Can Insects Survive a Fall from Great Heights?

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SUMMARY

Insects, such as ants, can survive falls from great heights due to their exoskeletons and high surface-to-mass ratios, which reduce terminal velocity in Earth's atmosphere. The discussion highlights that while ants are less susceptible to fatal impacts, larger insects like tarantulas do not share this resilience and are likely to die if dropped from human height. Factors such as air resistance and material support play crucial roles in determining the survivability of insects during falls. The impact of gravity on different species underscores the importance of scaling in biological resilience.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of insect anatomy, specifically exoskeletons
  • Basic principles of physics, including mass, acceleration, and impulse
  • Knowledge of terminal velocity and its implications for small organisms
  • Familiarity with the effects of air resistance on falling objects
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the effects of gravity on different insect species
  • Explore the concept of terminal velocity in small organisms
  • Study the physics of air resistance and its impact on falling objects
  • Investigate the structural differences between exoskeletons and endoskeletons in animals
USEFUL FOR

Biologists, entomologists, physics students, and anyone interested in the survival mechanisms of small organisms during falls.

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An ant has no skeletons, so as long as she doesn't burn by falling, she wouldn't die right? Neither any of hte other animals who don't have skeletons.
 
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The ant has an exoskeleton, I am not sure if it is across the entire species, and the insects should have an initial stage before this skeleton develops--they are soft "larvae" when hatched. Also, the skeleton has to be considered along with scaling: i.e. mass, acceleration, impulse, etc.
 
Accelerating "bug" insects, bacteria, etc.

Here is an interesting http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/conferences/lplc/2000/abstract_volume/1030_2.pdf"
 
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I would think an ant would not be able to reach a fatal terminal velocity, in our atmosphere. Dropping an ant on the moon however (suffocation excluded) and high enough, should kill the ant.
 
Smaller creatures are proportionally less susceptible to death by falling because their surface to mass ratio is high.

It is partly to do with air resistance, but there is also a factor of material support (just like a narrow copper pipe is stronger than a large copper pipe).

As an alternate example to an ant, a tarantula, if dropped from human-height, will die.
 
DaveC426913 said:
As an alternate example to an ant, a tarantula, if dropped from human-height, will die.
Good. I hate spiders!
 

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