A Guide to Entomological Behemoths- Part 1

Holy crap, this group is actually having a journal entry! Yes, and it brings the beginnings of a new guide, this one on creating bug kaiju! I've written this up after taking a class in Entomology, so I hope it helps anyone out there who is struggling to create an insect kaiju!

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A Guide to Entomological Behemoths

Part 1

Back when I first got into making my own monsters, the majority of the beasts I wanted to create were reptilian in nature. After all, most kaiju fans grew up with Godzilla, and what better than to have a kickass, fire-breathing reptile in your universe?  Recently, I realized that kaijuverses these days are lacking a very important subphylum... Hexapoda!

Hexa-what? Let’s put it in terms everyone can instantly understand... Insects! A severely underused group of critters, insects make up an incredible amount of life on Earth. Want an example? There are more species of weevils than all vertebrates and plants COMBINED. Insects are the most successful animals on our planet, and deserve to break out when it comes to becoming a giant monster.

Problems exist with creating insect monsters, however. In real life, it is impossible for insects to get as large as a kaiju, nor as large as they were in the past. Why? Earth’s oxygen levels simply don’t suit huge bugs! Now doesn’t that just take a massive, Godzilla-sized poo on top of bug monsters? WRONG! Ignore this limiting factor! Insect monsters don’t have to be exactly the same, as far as inner workings go, as their tiny cousins. Try and come up with a creative way to explain why these insect monsters evolved or mutated to be able to maintain a giant size! Or even better; don’t explain it! Less work and lets everyone enjoy the fact that nature works in mysterious ways sometimes...

So, where do we start when it comes to creating a giant, monster bug? Let’s start with basics...

Insect Anatomy

I know what you’re thinking... You just said you can create your own inner workings! Yes, BUT, insects have an incredible amount of variation. A majority of these variations are external, not internal. These variations, specifically, are the mouthparts, the wings, and the legs. We’ll now go into some more detail about these modifications, with examples for everyone to look up and observe. I encourage readers to research further into anything that interests you, as research is very important when creating monsters.

Let’s start with the mouthparts. There are a number of different kinds of mouthparts, each with different purposes. Chewing mouthparts are the most well known, with good examples being seen in praying mantises and grasshoppers. Their uses are obvious, and they make for excellent weapons in physical combat. Piercing-Sucking mouthparts are used for removal of liquids, such as a mosquito sucking your blood. Sponging mouthparts are what your typical house fly uses; they act as sponges, absorbing food. Siphoning mouthparts are commonly seen in butterflies, where the mouthparts are curled up when not being used. When feeding, fluid is pumped into special chambers in the proboscis, extending it out. Two other kinds of mouthparts exist; slashing/lapping mouthparts are in horseflies, whom slash open flesh and lap up the blood. The other is chewing/lapping, which is what bees have.

Mouthparts all have various purposes, and it is important to remember your insect monster’s [intentional] diet. Chewing mouthparts will often be chosen, and there are two helpful tips for creating proper insect jaws/heads. First, give the insect a large head. This gives maximum room for huge muscles to power these jaws; if you want to get fancy, give the tip of the head a triangular shape. This creates even stronger muscles for devastating bites. Second, do not make the mandibles big if you intend on making them used in combat. The smaller the mandibles, the more powerful they will be. Dobsonflies are excellent examples of this (which will be brought up in a later segment).

The following are some pictures of these mouthparts...

Chewing/Siphoning (Sucking)/Piercing-Sucking/Chewing-Lapping- www.robinsonlibrary.com/scienc…
Sponging- www.entomology.umn.edu/cues/40…

Now we go to the biggest reason insects are so successful... Wings! There are a number of specific kinds of wing modifications. Elytra are the hardened wings of beetles; the forewings act as armor, while the hindwings acts as the main flight wings. This allows a beetle to go from flying to burrowing underground; their delicate wings are protected! Hemelytron are the wings of the Hemiptera, the order that contains critters like stink bugs. These wings are similar in vain to eleytron, but there’s a triangular tip (when folded onto the insect’s back) of the forewings that is not armored.

Tegmina are leather-like wing modifications of the forewing. Examples include the wings of a mantis, grasshopper, cockroach, and earwig. They aren’t as good defensively as eleytra-based modifications, but some have patterns on them for use in defensive displays. Crickets actually rub their tegmina together to produce their trademark sounds, contrary to popular belief that they use their legs. Perhaps you can take inspiration from this and make these wings do something spectacular!

Frenulum appear in insects like moths; they are basically a giant hair that hold together the front and back pairs of wings. Another similar modification like this is Hammuli. These are hooks on the front and back pairs of wings that line up perfectly, connecting the wings together. Bees, ants, and wasps all have wings like this. The final kinds of wing modification are Halteres. These are seen in flies; the back pair of wings is modified into small, knob-like structures. These aid the insect in maintaining balance... If you want to watch something humorous (and disregard a poor insect’s life), catch a fly (crane flies are large enough to do this easily too). Cut off one of the halteres, and toss the fly into the air. Watch as it flies around in a circle, unable to do anything else!

Finally, the legs... There a numerous kinds of insect legs, all with a specific purpose. Raptorial legs are meant for grabbing prey, with the most famous example being mantises. Saltitorial legs are legs designed for jumping; its famous example is the grasshopper. Fossorial legs are designed for digging (think of digging up fossils). This is not a commonly seen modification; some really good examples of an insect with fossorial legs are mole crickets. Natatorial legs are designed for swimming; these legs usually have a large amount of long hairs on them, giving them more surface area to cover. Water beetles are an excellent example, and are very fast swimmers. Finally, there are Cursorial legs. These legs are meant for one thing; running VERY fast, and nobody does it better than tiger beetles.

With these modifications kept in mind, you’ll be able to understand why insects have specific mouthparts, or a certain kind of wing. This is incredibly important to know if building your insect from scratch and not basing after a specific order. Even if taking a real life insect and modifying it to your needs, having this knowledge aids you in creating a unique bug.

That’s it for now. While I might delve into some more regarding anatomy later, I plan on focusing on specific orders next, as that is the main focus of this guide.