Insects With Super Long Lives

July 25, 2016

Most insects do not live past a year, and there are plenty that do not make it past a couple of weeks. However, there are some insects that can live for decades. For example, the queens that belong to certain insect colonies can live for up to sixty years. The Cicada insect can live for up to seventeen years, but most of that time is spent in the larval stage. Once the Cicada becomes an adult, their lives are pretty much already over. These bugs are only adults long enough to mate and reproduce, which I guess is not a bad way to spend a short life There is also a type of Long Horned Beetle that can live for up to fifty years in the larval stage. But the most impressive lifespans, and the insect that is believed to have the longest lifespan, belong to the Mound Building Termite Queen. This termite can live up to sixty years, which is pretty close to the human's life expectancy. Unfortunately, these bugs don't get much of a chance to relax since they are known to lay about thirty five thousand eggs in a single day. Do you know of any insect, alive or extinct, that can live longer than sixty years?