Actaeon Beetle vs New Zealand Glow-Worm Firefly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Actaeon Beetle New Zealand Glow-Worm Firefly
Scientific Name Megasoma actaeon Atyphella flammans
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Scarabaeidae Lampyridae
Size 50-135 mm 8-12 mm
Habitat Forests Forests
Diet Wood Feeders Predators
Regions South America Oceania
Conservation Least Concern Data Deficient

Actaeon Beetle

Contender for the worlds heaviest beetle — a male larva bred in Japan weighed 228 grams, about the weight of a brown rat. Adults are armored giants of the Amazon.

💡

Did You Know?

A captive-bred Actaeon beetle larva weighed 228 grams — about half a pound — making it the heaviest insect larva ever recorded, heavier than a hamster.

New Zealand Glow-Worm Firefly

An Australasian firefly found in subtropical forests of eastern Australia. It produces a steady amber glow rather than a blinking flash.

💡

Did You Know?

Despite sharing the name 'glow-worm' with New Zealand cave glow-worms, this is a true firefly beetle, not a fungus gnat.