Can Insects Survive a Fall from Great Heights?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores whether insects, particularly ants, can survive falls from great heights. It examines factors such as body structure, terminal velocity, and the effects of air resistance on small creatures.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that ants, lacking traditional skeletons, would survive falls unless they burn upon impact.
  • Another participant clarifies that ants have exoskeletons and discusses the developmental stages of insects, noting the importance of scaling factors like mass and acceleration.
  • A participant introduces a link to a study related to the topic, implying a connection to the physics of falling organisms.
  • It is proposed that ants may not reach a fatal terminal velocity in Earth's atmosphere, but a fall on the moon could be lethal due to suffocation and lack of air resistance.
  • One participant argues that smaller creatures, like ants, are less likely to die from falls due to their high surface-to-mass ratio, while contrasting this with larger creatures like tarantulas, which may not survive similar falls.
  • A later reply reiterates the point about tarantulas, emphasizing a personal dislike for spiders.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the survivability of insects from falls, with some arguing that smaller insects are less susceptible to fatal impacts while others highlight the vulnerability of larger arachnids like tarantulas. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the specific conditions under which insects can survive falls.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various factors such as air resistance, body structure, and developmental stages of insects, which may influence the outcomes of falls but are not fully explored or agreed upon.

superweirdo
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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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