Size It Up Insects

01 / Small creatures, wide differences

Meet Size It Up Insects

A fly at the fruit bowl and a butterfly in the garden rarely sit side by side. Size It Up Insects brings them onto one board, where familiar outlines can hide surprisingly different sizes.

Size It Up Insects contains 80 adult insects, including bees, ants, beetles, butterflies, moths and dragonflies. Each round compares a named body length or wingspan. The smallest body is only 1 mm; the widest wings reach 260 mm.

02 / Read, resize, reveal

03 / A body is not a wingspan

What Size It Up Insects measures

Body length runs from the head to the abdomen tip. Wingspan runs between the outermost tips of spread wings. Size It Up Insects labels the physical dimension even when a body points vertically on screen.

An emperor dragonfly uses body length here; butterflies use wingspan. Size It Up Insects can compare those two linear distances, but a broad wing shape is not evidence of a longer body.

The red lines below show selected endpoints. In Size It Up Insects, legs, antennae and projecting wings are excluded from body length. Follow the marked span, rather than the whole bounding box.

04 / Look past the antennae

Common traps in Size It Up Insects

A cricket’s antennae can make its outline look enormous. Size It Up Insects measures its body, excluding the antennae, legs and rear appendages. The red segment shows what counts.

Read the exceptions: the male stag beetle’s length includes its jaws; the earwig’s body length excludes its pincers. Size It Up Insects names these conventions beside the insect and in the measurement note.

Adults also vary in size. A large hornet is not a typical worker, and a worker ant is not a queen. Size It Up Insects uses the selected adult or caste stated in each entry.

• Cricket body sizes — University of Maryland Extension
• Earwig measurement convention — Field Studies Council guide

05 / Put a number on the difference

06 / The adult collection

1. 
   Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (adult female · open wings)

   260 mm · wingspan

   Size source
2. 
   Giant Swallowtail (adult male · open wings)

   175 mm · wingspan

   Size source
3. 
   Puriri Moth (adult female · open wings)

   150 mm · wingspan

   Size source
4. 
   Blue Morpho (adult · open wings)

   140 mm · wingspan

   Size source
5. 
   Devil's Flower Mantis (adult female)

   130 mm · body length

   Size source
6. 
   Death's-head Hawkmoth (adult · open wings)

   118 mm · wingspan

   Size source
7. 
   Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (adult · open wings)

   110 mm · wingspan

   Size source
8. 
   Privet Hawk-moth (adult)

   105 mm · wingspan

   Size source
9. 
   Annam Stick Insect (adult)

   103 mm · body length

   Size source
10. 
    Convolvulus Hawk-moth (adult)

    100 mm · wingspan

    Size source
11. 
    Monarch Butterfly (adult · open wings)

    90 mm · wingspan

    Size source
12. 
    Luna Moth (adult · open wings)

    90 mm · wingspan

    Size source
13. 
    Mourning Cloak (adult · open wings)

    80 mm · wingspan

    Size source
14. 
    Emperor Dragonfly (adult · body length)

    78 mm · body length

    Size source
15. 
    Brown Hawker (adult)

    73 mm · body length

    Size source
16. 
    Pine Hawk-moth (adult)

    72.5 mm · wingspan

    Size source
17. 
    Red Admiral (adult · open wings)

    71 mm · wingspan

    Size source
18. 
    Southern Hawker (adult)

    70 mm · body length

    Size source
19. 
    Peacock Butterfly (adult · open wings)

    69 mm · wingspan

    Size source
20. 
    Painted Lady (adult)

    66 mm · wingspan

    Size source
21. 
    Stag Beetle (male · jaws included)

    65 mm · length including jaws

    Size source
22. 
    Migrant Hawker (adult)

    63 mm · body length

    Size source
23. 
    Large White Butterfly (adult)

    60.5 mm · wingspan

    Size source
24. 
    European Praying Mantis (adult)

    60 mm · body length

    Size source
25. 
    Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle (male · horn included)

    55 mm · length including horn

    Size source
26. 
    Small Tortoiseshell (adult)

    53.5 mm · wingspan

    Size source
27. 
    Elephant Hawk-moth (adult)

    52.5 mm · wingspan

    Size source
28. 
    Meadow Brown (adult)

    50 mm · wingspan

    Size source
29. 
    Small White Butterfly (adult · open wings)

    48 mm · wingspan

    Size source
30. 
    Green-veined White (adult)

    46 mm · wingspan

    Size source
31. 
    Orange-tip Butterfly (adult)

    46 mm · wingspan

    Size source
32. 
    Banded Demoiselle (adult)

    45 mm · body length

    Size source
33. 
    Great Diving Beetle (adult)

    44 mm · body length

    Size source
34. 
    Gatekeeper Butterfly (adult)

    42.5 mm · wingspan

    Size source
35. 
    Common Darter (adult)

    40.5 mm · body length

    Size source
36. 
    American Cockroach (adult)

    40 mm · body length

    Size source
37. 
    European Hornet (large adult)

    35 mm · body length

    Size source
38. 
    Common Blue Butterfly (adult)

    32.5 mm · wingspan

    Size source
39. 
    Blue-tailed Damselfly (adult · body length)

    31 mm · body length

    Size source
40. 
    Holly Blue (adult)

    30 mm · wingspan

    Size source
41. 
    Bullet Ant (adult worker)

    28 mm · body length

    Size source
42. 
    Minotaur Beetle (male · horns included)

    24 mm · length including horns

    Size source
43. 
    Small Blue Butterfly (adult)

    22.5 mm · wingspan

    Size source
44. 
    Red-tailed Bumblebee (adult)

    22 mm · body length

    Size source
45. 
    Buff-tailed Bumblebee (large adult)

    21 mm · body length

    Size source
46. 
    House Cricket (adult)

    20 mm · body length

    Size source
47. 
    Common Wasp (large adult)

    20 mm · body length

    Size source
48. 
    White-tailed Bumblebee (large adult)

    20 mm · body length

    Size source
49. 
    Noble Chafer (adult)

    20 mm · body length

    Size source
50. 
    Rose Chafer (adult)

    18.5 mm · body length

    Size source
51. 
    Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (adult)

    17 mm · body length

    Size source
52. 
    Early Bumblebee (adult)

    17 mm · body length

    Size source
53. 
    Wasp Beetle (adult)

    16 mm · body length

    Size source
54. 
    Large Milkweed Bug (adult)

    15 mm · body length

    Size source
55. 
    Heath Bumblebee (adult)

    14 mm · body length

    Size source
56. 
    German Cockroach (adult)

    13 mm · body length

    Size source
57. 
    Common Earwig (adult · pincers excluded)

    13 mm · body length

    Size source
58. 
    Tree Bumblebee (adult)

    13 mm · body length

    Size source
59. 
    Honeybee (adult)

    12 mm · body length

    Size source
60. 
    Firebrat (adult)

    11.5 mm · body length

    Size source
61. 
    Common Eastern Firefly (adult)

    10.7 mm · body length

    Size source
62. 
    Common Red Soldier Beetle (adult)

    10 mm · body length

    Size source
63. 
    Marmalade Hoverfly (adult)

    9.8 mm · body length

    Size source
64. 
    Click Beetle (adult)

    8.9 mm · body length

    Size source
65. 
    Oriental Beetle (adult)

    8.1 mm · body length

    Size source
66. 
    Harlequin Ladybird (adult)

    8 mm · body length

    Size source
67. 
    Flower Longhorn Beetle (adult)

    7.3 mm · body length

    Size source
68. 
    Seven-spot Ladybird (adult)

    6.6 mm · body length

    Size source
69. 
    Southern Wood Ant (worker)

    6 mm · body length

    Size source
70. 
    Common House Mosquito (adult)

    5 mm · body length

    Size source
71. 
    Two-spot Ladybird (adult)

    5 mm · body length

    Size source
72. 
    Bed Bug (adult)

    4.6 mm · body length

    Size source
73. 
    Red Flour Beetle (adult)

    3.45 mm · body length

    Size source
74. 
    Black Garden Ant (worker)

    3 mm · body length

    Size source
75. 
    Common Fruit Fly (adult)

    2.5 mm · body length

    Size source
76. 
    Head Louse (adult)

    2.2 mm · body length

    Size source
77. 
    Human Flea (adult)

    1.95 mm · body length

    Size source
78. 
    Western Flower Thrips (adult female)

    1.4 mm · body length

    Size source
79. 
    Redbanded Thrips (adult female)

    1.2 mm · body length

    Size source
80. 
    Booklouse (adult)

    1 mm · body length

    Size source

07 / Build a millimetre ruler

Tips for Size It Up Insects

Start with a tiny anchor: the worker garden ant is 3 mm long. The honeybee is 12 mm. Those body lengths provide a useful first estimate in Size It Up Insects.

Keep a separate mental ruler for open wings. The small white and tiger swallowtail below share a calibrated scale. Size It Up Insects rewards the distance between the outer tips, even when one butterfly has long trailing tails.

Try Unlimited after the Daily round. Size It Up Insects uses the same measurements for practice, so you can learn one anchor and test it against fresh pairs.

• Practise Size It Up Insects in Unlimited
• Small white wingspan — The Wildlife Trusts
• Tiger swallowtail wingspan — Florida Museum

08 / Trace the measurement

09 / Questions from the field

Questions about Size It Up Insects

Does Size It Up Insects include spiders?

No. This collection contains insects: bees, ants, beetles, butterflies and other six-legged adults. Spiders, scorpions and centipedes belong to different groups and are outside this pool.

Are Size It Up Insects measurements body lengths or wingspans?

Both appear, with the dimension named in every round. Body length usually excludes appendages. Butterfly and moth wingspans run between the outer tips of spread wings. The stag beetle’s jaws are explicitly included.

Why can my insect be a different size?

Age, sex and caste affect size. Size It Up Insects uses the specified adult and a sourced value, sometimes selected within a range. It does not claim that every individual measures exactly that much.

Does Size It Up Insects include caterpillars?

This collection uses adults only. A caterpillar and its adult butterfly have different shapes and measurement conventions; they are not interchangeable versions of one round.

How often does Size It Up Insects change?

Five Daily rounds open at local midnight. Unlimited supplies fresh pairs. Pairs differ by at least 1.15 times; the first four Daily rounds stay within 10 times, and the fifth may reach 25 times.

Are the collection examples today’s answers?

The Size It Up Insects collection and comparisons are static learning material. Daily answers remain in the separate Answers archive; the game reveals each measurement after a guess.