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Question:
Is there such a thing as a lightning bug that is 5-6 inches long?

Replies:
No, the largest North American lightning bugs are only about an inch long, many are smaller. The largest of any North American insects I know of are some moths with wingspans of 5" or so, but body length considerably less, and some darner dragonflies that may be around 4" long.

J. Elliott

Flying insects have an issue with size because they sport an exoskeleton. Having your skeleton on the outside increases the body weight dramatically with an increase of size. Some existing large flying insects actually have small bodies and huge wings to be able to fly and are clumsy at best in flight as a result. Lightning bugs can not grow very big for the same reasons.

Steve Sample

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