- 4,107
- 2,155
So here's the deal. Meganeura is the largest flying insect ever, with a wingspan that can exceed 70 cm and a weight of up to 150 grams. Meganeura is a hawker dragonfly, which at best can pull off 35 miles an hour, although body length per second ratios may make this rating higher. At the same time, its bulk would slow it down a bit; a listing for a coloring pattern listed Meganeura's speed at 31 miles an hour. A dragonfly's lifting strength can go upwards twice its own weight (https://www.schlitzaudubon.org/2019/06/21/dragonflies-natures-aerial-hunters/ ), and it's lift (aerodynamics thing) can go upwards seven times its own body weight (https://georgiawildlife.com/out-my-backdoor-mosquito-hawks-patrol ). This is equivalent to a lifting strength of 300 grams and an aerodynamic lift of 1050 grams. Some modern insects can handle mice, including the praying mantis which weighs only 5 grams (10% a mouse's mass).
Meganeura should have a kill accuracy similar to modern-day dragonflies, which is a whopping 95%, goddamn! it should be worth noting that a Goliath Birdeater, which can weigh up to 175 grams, had eaten a gerbil at best, so I dunno.:
As for the rat, while the site believes an Asian Giant Hornet can stalemate against a rat, I feel a large part of that is people not having tried to have a hornet fight a rat. Then again, both animal cruelty and the act of getting near either creature is inadvisable. I don't think any insect in the modern world is really that capable of handling a rat, at least nobody tried to check that. While Meganeura isn't all that bright (insects never are, it seems), rats are capable of social learning and even tool use:
It should be noted that a lot of the wiki's profile for the rat has to do with the Norway rat, which isn't as prevalent of a disease-carrier as a black rat. They are significantly slower than Meganeura, at only 8 miles an hour, but some rats can dodge triggered snap traps. Rat traps take 23 milliseconds to clamp around a rat's neck, breaking it: https://www.instructables.com/Mouse-Trap-Speed/
While a trained house cat can more than easily handle a rat, feral cats generally suck at killing rats, with only two confirmed kills out of 150: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/09/cats-vs-rats-new-york/571414/
I believe this is largely due to their mutual avoidance of one another. But anyway, a bloodlusted rat can even do this to cats:
Rats are no stranger to flying creatures either, as Norway rats on the island of Nooderoog have killed sparrows and ducks and one rat was recorded taking out a pigeon. Rats have a bite force of 1 lb (https://www.pctonline.com/article/-fact-or-fiction--the-tooth-of-the-rat/ ). The high bite pressure was likely extrapolated based on the rat's incisors. The strongest dragonfly bites can break skin, which requires 100 psi of pressure, although insect bites are so small they didn't really bother measuring the bite force of a dragonfly, never mind Meganeura.
Anyway, this match would be full-on SBA. Here are their profiles.:
Meganeura's Profile
Rat's Profile
Who takes this?
Giant Dragonfly: 0
Rat: 1 (JustANormalLemon)
Inconclusive: 0
Meganeura should have a kill accuracy similar to modern-day dragonflies, which is a whopping 95%, goddamn! it should be worth noting that a Goliath Birdeater, which can weigh up to 175 grams, had eaten a gerbil at best, so I dunno.:
As for the rat, while the site believes an Asian Giant Hornet can stalemate against a rat, I feel a large part of that is people not having tried to have a hornet fight a rat. Then again, both animal cruelty and the act of getting near either creature is inadvisable. I don't think any insect in the modern world is really that capable of handling a rat, at least nobody tried to check that. While Meganeura isn't all that bright (insects never are, it seems), rats are capable of social learning and even tool use:
It should be noted that a lot of the wiki's profile for the rat has to do with the Norway rat, which isn't as prevalent of a disease-carrier as a black rat. They are significantly slower than Meganeura, at only 8 miles an hour, but some rats can dodge triggered snap traps. Rat traps take 23 milliseconds to clamp around a rat's neck, breaking it: https://www.instructables.com/Mouse-Trap-Speed/
While a trained house cat can more than easily handle a rat, feral cats generally suck at killing rats, with only two confirmed kills out of 150: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/09/cats-vs-rats-new-york/571414/
I believe this is largely due to their mutual avoidance of one another. But anyway, a bloodlusted rat can even do this to cats:
Rats are no stranger to flying creatures either, as Norway rats on the island of Nooderoog have killed sparrows and ducks and one rat was recorded taking out a pigeon. Rats have a bite force of 1 lb (https://www.pctonline.com/article/-fact-or-fiction--the-tooth-of-the-rat/ ). The high bite pressure was likely extrapolated based on the rat's incisors. The strongest dragonfly bites can break skin, which requires 100 psi of pressure, although insect bites are so small they didn't really bother measuring the bite force of a dragonfly, never mind Meganeura.
Anyway, this match would be full-on SBA. Here are their profiles.:
Meganeura's Profile
Rat's Profile
Who takes this?
Giant Dragonfly: 0
Rat: 1 (JustANormalLemon)
Inconclusive: 0
Last edited:
