What Is the Smallest Ant in the World?
Updated: 1d
Some ants are so small that you could easily overlook them, even when they walk over your hand. The smallest known ants are less than a millimetre long. Here are the tiniest ants in the world.
The record holders: Carebara
According to Guinness World Records, the smallest ants belong to the genus Carebara. Workers of Carebara bruni from Sri Lanka and Carebara atoma from Fiji measure only about 0.8 to 1 mm. They live hidden in soil and leaf litter, where you would only find them by sifting the soil.
Tiny workers, giant queens
Carebara has one of the strangest size differences in the ant world. While the smallest workers are barely visible, the queens can be many times larger. In some species a queen weighs as much as thousands of workers. You can see that difference well in Carebara diversa, a species from Asia that is kept in the hobby and has workers of very different sizes.
Small ants in Europe
You do not have to travel far for tiny ants. In Europe, the thief ant Solenopsis fugax has workers of only about 1.5 to 3 mm. It lives next to the nests of larger ants and steals their brood through tunnels too small for the owners. Small Pheidole and Monomorium workers are also easy to miss.
Why be so small?
Small ants can live in places other ants cannot reach, such as tiny gaps in soil, wood and stone.
They need very little food per ant, so a colony can grow large on small prey.
Small size also makes it easier to sneak into other nests, like thief ants do.
Small ants in the hobby
Several small species are popular with ant keepers. Temnothorax nylanderi is a tiny European ant that nests in acorns, hollow twigs and under bark. Its colonies stay small, so it fits well in a compact setup. Have a look at our Temnothorax colonies. Plagiolepis pygmaea from southern Europe is one of the smallest ants on the continent. In North America the little black ant is a well-known small species: read the Monomorium minimum care guide on our US store.
Keeping very small ants
Tiny ants are fun to watch, but they are escape artists. Use a nest without gaps and good escape protection. Read our tips on how to prevent your ants from escaping. Curious about the other end of the scale? Read what is the largest ant in the world?.
Sources
Guinness World Records. Smallest ant species.
AntWiki. Carebara.
Photo: © Kai Squires
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