The might not be the best food source for humans who can hunt hunting animals that hunt other hunting animals. But they are a viable food source still, especially in jungles were some larvae can get up to volumes of 5cm³ and they are easy to farm.
Not to mention that insects are a basis for many food chains as many animals feed from them, they generally increase food or benefit from natura.
the difference of insects are their symbioseses. Some animals get food from some of them and grow bigger, others dont.
Some plants get pollinated from some of them, others dont.
Sime insects may increase the tech or value of some caves/mines, others wont.
(Ant) trails and (bee) swarms should be visible. Large Insect Nests are also easily distinguishable.Adriaan wrote:The real problem with insects is that they're SUPER tiny.
...TOO MANY IDEAS! D=
The size of inscects is mostly limited by the ammount of oxygen in an atmosphere, because of their tracheal breachting system larger insects could not breathe enough trhough the then worse surfare/volume ratio of larger spherical body segments. And insect body segments can only be nearly spherical due to the exoskelleton trait.
But my planet can easily have more than 20% oxygen increasing the maximum size of insects.
The more plants and the less fires and other animals there are on a planet, the larger insects can become.
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i am definitely no expert on insects but i know enough to see them as an impirtant plan of anything that simulates a global ecosystem or smbiostic food chains.