Spider mite (Two-spotted, female)
0.4 mm
Adult female body length
A sap-sucking mite that spins fine webs on houseplants, seen from above. About 0.4 mm long.
Published
How big is that?
0.4 mm is 5.7 times the width of a human hair and 5.6% of a grain of rice.
Spider mite is the 14th smallest of the 32 Tiny Worlds objects, and the 14th smallest of the 172 objects across all five SizeItUp games.
Size comparison
To scale, smallest to largest: Spider mite in orange beside the Tiny Worlds objects nearest in size, in teal.
| Object | Size | vs Spider mite |
|---|---|---|
| Tardigrade (Water bear)A chubby eight-legged micro-animal that can survive drying out, seen from the side. | 0.25 mm long | 63% of the size |
| Grain of sand (Medium)A grain of medium sand, as geologists grade it. | 0.375 mm across | 94% of the size |
| Spider mite (Two-spotted, female) | 0.4 mm long | – |
| Amoeba (Amoeba proteus)A single cell that moves by pushing out pseudopods; big enough to see by eye. | 0.5 mm long | 1.3× bigger |
| Nematode worm (C. elegans)Caenorhabditis elegans, the tiny worm behind several Nobel prizes. | 1 mm long | 2.5× bigger |
In other units
| Micrometres | 400 |
|---|---|
| Millimetres | 0.4 |
| Centimetres | 0.04 |
| Metres | 0.0004 |
How it's measured
Adult female body length. University of Florida IFAS.
Sources
- journals.flvc.org: UF/IFAS EENY-150: the female is about 0.4 mm in length.
- ag.purdue.edu (supporting): Purdue Extension: about 1/60 inch (0.4 mm) long.
Checked against the source on .
Could you have guessed it by eye?
Spider mite is one of the objects in Tiny Worlds, a daily size comparison game: you stretch a shape to the size you think is right beside one you know.