Tiny Insects Do Matter

May 17, 2016

Tiny Insects Do Matter

Sometimes it is the little things that matter most. For instance, insects may be tiny but they rule the world. They can be found in the air, beneath the ground, on your pet and even in your food (Ugh!). There are more than 1.6 billion insects for every man woman and child on earth. They can be found in Antarctica and in the Arctic.

Insects preceded humans by about 400 million years and have survived massive extinction since then yet over 56% of all known species on earth today are insects. Some are so small, however, they are all but invisible. Here are some interesting facts:

• The smallest insect is the fairy wasp only .2 mm long. She flies underwater to lay her eggs
• The smallest cockroach is only 3 mm long and lives in ant’s nests
• The fastest flying insect is the parasitic wasp which measures just over a tenth of a millimeter. The male wasp is blind and wingless but the females can fly.
• The smallest ant in the world is the Thief Ant measuring an incredible 1/32 of an inch
• Even though termites can be considered one of the smaller insect their total biomass per unit area is actually double that of the largest herds of African hoofed grazing animals

One final fact: Fleas can jump 200 times their body length. This would equate to a human being clearing a 70-story building. Now we can see why tiny insects rule the world.

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