Meganeura: The giant insect that flew 300 million years ago

Meganeura is the museum's smallest "giant" — it is an insect, yet it has an astonishing size. It lived about 300 million years ago in the Late Carboniferous, flying through the sky like a huge dragonfly. It is not a true dragonfly but an ancient relative, part of a long-extinct group.

Its body

The most striking feature of Meganeura is its four great wings, patterned with clear veins and spread out like four little transparent sails. Its wingspan reached about 70 centimetres — remarkable by any modern standard. It had six legs armed with stiff spikes, and a pair of large compound eyes that gave it a wide view as it flew.

Research suggests its legs could form a "hunting basket", drawn together to intercept insects or other small animals flying past.

Where it lived and what it ate

Meganeura was a meat-eater, feeding on smaller flying insects and other invertebrates. It lived in the warm, damp, plant-rich world of the Carboniferous. At that time the air held more oxygen, which favoured very large flying insects like this one — and that is a big part of why scientists discuss the link between oxygen and giant insect size.

Where its fossils were found

The famous Meganeura fossil comes from Commentry in France, where Late Carboniferous rocks preserve specimens with clear wing venation. Related griffenflies have also been found in other places.

What the fossils tell us — and what they do not

The wing veins are preserved clearly enough to reconstruct the four wings with high confidence. But the colour of the body, how transparent the membranes were, the exact branching of the veins, the number of spikes on the legs and exactly how it flapped and caught prey are still, in part, evidence-informed reconstructions. Because complete body fossils are rare, we are still far from a full reconstruction.

A note for grown-ups

You could help a child imagine "300 million years ago": long before the dinosaurs, such a giant insect flew through the sky. Letting a child feel the scale of time and change is a lovely way to begin understanding the history of life on Earth.