Most expensive insect

A giant 80-mm (3-in) stag beetle (Dorcus Hopei) was reported to have been sold for JPY10,035,000 ($90,000 £57,000) at a Tokyo store, Japan on 19 August 1999. It is believed that a 36-year-old company president brought the bug for his collection but refused to be identified for fear of being targeted by thieves.  Stag beetles inhabit the holes of old oak trees, stay in dark places during the day making them hard to find.  According to editors of the monthly magazine Mushi the number of giant stag beetle fans in Japan is estimated at 300,000. About 100 people make either all or part of their living hunting and breeding the insects.  It is said that only two 80 mm (3 in) giant stag beetles exist in Japan: this one and another owned by Hirayama, a leading figure in the beetle profession.

JPY10,035,000 = $90,000 = £57,000