Stevie Magee, age 12, of Albany, N,Y„ for his question:

What is the largest insect in the world?

The bulkiest, the heaviest and most likely the largest insects belong to the order of beetles. Maybe a few, such as the mantids may be longer, but these fellows are very slim. Maybe a few, such as the dragonflies, may have wider wing spreads, but these fellows are light and gauzy. But certain beetles of the scarab family certainly weigh more and quite possibly measure more than these dainty insects,

Africa’s biggest scarab beetle is called the goliath. He may measure four inches in length and he wears a white decor on his shiny, reddish brown back. The elephant beetles of tropical America may be the same length as the goliaths but they are wider and heavier. An elephant beetle may be as big as a man's fist and have a wing spread of ten inches. Yes, he has a trunk, a horny spike poking out from the front of his head, He also has a pair of side prongs which look like tusks.

The hercules beetle of the West Indies and tropical America may be even longer, though not so broad and bulky as the elephant beetle. The hercules has a long horn from his forehead and a smaller horn from his chest. These horns curve together like a beak. This fellow measures four inches plus another two inches of horn,