Quote:
Originally Posted by Nogbad
Chilling an insect puts it under stress. The animal will beat its wings rapidly in order to maintain body temparature and flight muscles. Chilling them weakens them and leaves them vulnerable to attack.
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Erm... I hate to say this but insects aren't warm-bodied.
In fact if you climb high enough into the atmosphere when it's cold enough you'll be able to find hundreds (maybe thousands) of frozen winged insects being carried by the wind. They get frozen by flying that high or being pulled upwards by updrafts.
Because their molecular structure is very different to us many can be frozen without a problem. Humans can't be frozen because we're mostly water and when you freeze water it expands and destroys cell walls.
As with humans (and many other species whether it's animal, vegetable or mineral) when the temperature drops the bodily functions slow down. Just that we can't [yet!] be frozen and thawed without serious damage.
Oh and I believe you shouldn't disturb the dust on the wings of moths and butterflies too much because it helps them fly - not sure about this bit tho.
(I must get my head out of Discovery Channel)