Smallest winged insects

The smallest winged insects are the feather-winged beetles belonging to the taxonomic family Ptiliidae and to the taxonomic tribe Nanosellini. They measure as little as 0.325 mm (0.013 in) long in the case of Scydosella musawasensis, which lives inside the spore tubes on the underside of shelf fungi (Polyporaceae) in Nicaragua and Colombia, and was scientifically described as recently as 1999. There are more than 400 known species of feather-winged beetles worldwide.

The name "feather-winged beetle" comes from the fact that these micro-insects' wings are formed by a stalk attached to a long membrane bordered by many hairs, so that they superficially resemble tiny feathers. Owing to their minute size, these beetles hardly have any eyes or have none at all. The female battledore-wing fairy flies (parasitic wasps) of the taxonomic family Mymaridae are only marginally larger, and the smaller males are actually tinier than some species of protozoan (single-celled animals), but they are wingless.