Can you imagine walking into Walmart and seeing a huge insect on the outside wall of the store? I don't know what you would do but I'd definitely call someone with a big fly swatter. So, it's a good thing I didn't see this insect and a guy named Michael Skvarla did.

Skvarla was working at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville when he saw it. The crazy thing is he found it back in 2012 but misidentified it until this week. Now he works at Penn State. With more research into this insect, this insect hasn't been seen in North America in 50 years and it's never been seen in Arkansas.

How Big is This Insect?

The press release states that the insect is a  Polystoechotes punctata or giant lacewing. It's wingspan is about 50 millimeters which is pretty big and you would definitely notice it.

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Skvarla said in the press release;

“I remember it vividly, because I was walking into Walmart to get milk and I saw this huge insect on the side of the building. I thought it looked interesting, so I put it in my hand and did the rest of my shopping with it between my fingers. I got home, mounted it, and promptly forgot about it for almost a decade.”

 

Will We See More of These Insects?

Unfortunately for us, the answer is more than that likely we will see more.

Skvarla is now the, director of Penn State’s Insect Identification Lab and he says there may be 'relic populations' of this big 'Jurassic-Era' bug to still be discovered. Great...

For us bug-fearing people that's not good news. Would it be wrong for me to carry a large fly swatter me my purse just in case?

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