# How effective would bullets be against giant insects/spiders? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2024, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057 "2024-12-02T10:51:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/41 "2024-12-03T11:57:10Z")
Are you telling me to…buzz off? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/42 "2024-12-03T11:57:50Z")
This is giving me hives. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/43 "2024-12-03T12:09:52Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > If the cuticle is 0.005 centimeters thick, increasing it by 350 gets you a thickness of 1.75 centimeters. Sure but ants aren’t about armor, they’re about numbers. Imagine a wave of giant ants supported by a few dozen [ironclad beetles](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phloeodes_diabolicus) as shock troops. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/44 "2024-12-03T12:12:20Z")
Would You Like To Know More? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/45 "2024-12-03T15:35:18Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > If we assume they scale (magically) in speed like size and the spider means business, I’d guess I’m mortally wounded before my sword is drawn and probably before my hand even touches the grip. Blink and you miss it. That would be true if it’s a jumper instead of an orb weaver. But then the key word in my post was “confronted.” Jumping onto your back from ambush is not confrontation. In a confrontation you’d stand a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/46 "2024-12-03T17:13:51Z")
Since the OP is still responding I assume they didn’t Need Answer Fast (I’m surprised that no one asked). ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/47 "2024-12-03T17:16:21Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > If we’re going to nitpick the scaling effects Instead of considering scaled-up spiders, why not consider scaled-down guns and bullets? Wouldn’t there be fewer physical problems to overcome that way? Let’s ignore for a moment the problems involved in scaling down a human, and say that we want to build a remotely operated miniature gun, much smaller than a spider, that fires miniature bullets. Would this be physically possible? If so, what effect would the bullets have on the normal-sized spider? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/48 "2024-12-03T18:34:01Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Jumping onto your back from ambush is not confrontation. In a confrontation you’d stand a chance. I mean, I’ll try to get a swing in but doubt I’ll get more than one. I had those basement spiders in mind, funnel weavers, I think, and they move incredibly fast. But some orb weavers and famously tarantulas sort of creep along. I’m limited to discussing only unclassified public literature but can the closest analog I can disclose is Peter Parker’s envenomation that enhanced his human abilities to become more spiderlike. Me vs him is probably a bloodbath and me vs full-spider is that much worse. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/49 "2024-12-03T19:13:36Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I’m limited to discussing only unclassified public literature So the relevant SCP protocols are off limits. Gotcha. > [@psychonaut](#): > > why not consider scaled-down guns and bullets? Wouldn’t there be fewer physical problems to overcome that way? Let’s ignore for a moment the problems involved in scaling down a human If all you have is a needle or straight pin, the task becomes considerably more difficult and dangerous. Turns out your best move is to play Sam Gamgee vs. Shelob, as in this obligatory clip: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wJiJsbBBHpE/hqdefault.jpg "Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) Jack Arnold. The spider scene. El increíble hombre menguante. Araña") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJiJsbBBHpE) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/50 "2024-12-03T21:48:15Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Let’s ignore for a moment the problems involved in scaling down a human, and say that we want to build a remotely operated miniature gun, much smaller than a spider, that fires miniature bullets. The biggest problem is going to be that a scaled-down bullet will have a difficult time penetrating air. You’d have to basically press the muzzle directly against the spider to be effective. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/51 "2024-12-03T22:21:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The biggest problem is going to be that a scaled-down bullet will have a difficult time penetrating air. You’d have to basically press the muzzle directly against the spider to be effective. Asimov once wrote about how different the insect environment is. Gravity matters a lot less because of wind resistance. Surface tension of water is a much bigger problem as is its stickiness at that scale. I suspect/assume static electricity is more of an issue. Anyway, why don’t we assume a vacuum, with all guns and creatures surrounded by a 1 mm continuously replenished pure oxygen atmosphere? (How? Magic!) Lower the air pressure about 4/5ths to correspond to oxygen’s 20% share in Earth Prime’s air. That might give us the minimum number of modifications necessary to support the OP’s scenario. I suppose we’d also have to assume that the insects had evolved in such an environment, at least neurologically. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/52 "2024-12-03T22:39:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The biggest problem is going to be that a scaled-down bullet will have a difficult time penetrating air. Also, the bullet would have proportionality much less mass, with much less propellant to push it; the square cube law works both ways. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/53 "2024-12-04T03:59:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The biggest problem is going to be that a scaled-down bullet will have a difficult time penetrating air. They already make scaled-down guns as novelty items. They are a bit bigger than ant-sized, but probably good for dueling a tarantula. They’ll put a hole in a soda can, so they’ll probably do fairly well against real bugs. # The World’s Tiniest Working Firearms!!! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PSVlrc8NimE/maxresdefault.jpg "The World's Tiniest Working Firearms!!!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSVlrc8NimE) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/54 "2024-12-04T13:55:07Z")
I don’t think anyone’s linked to this famous documentary about shooting up giant bugs, though I might be wrong: > [@](#): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtTVj20E\_q4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtTVj20E_q4) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/55 "2024-12-04T15:59:03Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Most favored among insects is of course the bee-bee gun. Maybe we could develop an anti-ant gun. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/56 "2024-12-04T16:07:49Z")
Regarding spiders: Good news: They have single lens eyes instead of compound ones. A bullet per eye should do the job. Bad news: the most common number of eyes for spiders are 8. How many bullets are in your gun? Good news: Typically there are two “main” eyes. The rest are very rudimentary. (Even the big ones aren’t all that good.) So two bullets might do it. Bad news: What if there are a lot of spiders? Regarding ants: Good news: Only two eyes. Bad news: Compound eyes. A single bullet per eye might not do much. Bonus question:: How good is your aim under stress? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057/57 "2024-12-04T18:06:04Z")
My aim is pretty good if nothing is bugging me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-would-bullets-be-against-giant-insects-spiders/1011057.md?page=2)