by Natalja Smirnova
In China has found the largest aquatic insect from those that exist today. Length of insect wings is as large that they can close a person’s face, and jaw size comparable with the human little finger.
About the discovery of the Chinese entomologists reported the CNN agency.
Insect was caught in early July on the territory of the Chinese province of Sichuan. Initially, it fell into the hands of the peasants living in the vicinity of the city of Chengdu. According to local residents, the insect “resembles a giant dragonfly with long teeth.”
When the peasants gave the insect to the Entomological Museum of Western China, scientists have identified the insect as an abnormally large representative subfamily Corydalinae. At the larval stage they live many years in the aquatic environment. Adults are short-lived insects flying in search of a partner.
Wingspan of this insect reaches 21 centimeters. This makes it the largest insects with aquatic larvae. Previously, the role of the South American record holder claimed dragonfly helicopter Megaloprepus – but the scope of its wings is only 19.1 centimeters.
Giant mandible (jaw) of insect not poses a risk to humans – they need insects to hold the female during mating. According to scientists, representatives of the same species, only smaller, previously observed in northern Vietnam, the Indian state of Assam and other Chinese provinces. In the province of Sichuan, such insect caught the first time.
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Natalja Smirnova
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