: 7.5 inches
Where: Central and South America

The two sets of wings on these dragonflies, the largest in the world, work independently, allowing the insect to move in multiple directions and even hover in one spot. Their aerial adroitness makes them skillful hunters of mosquitoes and other smaller bugs.

They lay their eggs in water-filled tree holes in Central and South America, where the cannibalistic juveniles, called naiads, kill one another until there is 1 to 2 liters of water for every naiad.
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