Tag: Largest in the World

This is the Giant Isopod, a gigantic, aquatic relative of the centimetre-or-so long woodlice in your garden. Woodlice (roly-pollies, pillbugs etc.) or isopods are actually a terrestrial crustacean rather than an insect or ‘bug’… and this one is a massive, marine one! Bathynomus giganteus, similarly to other isopods, have a marsupium or brood pouch – where their young develop and emerge as mini versions of the adults. They are abundant at depths of 310-2140 m in cold waters in the West Atlantic. Bathynomus giganteus, specifically, is classified a supergiant species at 17-50 cm long!! The ‘giant’ classification in giant isopods (and most of the bathynomus genus) are typically 8-15 cm long, which is still large. These crustaceans have two reflective, compound eyes, seven pairs of legs of which the first are modified like the pedipalps of spiders (or manipulating food) and have a tough exoskeleton. Isn’t it fascinating?

ARTHROPOD OF THE WEEK IS…

The Giant Burrowing Cockroach (Macropanesthia rhinoceros) is the largest extant cockroach, though it doesn’t compare to prehistoric cockroaches, it grows to 8 cm in length and weighs 35 g – almost the same weight as a hamster. Despite what you may think about the common pest, the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), out of 4,500 species, only 30 are pests! The Giant Burrowing Cockroach is highly beneficial to the environment which it lives in, and are adapted to burrowing with their heavily hooked tarsi to shift substrate and consume decomposing plant matter. They are native to Australia and may bury down to approximately 1 metre underground. This species, in the pet trade, are often kept – their environment is easy to replicate and they will breed and reach maturity without complications.