Body mass,volume and surface area are important for many aspects of the physiology and performance of species.Whereas body mass scaling received a lot of attention in the literature,surface areas of animals have not been measured explic itly inthis context.We quantified surface area-volume (SA/V) ratios for the first time using 3D surface models based on a structured light scanning method for 126 species of pollinating insects from 4 orders (Diptera,Hymenoptera,Lepidoptera,and Coleoptera).Water loss of 67 species was measured gravimetrically at very dry conditions for 2 h at 15 and 30 ℃ to demonstrate the applicability of the new 3D surface measurements and relevance for predicting the performance of insects.Quantified SA/V ratios significantly explained the variation in water loss across species,both directly or after accounting for isometric scaling (residuals of the SA/V ～ mass2/3 relationship).Small insects with a proportionally larger surface area had the highest water loss rates.Surface scans of insects to quantify allometric SA/V ratios thus provide a promising method to predict physiological responses,improving the potential of body mass isometry alone that assume geometric similarity.