A new species of phorid fly from Thailand is the smallest fly ever discovered. The tiny fly, Euryplatea nanaknihali, is also the first of its genus to be discovered in Asia, and it belongs to a fly family (Phoridae) that is known for "decapitating" ants.
It is a gruesome parasite that lives inside the heads of ants, growing in size until the victim is decapitated.
They lay their eggs inside their victims. When the maggots hatch, they move towards the ant's head, where they gorge upon the brain and other tissues. The ant stumbles about in a literally mindless stupor until the connection between its head and body is dissolved by a enzyme released from the maggot. The head falls off and the adult flies burst out.
It is a gruesome parasite that lives inside the heads of ants, growing in size until the victim is decapitated.
They lay their eggs inside their victims. When the maggots hatch, they move towards the ant's head, where they gorge upon the brain and other tissues. The ant stumbles about in a literally mindless stupor until the connection between its head and body is dissolved by a enzyme released from the maggot. The head falls off and the adult flies burst out.
It is five times smaller than a fruit fly and tinier than a grain of salt (0.4 millimeters) in length — half the size of the smallest "no see-ums.""It's so small you can barely see it with the naked eye on a microscope slide. It's smaller than a flake of pepper," said Brian Brown, of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who identified the fly as a new species. "The housefly looks like a Godzilla fly beside it."
Although this has not yet been observed, it is highly likely because the fly's only known relative, Euryplatea eidmanni, is known to parasitize ants in Equatorial Guinea.
Although this has not yet been observed, it is highly likely because the fly's only known relative, Euryplatea eidmanni, is known to parasitize ants in Equatorial Guinea.
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