10 Smallest Insects in The World (Including Gentle Beauties or Dangerous One)

Nature is the prettiest thing that includes so many interesting creatures. There are countless creatures and in order to make sense it all people have categorized the living things around them, so the insects.

With more than 1 million species, no wonder, insects are the most common group of organism on Earth. Well, we can differentiate them in terms of so many things But, they mainly compare in terms of size. Yes, there are so many small insects in the world and in this article we have covered some smallest insects in the world.

1) Fairyfly -The World’s Smallest Insect

Source = Bugguide

The title of world’s tiniest insect belongs to fairyfly or fairy wasps. These delicate and smallest fairyflies actually belong to the Chalcid wasps usually found in the temperate and tropical region throughout the world.

Fairyfly is the tiny insect, their size generally ranges from 0.5 to 1.0 mm or 0.020 to 0.039 in long. They usually have nonmetallic black, brown, or yellow bodies. The famous entomologist Alexander Henry Halliday discovered about this tiniest fairyfly in 1833. Although the fairyfly can be found in the environment they generally inhabit in Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Trinidad. (1.1)

2) Western Pygmy Blue Butterfly

Source = Tylerarboretum

The western pygmy blue is one of the smallest and beautiful butterflies in North America and possibly in the World. This delicate butterfly carries a combination of two colors brown and blue in its body. This tiny butterfly’s wingspan can be as little as 12 millimeters mainly found in North America, middle east and some of the west part. Due to its tiny size, this delicate butterfly is hard to spot, but with a closer look, you may identify this beautiful and tiny creature. (1.2)

3) Scarlet Dwarf Dragonfly

Source = Pinimg

Scarlet Dwarf Dragonfly belongs to the Libellulidae family, majorly found in Southeast Asia to China and Japan, occasionally found south to Australia. It is the smallest dragonfly in the world. In ancient times the dragonflies were considered as the largest flying bugs, even its ancestor Meganeura was known as one of the largest insects at that time. But, today dragonfly especially Scarlet Dwarf Dragonfly is not that large and the ideal length of wings is 20 centimeters or three-quarters of an inch and length of body 12 centimeters. (1.3)

4) Patu Digua Spider

Source = Thezoozoom

Spider is a different kind of insect, probably the scary one. They don’t have the antenna which makes them different from other insects. Though there are many species of spider Patu Digua Spider is the smallest spider with body size 0.35 mm mainly found in American homes. The Patu digua spider mainly belongs to Colombia, some people believe that they are not the smallest species of spider but there is no such evidence. (1.4)

5) Midget Moths

Source = Wikimedia

Midget moths are known as the smallest moths in the world, they actually belong to the family of Nepticulidae. Midget moths are also known as pigmy moths, the smallest living moths with a wingspan of 3 mm.

People often consider that both moth and butterfly belong to the same family but this is not true because they both have some exceptional characteristics for example butterflies generally take flight in the daytime while on the other moths take in the evenings. However, it is quite difficult to identify it. (1.5)

6) The Smallest Scorpion

Source = Blogspot

Scorpions are considered as the aggressive insects, though they are dangerous too. No wonder the scorpions are ancient creatures. You might have heard about the largest scorpions which measure about 20 cm long, but have you heard about the smallest scorpions.

Well, they too exist and also known as Microtityus minimus scorpions which measure about 10mm, like really tiny for the species like scorpions. This tiny scorpion was discovered in 2004 by researchers surveying the Greater Antillean Island of Hispaniola in the Dominican Republic. (1.6)

7) Euryplatea Nanaknihali Fly

Source = Neatorama

Euryplatea nanaknihali is known as the smallest fly species on earth usually found in the national park of Thailand. Despite being the smallest creature it has all organs just like normal insects. These tiny flies have a different reproductive strategy as compared to the other insects they put their eggs in the body of small ants, and once the eggs hatch the immature form of an insect begin to grow. (1.7)

8) Bolbe Pygmaea Mantis

Source = Dctdigital

With 1 cm of length when full grown, Bolbe Pygmaea Mantis is another smallest creature in the world belongs to Iridopterygidae family. According to ancient Greeks, the Mantis are some rare insects which have supernatural power, because of this belief they have a unique relationship with human beings. Although the family of Mantodea includes several species and some can be up to 3.5 inches and the smallest which is Bolbe Pygmaea Mantis is only 1 centimeter and usually found in Australia. (1.8)

9) Uranotaenia lowii Mosquito

Source = Ufl

Uranotaenia lowii is a species of Mosquitoes belong to Culicidae family. We all know that mosquitos are one of those insects which can harm human. Although there are various species of mosquito the smallest one Uranotaenia lowii with 2.5 millimeters long. According to entomologist this mosquito generally prefers to bite frogs and other amphibians and mainly found in Texas to Florida and some areas of North Carolina. (1.9)

10) Pharaoh Ant

Source = Pbs

Pharaoh ant is the smallest ant with 2mm size usually found in Europe, the Americas, Australasia and Southeast Asia. Although the origin of this ant is not discovered yet but they are known as tropical species. They mainly recognized in yellow or light brown color quite notorious for being a major indoor nuisance pest.

Some are beautiful, some are quite dangerous, either way, these tiny insects are the important part of nature which is hard to spot. (1.10)