#ConservationStatus-DataDeficient

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The Titan Beetle, or Titanus giganteus, is the world's largest beetle species measuring up to 16.7 centimeters in length. It is native to the tropical rainforests of South America. Like many species, it is threatened by the ongoing destruction of the rainforests. However, their population in the wild is unknown, resulting in a Data Deficient conservation status.

The Titan Beetle in general is a species of which relatively little is known. Their larvae, for example, have never been found, but estimations from boreholes found in trees show that they could be 30 centimeters long and 5 centimeters wide. After emerging from their pupae, adult Titan Beetles live a relatively short life, usually dying shortly after mating. For the males this is a given fact, seeing that they don't eat at all, instead spending their energy on finding a mate and reproducing with that mate. For this purpose male Titan Beetles are able to fly, whereas females aren't despite having wings like males. Another difference between the male and female is that males are attracted to light sources, whereas females are not.

Fun fact: the mandibles of the Titan Beetle are strong enough to snap through twigs of fairly large size (especially when compared to the size of the beetle's mandibles).

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The Puff Adder (Bitis arietans), is a venomous snake species that is widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and the Southern Middle East. While generally a slow moving snake, they are extremely aggressive and bad-tempered, often remaining ready to attack and never settling when in captivity. Their venom can cause extreme pain, low blood pressure, and tissue necrosis, leading to the fact that Puff Adders are responsible for the most snakebite deaths in Africa. They're also very easily reproduced since they can give birth to a great number of live young (one female is recorded as giving birth to 156 in one go). Due to this, combined with their aggressive nature, no-one knows their actual population numbers in the wild, as such they're classed as Data Deficient.

Fun fact: Puff Adders are extremely greedy and have been known to eat themselves to death in captivity if offered unlimited food.

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The Goliath Birdeater (Theraphosa blondi) is an extremely large species of tarantula native to the tropical rainforests, swamps, and marshes of Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, Brazil, and Venezuela. In fact, they are the largest spider species in the world measuring up to 12 centimeters long in body with a leg span up to 28 centimeters.

Despite the female spider being larger than the male spider, they do not kill and eat the males during or after mating which often happens with other spider species. Their webs are only used for making egg sacs and for sperm transfer. The spiders hunt on the forest floor by way of venom-use. The venom is not strong to humans and can be compared to wash sting venom (it is unknown whether those allergic to wasp stings are also allergic to Birdeater venom). Where threatened, Goliath Birdeaters release hairs from their abdomen that cause severe skin irritation.

Fun fact: the Goliath Birdeater is a delicacy in the local cuisine of Northeastern South America.

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The Giant Tiger Land Snail (Achatina achatina) is the largest land snail species in the world, capable of reaching a length and diameter of 30 x 15 centimeters. The snails originate from the woodlands of West Africa; specifically Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria. In Ghana they're even considered a delicacy and are often hunted for food. However, the snails have been accidentally introduced to the USA and the Caribbean where they're considered a pest. And despite the fact that they're threatened by habitat loss and over-hunting by humans, there's no actual data on their population in the wild, hence the Data Deficient conservation status.

Fun fact: Giant Tiger Land Snails have mouthparts called 'radulae' that are covered in many tiny 'teeth' used to feed by rasping them against vegetation (some say that if you're close you can hear them feed).

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The Giant Malaysian Leaf Insect (Phyllium giganteum) is limited to the Taman Negara rainforest in Western Malaysia, one of the oldest rainforests in the world being roughly 130 million years old.

As the name already suggests, it perfectly impersonates being a leaf among many in the trees they inhabit, mostly sitting still and being unreactive. Females are the bigger sized with 12 centimeters. Contrary to the females, the males (9 centimeters in length) have long wings and can fly.

While moulting they're very vulnerable and can die easily if either temperature or humidity of the environment aren't ideal, of if they're touched while their bodies are still soft, which makes raising them in captivity very difficult.

Fun fact: females don't require males in order to reproduce offspring. However, if male offspring is desired, then a female must breed with a male, otherwise all offspring will be female. In part due to this capability of the female leaf insect, the first male Giant Malaysian Leaf Insect wasn't discovered until 1994. Therefore, comparatively little is known about the males of this insect species.

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The Giant Burrowing Cockroach, or Macropanesthia rhinoceros, is native to Northern Australia. They are a floor-dwelling insect without wings and incapable of climbing. Instead they've been named for their habit of digging burrows in sandy earth, often delving up to 1 meter into the ground where they give birth to live young, instead of eggs like most insects do.

This particular cockroach is the heaviest species of cockroach, weighing up to 35 grams. Males have a 'scoop'-like shield on top of their head used for digging and fighting rival males. During those fights the cockroaches 'hiss' by pushing air out of their body segments (they breath in a similar fashion as the Amazonian Giant Centipede).

Due to unknown population numbers in the wild they are classed as Data Deficient.

Fun fact: Giant Burrowing Cockroaches are popular pets because of the ease of care and their positive response to being handled.

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The Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria nigriventer) is a native spider species to the rainforests of South America (although it does live in urban areas too). They are large venomous spiders with leg spans between 13-15 centimeters. The females are more venomous than the males and the venom can cause paralysis and asphyxiation. And while their venom is one of the deadliest spider-venoms to humans, they are unlikely to bite unless surprised, and if they do bite they often don't inject venom with their bites. Part of their scientific name, 'phoneutria', alludes to their deadliness. 'Phoneutria' means 'murdress' in Greek.

With their population in the wild unknown, they are, similar to most insects, classed as Data Deficient.

Brazilian Wandering Spiders have received their name due to their hunting habits. During the night, instead of building a web or lair, they wander the forest floor searching for prey. During the day they hide in termite mounds, under logs or rocks.

Fun fact: they are also known as the banana spider due to them often being found hiding in banana plants, occasionally even getting shipping to foreign countries in banana crates.

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The Amazonian Giant Centipede (Scolopendra gigantea) are a large (up to 30 centimeters long) insect that uses venom to kill anything it can catch including tarantulas and small snakes. They're even known to hang from the tops of caves and hang upside down in order to prey upon bats. Their bite and venom have been confirmed responsible for one human death.

The current number of centipedes living in the wilds of the forests of South American and the Caribbean is unknown, and they are classed as Data Deficient in conservation status.

Although the name centipede means '100 legs', they only have a pair of legs per body segment. Centipedes usually have 21 to 23 such segments, amounting to 42 to 46 legs in all.

Fun fact: all centipedes, including the Amazonian Giant Centipede, don't have lungs, instead they breathe through holes on the sides on their body segments. The air gets pumped through a series of pipes or veins directly to the cells and organs that need it (basically it gets transported in a similar fashion as blood is transported in the veins of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, including humans).