the title is pretty self explanatory why can’t bugs be big
In: Biology
Several limitations:
First is that they don’t have lungs like you do, they rely on pores and passive gas diffusion to breathe. Oxygen gas only diffuses so far so fast, and so they’re limited in maximum size by the oxygen concentration of the atmosphere. They were once much larger in an oxygen-rich primordial Earth.
The second is weight. Bugs don’t have bones, they’re shaped and supported by an armored exoskeleton. It’s incredibly strong and provides excellent protection from slashing and puncturing, but it’s also very heavy. Bigger insects require exponentially more musculature to actually move this suit of armor around, and the math quickly becomes impossible. An ant the size of a man wouldn’t even be able to lift its head, much less several times its own mass.
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