Sharp-eyed bug hunter discovers tiny Tinkerbell fly

(Image: Jennifer Read, Natural Resources Canada)

Discovering a new species can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, so imagine the quest that turned up this new-found microscopic wasp, dubbed Tinkerbella nana. John Noyes of the Natural History Museum in London captured it by sweeping a mesh net through vegetation at Costa Rica's La Selva Biological Station. He then combed through the leaf litter to spot this petite parasite.

At only 250 micrometres long, the fairy fly measures two-and-a-half times the width of a human hair. Its delicate, bristly wings may look ineffective, but they could help the minuscule bug to fly: the reduced surface area may reduce turbulence and drag on the wings.

But how small can bugs go? The smallest flying insect found to date is a Hawaiian relative, the Kikiki huna Huber fairy fly, which measures a mere 150 micrometres. At the other end of the scale, Atlas moths have wingspans up to 25 centimetres.

Fans of tiny animals should take a look at the world's smallest vertebrate, enormous in comparison, and take heart from the trend for climate change to cause animals to shrink.

Journal reference: Journal of Hymenoptera Research, DOI: 10.3897/jhr.32.4663

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