Royal Entomological Society

Dr Luke Tilley is the Director of Outreach & Development at the RES, which was founded in 1833 for the promotion and development of insect science. The Society supports international collaboration, research and publication. It aims to promote excellence in entomology and demonstrate the importance of studying insects.

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Longest beetle

In terms of total length (i.e., not merely the body), the hercules beetle is the longest beetle, with an average length of 44–172 millimetres (1.7–6.7 inches) across its 13 subspecies. Of all these subspecies, the longest is the Dynastes hercules hercules (the largest of the "rhinoceros" beetles, of South America) from the islands of Guadeloupe and Dominica, with one 172-millimetre (6.77-inch) example having been measured in a Japanese collection. This length is partly a result of the beetle's long pair of horns – one extending from the head, the other from the thorax.