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Limits to Insect Miniaturization

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At the Size Limit - Effects of Miniaturization in Insects

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Abstract

Limiting factors of decrease in body size is of considerable theoretical interest to general biology. Two hypotheses have been put forward on the structural factors that limit miniaturization in insects. The first hypothesis refers to all insects: minimum body size is limited by increasing the relative volume of the central nervous system, which, in turn, is limited by the conserved structure and ultrastructure, by the number and size of neurons, and by the minimum diameter of projections. The second hypothesis is true only for free-living insects: their size diminution is limited by egg size, and therefore by the volume of the reproductive system. Since the smallest insects are among the smallest metazoans and have the most complex organization among members of their size class, the factors that limit their minimum size are important for understanding the limits to miniaturization in animals in general.

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  1. Department of Entomology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    Alexey A. Polilov

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Polilov, A.A. (2016). Limits to Insect Miniaturization. In: At the Size Limit - Effects of Miniaturization in Insects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39499-2_13

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