A photo from open sources
The microworld of our planet is very diverse, which once again scientists from Russia were convinced by finding such a small insect as a bug species Scydosella musawasensis.
According to biologists from Moscow State University, the creature found is present the smallest insect on planet Earth. Has become it is known that the length of Scydosella musawasensis is incredibly small – it is 325 micrometers, which is approximately equal to 0.325 mm.
This beetle was first described in 1999, when the entomologist Malkin from Nicaragua managed to get the first few copies of Scydosella musawasensis. Due to a lack of technical equipment and special procedures that were almost impossible to carry out at that time, the exact size of the insect could not be determined. At that time, scientists gave only rough estimates of the size of the beetle, which were 300 micrometers.
After some time, Alexei Polilov from Moscow State University managed to immediately find 85 others microscopic species of the smallest bug on the planet during conducting research a few kilometers from the capital Colombia. All insects were found at an altitude of 2200 meters from sea level and were found on the Steccherinum mushrooms. Collected instances were fixed using a special mixture of vinegar, ethyl alcohol and formaldehyde, then they were transferred to the lab. It was there that scientists were able to study in detail new insects using an electron microscope.
According to the statement of the Russian biologist Polilov, based on they learned that the exact length of the beetle Scydosella musawasensis is 325 micrometers, that is, it is the most the smallest ever known non-parasitic beetle on our the planet. The smallest parasitic insect is considered a male Dicopomorpha echmepterygis, whose length is 139 micrometers.
The scientist also made a detailed description of the new bugs and studied them. morphology. It became known that Scydosella musawasensis has oval elongated smooth body with tan coloring.
Time Insects Russia
