Giants of deep time
Largest Prehistoric Insects: Giant Griffinflies
Explore three giant flying insects from the Carboniferous and Permian. Their fossil wings reveal an aerial world very different from the one above us today.
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How this list was selected
A focused selection of giant griffinflies, relatives of modern dragonflies, rather than an exhaustive insect ranking. Fossil-based wingspan estimates can approach 0.7 m in the largest forms. Body length and wingspan must not be mixed. Arthropleura and sea scorpions are arthropods but not insects, so they are excluded.
In this guide 3
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3 atlas recordsAbout 283–272 million years ago
Permian Giant Griffinfly
Meganeuropsis permiana
The largest estimates reach a 71-centimeter wingspan, placing it among the biggest flying insects in Earth history.
Inland Pangaean river valleys and open wetlands · Kansas and Oklahoma, USA
About 305–299 million years ago
Meganeura
Meganeura monyi
This griffinfly’s wings spanned roughly seventy centimeters above Carboniferous forests.
Euramerican coal swamps · Present-day France
About 307–299 million years ago
Megatypus
Megatypus schucherti
A wingspan near half a meter made it a major aerial predator.
Airspace above coal swamps · North America
