Water boatman is the world's loudest animal - Telegraph.co.uk

In water boatmen the area used for stridulation is roughly the width of a human hair.

"We really don't know how they make such a loud sound using such a small area," says Dr. Windmill.

The researchers, who presenting their work at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow on Saturday the 2nd of July, are now hoping to discover how the insects make such a loud noise.

Dr. Windmill explains: "Biologically this work could be helpful in conservation as recordings of insect sounds could be used to monitor biodiversity. From the engineering side it could be used to inform our work in acoustics, such as in sonar systems."

The noisiest creature in absolute terms is the blue whale, which has a song that can reach 188 decibels.