DAILY NO. 16 · VERIFIED MEASUREMENTS
The five insects & bugs objects from the Size It Up puzzle on September 16, 2026, with the measured size of each, the reference it was compared against, a source you can check, and how the community's guesses landed. Want the surprise first? Replay this puzzle — archived days never touch your streak.
Answer: a praying mantis measures 10 cm (length / span), which is almost exactly the same size as the reference, a monarch butterfly at 10 cm.
A mantis can turn its head almost all the way round, which few insects manage.
Common miss: players tend to inflate a praying mantis when it sits beside a monarch butterfly — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Answer: a giant wētā measures 10 cm (length / span), which is about 1.1× smaller than the reference, a Goliath beetle at 11 cm.
One of the heaviest insects on Earth — a large female outweighs a sparrow.
Common miss: players tend to inflate a giant wētā when it sits beside a Goliath beetle — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Answer: a monarch butterfly measures 10 cm (length / span), which is almost exactly the same size as the reference, a hamburger at 10 cm.
Monarchs migrate as far as 4,000 km on a 10 cm wingspan.
Common miss: players tend to inflate a monarch butterfly when it sits beside a hamburger — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Answer: a Goliath birdeater measures 28 cm (length / span), which is 1.2× as big as the reference, an NBA basketball at 24.3 cm.
Its leg span can be wider than a dinner plate.
Common miss: players tend to compress a Goliath birdeater when it sits beside an NBA basketball — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Answer: a leafcutter ant measures 1.3 cm (length / span), which is 1.3× as big as the reference, a ladybird beetle at 1 cm.
Leafcutters routinely carry many times their own body weight.
Common miss: players tend to compress a leafcutter ant when it sits beside a ladybird beetle — big things get squeezed, small familiar things get stretched.
Sizes are measured along the axis named in each round and link to their published source. Explore the full library by category, or read how scoring works.