Although insects gained exceptional mobility when they acquired wings, they still have had to contend with physical forces in the air and on the ground that greatly affect mobility. Due to their small size, insects face a number of unusual challenges in getting around in the world. A lot of physical phenomena look unfamiliar at high surface area/volume ratios (that is, in the world of insects). Kinetic energy, or the energy of movement, increases in proportion not with the cube of lengths (like volume) but with the fifth power, so an insect 1/10 of size of a mouse hits the ground with 1/100,000 the energy - which is why insects don't explode or fall apart when you drop them off a table.

— Bugs in the system by May R. Berenbaum (Helix books) (Page 18 - 19)