The Hercules moth has the largest wing surface area of any living insect — over 300 cm² across both wings.
MuseumAustralian MuseumShare →
Hercules Moth
Coscinocera hercules
Largest wing surface area of any insect alive. 300 cm². Adult lasts a week. No mouth.
Curated and rated by Sheriff Six-Legs and The Wild Pest field team · Six Legs Score™ (78/100, Outlaw tier) · Published Apr 25, 2026 · Updated Apr 28, 2026 · Released CC BY 4.0
78Six Legs
Six Legs Score™
78 / 100
The Hercules moth has the largest WING SURFACE AREA of any insect alive — over 300 cm². (The atlas moth has the largest by linear span; the Hercules wins by area.) Endemic to northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Like the atlas moth, the adult cannot eat — she lives 2-8 days on stored caterpillar fat, mates, dies. Caterpillar weighs 30 grams.
Size
Wingspan up to 27 cm; wing area 300+ cm²
Lifespan
Adult 2-8 days; cocoon 6-12 months
Range
Northern Queensland (Australia), southern Papua New Guinea
Diet
Caterpillar: bleeding heart tree leaves. Adult: nothing.
Found in
Tropical rainforest
Field guide
Coscinocera hercules is the largest moth in Australia and one of the largest moths in the world. While the atlas moth (Attacus atlas) has slightly longer wings tip-to-tip, the Hercules moth has the largest WING SURFACE AREA of any living insect — over 300 cm² across the spread wings. The species is endemic to northern Queensland (Australia) and southern Papua New Guinea. Like other large saturniid moths (atlas, luna, polyphemus), the Hercules moth has no functional mouthparts as an adult: she emerges from the cocoon with all her energy stored as caterpillar fat, lives 2-8 days, mates, lays eggs, and dies. Caterpillars grow remarkably large — fully-mature larvae weigh up to 30 grams (heavier than the adult) and feed on bleeding-heart trees (Homalanthus). The cocoon takes 6-12 months to develop. Adults are encountered at lights at night during the brief emergence period (December-February in northern Queensland). The species is non-CITES protected but is the basis of careful population monitoring in Queensland's Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
5 wild facts on file
Like other giant saturniid moths, the adult has no functional mouth and lives 2-8 days on caterpillar-stored fat.
AgencyRoyal Entomological SocietyShare →
The caterpillar grows to 30 grams — heavier than the adult moth she becomes.
MuseumAustralian MuseumShare →
Males detect female pheromones from up to 2 km away using massive feathered antennae — among the most sensitive chemical detectors in nature.
EncyclopediaEncyclopedia of LifeShare →
The cocoon takes 6-12 months to develop — almost an entire year of larval+pupal preparation for an 8-day adult life.
MuseumAustralian MuseumShare →
Cultural file
The Hercules moth is a flagship species for the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area. The species appears on Australian Northern Territory tourism literature. The dramatic short adult lifespan and inability to eat make her a frequent subject of nature documentary 'briefly intense lives' segments.
Sources
MuseumAustralian Museum — Hercules MothAgencyRoyal Entomological Society
Keep digging in the corpus
Related files
On File
Curious
Six Legs76
Alias
Attacus atlas
Atlas Moth
World's largest moth. Wings shaped like snake heads. No mouth, no food, no time.
Read the file→
On File
Curious
Six Legs73
Alias
Actias luna
Luna Moth
Pale green ghost of the moonlit forest. Tails that jam bat sonar. No mouth.
Read the file→
On File
Curious
Six Legs82
Alias
Acherontia atropos
Death's-Head Hawkmoth
Skull on the thorax. Squeaks. Robs beehives by smelling like a bee.
Read the file→
Six’s Field Notes
Get a new wild file every Friday.
One bug. One fact you can’t un-know. Sheriff’s commentary. No filler. No ads. Unsubscribe anytime.