Why Aren't There Giant Insects?
Hank and physiologist Jon Harrison discuss the question of insect size and major theories that attempt to explain why there is a limit to how large insects can get with current conditions on...
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You ever had one of those terrible, terrible dreams and wake up wondering why there aren't puppy-sized spiders? These days the largest insect on record is the Giant Weta of New Zealand which can grow up to 10 cm long and weigh around 70 grams, about the size of a small bird. But there was a time... when bugs... were very different. 300 million years ago, insects like the Meganeura Dragonfly with a wingspan of 65 cm across used to fill the skies along with other insects like... 8 times bigger than the ones that we have today. So why then, and not now? Well, Jon Harrison, physiologist at Arizona State University knows probably more about this than anybody else. So we asked him. And our first question was about the most common theory regarding insect size....
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You ever had one of those terrible, terrible dreams and wake up wondering why there aren't puppy-sized spiders? These days the largest insect on record is the Giant Weta of New Zealand which can grow up to 10 cm long and weigh around 70 grams, about the size of a small bird. But there was a time... when bugs... were very different. 300 million years ago, insects like the Meganeura Dragonfly with a wingspan of 65 cm across used to fill the skies along with other insects like... 8 times bigger than the ones that we have today. So why then, and not now? Well, Jon Harrison, physiologist at Arizona State University knows probably more about this than anybody else. So we asked him. And our first question was about the most common theory regarding insect size....
