On Apr 12, 2006, at 10:28 AM, Colin Broom wrote:
Which would frighten you most? A wasp the size of a trumpet? A wasp the size of a tuba? or A wasp the size of a concert hall?
None of them, as they'd all be dead. The insect respiratory system just won't work for anything bigger than, say, the palm of your hand (wh. would indeed be a pretty scary wasp). Those giant dragonflies and cockroaches you've doubtless heard of lived at a time when the world was covered with immense swamp forests and the atmosphere's oxygen level stood at around 30% (as opposed to 20% today). And there were no wasps back then.
FWIW, the most viscious sting of any insect ("traumatic" is the description used) is provided by certain South American ants.
Andrew Stiller Kallisti Music Press http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
