ALL ANSWERS · INSECTS · DAILY No. 27 · SEPTEMBER 30, 2026
Size It Up Insects answer: September 30
The five Insects silhouettes for September 30, with the true sizes. If you have not played yet, this page is a spoiler — play these five first, then come back to argue with the numbers.
Day 27 ran from a booklouse (1 mm) to an Annam stick insect (10.3 cm). The widest gap was round 4, Click Beetle against Booklouse, at 8.9×; the closest call was round 5, Common Blue Butterfly against European Praying Mantis, only 1.8× apart — the kind of round that separates a 90 from a 60.
SPOILER · TODAY’S FIVE
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ROUND 1
Holly Blue (adult) vs Common House Mosquito (adult)
Common House Mosquito · reference · 5 mm Holly Blue · true wingspan · 3 cm 6.0× wider than the common house mosquito
Holly Blue: 30 mm wingspan for the selected adult. Selected 30 mm from the published 26–34 mm wingspan. This is the range midpoint, not a species-wide average. Furthest left to furthest right wingtip with wings spread.
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ROUND 2
Annam Stick Insect (adult) vs White-tailed Bumblebee (large adult)
White-tailed Bumblebee · reference · 2 cm Annam Stick Insect · true length · 10.3 cm 5.1× longer than the white-tailed bumblebee
Annam Stick Insect: 103 mm body length for the selected adult. Selected 103 mm within the published adult range 100-120 mm. Head to abdomen tip; antennae and the forward-stretched legs are excluded.
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ROUND 3
Common Eastern Firefly (adult) vs Large White Butterfly (adult)
Large White Butterfly · reference · 6.05 cm Common Eastern Firefly · true length · 1.07 cm 5.7× shorter than the large white butterfly
Common Eastern Firefly: 10.7 mm body length for the selected adult. Selected 10.7 mm within the published adult range 9-19 mm. Front edge of the pronotum, which covers the head, to the abdomen tip; open wings, antennae and legs excluded. Outline rotated to align the body.
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ROUND 4
Click Beetle (adult) vs Booklouse (adult)
Booklouse · reference · 1 mm Click Beetle · true length · 8.9 mm 8.9× longer than the booklouse
Click Beetle: 8.9 mm body length for the selected adult. Selected 8.9 mm within the published adult range 7.5-11 mm. Head to elytra tip; antennae and legs excluded.
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ROUND 5
Common Blue Butterfly (adult) vs European Praying Mantis (adult)
European Praying Mantis · reference · 6 cm Common Blue Butterfly · true wingspan · 3.25 cm 1.8× shorter than the European praying mantis
Common Blue Butterfly: 32.5 mm wingspan for the selected adult. Selected 32.5 mm from the published 29–36 mm wingspan. This is the range midpoint, not a species-wide average. Furthest left to furthest right wingtip with wings spread.
Beat these tomorrow
Every round is worth up to 100 points: within 6% of the true size scores 100, half or double scores 45, five times off scores zero. The daily puzzle is the same five for everyone and refreshes at midnight in your time zone; if you want more than five, Size It Up Unlimited draws fresh pairs from the whole library for as long as you like.