21 Centimeter Beetle Investigation

Author's Note: In my essay on 21 centimeter beetles I state my opinion that beetles of that size do not exist. I also support my opinion with various examples and reasons of how they don't exist.


Have you ever seen a 21 centimeter beetle before? That is our mission, to gather information to find if 21 centimeter beetles exist. This past school quarter we have been reading facts and doing experiments to resolve the problem. Our class has found possibilities that there may be such thing, but I do not think that 21 centimeter beetles are real.

In addition to my opinion, in our information packet we received in clue two it states, “As the exoskeleton tube gets larger, the material that it’s made of must get thicker, or the exoskeleton will collapse on itself.” In other words if the 21 centimeter is real its exoskeleton would be too heavy and collapse. Another statement was that, during an investigation done by K. Porter’s investigating team, they set out a light to attract insects to see if they may happen to find the answer, but the largest beetle they found was only 2 centimeters. K. Porter says, “If 21 centimeter beetles do exist they live a very secretive life.”  Furthermore, another clue from number five, it mentions, “Perhaps a large insect may have trouble finding enough food in a limited ecosystem such as that found on an island”. Meaning 21 centimeter beetles would probably eat anything they could to survive, someone had to of found them already if they were always searching for food. It also mentions in clue 2, “The exoskeleton is an efficient way for a small animal”. Meaning the exoskeleton is meant for smaller creatures, not like a 21 centimeter beetle. Another fact found, clue 3 says 15 to 17 centimeters is considered very large for insect and 21 centimeters would be abnormal for any insect. Lastly, in clue three it explains, “21-cm beetle’s legs would have to be short and thick to support its weight. Yet if its legs were too thick, they wouldn’t be able to move. In other words if there were such thing it would be very hard to because their legs would have to be so thick support its weight.

To conclude my essay, with all of the information discovered it is more likely that the 21 centimeter beetle is not real with the information we have gathered. We will have to see what else K. Porter, her research team, and the students involved in the investigation find. As told before, 21 centimeter beetles cannot possibly exist unless there is any more information we have yet to discover.