Post by auntym on Oct 16, 2016 17:32:09 GMT -6
news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/animal-science-insects-biggest-moth-weta-butterfly/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw20161015news-waqbiggestinsect&utm_campaign=Content&sf38959781=1
What Was the Biggest Insect That Ever Lived?
See how today’s largest creepy crawlies stack up against prehistoric behemoths.
Atlas moth
Atlas moths sport the largest wings, by surface area, of any living insect.
Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Creative
By Liz Langley
PUBLISHED October 15, 2016
We like big bugs and we cannot lie.
So when our friend Doug Rhodehamel wondered, “What’s the largest insect that ever lived?” Weird Animal Question of the Week went hunting for giants, past and present.
We found some ancient behemoths, some lovely ones, and some that could pass for Halloween decorations.
A Big Bug’s Life
Imagine a dragonfly so big its wings could block your 27-inch TV screen.
The largest insect fossils ever found are griffinflies and giant dragonflies, says Matthew Clapham, a paleobiologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Subtle anatomical differences separated the two groups.
With wingspans that could reach 27 inches, the largest known insects of all time are griffinflies from the genus Meganeuropsis, Clapham says via email. The largest of their fossils were found in France and Kansas and were 300 million to 280 million years old. By comparison, modern dragonfly wingspans top out at about eight inches.
Not that we’re complaining, but why did these big bugs shrink?
The white witch moth has the largest wingspan of any insect alive today.
Photograph by Amazon Images, Alamy
Tom Turpin, an entomologist at Purdue University, says that it may have to do with high oxygen levels in the prehistoric atmosphere. All that oxygen would have supplied big insect bodies well, but when oxygen levels decreased, it’s possible that larger insects were unable to survive, Turpin says via email.
The rise of birds may also account for the shrinkage of bugs. One piece of evidence for this idea: Insect size decreased in the late Jurassic period when birds became more agile fliers, even though oxygen levels rose at the time, Clapham showed in a 2012 study.
“Large insects would have been less maneuverable, especially when taking off from tree branches or the ground,” and would be easier prey for birds, with whom they would also be competing for food, Clapham said via email. (Related: "Giant Bugs Eaten Out of Existence by First Birds?")
CONTINUE READING: news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/animal-science-insects-biggest-moth-weta-butterfly/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw20161015news-waqbiggestinsect&utm_campaign=Content&sf38959781=1
What Was the Biggest Insect That Ever Lived?
See how today’s largest creepy crawlies stack up against prehistoric behemoths.
Atlas moth
Atlas moths sport the largest wings, by surface area, of any living insect.
Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Creative
By Liz Langley
PUBLISHED October 15, 2016
We like big bugs and we cannot lie.
So when our friend Doug Rhodehamel wondered, “What’s the largest insect that ever lived?” Weird Animal Question of the Week went hunting for giants, past and present.
We found some ancient behemoths, some lovely ones, and some that could pass for Halloween decorations.
A Big Bug’s Life
Imagine a dragonfly so big its wings could block your 27-inch TV screen.
The largest insect fossils ever found are griffinflies and giant dragonflies, says Matthew Clapham, a paleobiologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Subtle anatomical differences separated the two groups.
With wingspans that could reach 27 inches, the largest known insects of all time are griffinflies from the genus Meganeuropsis, Clapham says via email. The largest of their fossils were found in France and Kansas and were 300 million to 280 million years old. By comparison, modern dragonfly wingspans top out at about eight inches.
Not that we’re complaining, but why did these big bugs shrink?
The white witch moth has the largest wingspan of any insect alive today.
Photograph by Amazon Images, Alamy
Tom Turpin, an entomologist at Purdue University, says that it may have to do with high oxygen levels in the prehistoric atmosphere. All that oxygen would have supplied big insect bodies well, but when oxygen levels decreased, it’s possible that larger insects were unable to survive, Turpin says via email.
The rise of birds may also account for the shrinkage of bugs. One piece of evidence for this idea: Insect size decreased in the late Jurassic period when birds became more agile fliers, even though oxygen levels rose at the time, Clapham showed in a 2012 study.
“Large insects would have been less maneuverable, especially when taking off from tree branches or the ground,” and would be easier prey for birds, with whom they would also be competing for food, Clapham said via email. (Related: "Giant Bugs Eaten Out of Existence by First Birds?")
CONTINUE READING: news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/animal-science-insects-biggest-moth-weta-butterfly/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw20161015news-waqbiggestinsect&utm_campaign=Content&sf38959781=1