Euryplatea nanaknihali

Euryplatea nanaknihali
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Diptera
Family:
Phoridae
Genus:
Euryplatea
Species:
E. nanaknihali
Binomial name
Euryplatea nanaknihali
Brown, 2012

Euryplatea nanaknihali is the world's smallest fly, measuring 0.4 millimetres (0.016 in) in size.[1]

Due to its small size, the viscosity of air is problematic for the insect, and even the smallest air currents are a large impediment. Scientists expressed amazement that such a tiny animal could still have all the organs of a normal insect.[2]

A swarm of ants on a rock
Crematogaster ants may be the host of E. nanaknihali.

They are believed to lay their eggs in the heads of small Crematogaster ants. The larva consumes the interior of the ant's head, within whose exoskeleton it pupates, before emerging as an adult.[2][3]

Forest of Kaeng Krachan National Park
E. nanaknihali was first discovered in Thailand's Kaeng Krachan National Park.

The species has been found in a number of national parks in Thailand. It is named after Nanak Nihal Weiss, a boy interested in insects who frequented the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County with his father.[4]

  1. ^ Brown, B.V. 2012: Small size no protection for acrobat ants: world's smallest fly is a parasitic phorid (Diptera: Phoridae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 105(4): 550-554. doi:10.1603/AN12011
  2. ^ a b Chelsea Whyte (July 2, 2012). "World's Smallest Fly Decapitates Ants and Lives in Their Severed Heads". International Science Times. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  3. ^ "World's smallest fly discovered in Thailand". ScienceBlogs. July 3, 2012. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Black, Debra (July 9, 2012). "World's tiniest fly discovered by former Torontonian". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.