Fairy flies

• "Fairy flies" are some of the smallest insects in the world.
• There are about 160 species in New Zealand, about 10% of the world's known species.
• Fairy flies are not true flies (Diptera) but actually tiny mymarid wasps (Hymenoptera), which lay their eggs in the eggs of other insects.
• All the young stages of the mymarid develop within the host egg, and hatch as adults from the host eggs.
• Some fairy flies are less than 0.4 mm long.

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