We have known animals that can live to be hundreds of years old such as turtles, Greenland sharks... However, there are also many species that only have a few days to live and then end their lives. Here are 10 animals with the shortest lifespan in the world.
1. Ephemeral: 24 hours
Plankton is a group of insects belonging to the order Ephemeroptera. They have a rather strange life. The reason they are called Mayfly because they usually appear in May every year in some countries. Plankton is an ancient insect that appeared on Earth more than 300 million years ago. Despite appearing early, plankton is ranked among the shortest-lived creatures in the world.
Adult plankton can only live for 24 hours.
Its life span is only 24 hours. Most of the time they are in the pupa, about 1-3 years in the water. When the plankton is about to die, they emerge from their pupae and become adult plankton. The adult plankton completes mating and lays eggs in the water. The reason the plankton die so quickly is because their mouth has been degenerated, unable to eat.
2. Feather-belly worms: 3 days
The hairy bellyworms only live for 3 days because they are a food source for many small fish.
The hairy bellyworm, also known as Gastrotricha, is a microscopic animal, from 0.06 to 3mm. They have a transparent body structure, live on the seabed or fresh water. The hairy bellyworm is an animal that has both male and female genitalia to reproduce. The reason why this tiny microorganism only lives for 3 days is because they are a food source for many small fish living in the same ecosystem. Not only having a transparent body, the hairy belly worm is also capable of glowing in the dark.
3. Indian moth: 5 - 13 days
The Indian moth or moth is an insect closely related to butterflies, both of which belong to the Order Scalpels. Moths evolved long before butterflies, many of their fossils have been found to be 190 million years old. Their main color is light brown, with slightly dark veins. Larvae are grayish-white, with a membrane covering the head and back with a thoracic segment.
The life cycle of the Indian moth is very short.
Indian moths forage for food such as grains and cereals as a place to lay eggs. The special thing is that Indian moths do not have mouths, so they do not eat any food during their life cycle. Therefore, they will limit flying but only park in one place to not waste energy.
Females often accompany males to fertilize, lay eggs, and die. Because the life cycle of moths is very short, they only live from 1 to 2 weeks, the longest is 4 weeks.
4. House mosquito: 20 days
According to research on the life cycle of mosquitoes, the average lifespan of this species ranges from 20 days. Factors that make the lifespan of mosquitoes higher or lower include: Gender, habitat and characteristics of each species. In addition, environmental temperature also affects the lifespan of mosquitoes. For example, Culex tarsalis mosquitoes have a lifespan of about 14 days if they live at about 21oC, but when at 27oC, their lifespan is only about 10 days.
The average lifespan of house mosquitoes is only 20 days.
Different species of mosquitoes also have completely different lifespans. Culex Mosquitoes, Aedes Mosquitoes, Anophen Mosquitoes… all have different lifespans. Mosquitoes have a shortest lifespan of 4 days, house mosquitoes have a lifespan of 20 days, disease-causing mosquitoes have a lifespan of 30 days, and those with the ability to travel long distances have a lifespan of up to 50 days.
5. Honey bees: 5 weeks – 8 weeks
Bees are familiar species and play an important role in life such as maintaining ecological balance and agricultural production. One-third of human food production depends entirely on the pollination of this tiny animal. A honey bee hive will consist of a queen bee, worker bees, and male bees. Any bee species has a similar life cycle and goes through 4 stages.
The life span of honey bees usually lasts about 5 to 8 weeks.
The lifespan of honey bees varies, depending on the role each bee plays in the colony. In particular, male bees have a lifespan of about 50-60 days. After mating with the queen bee, the male bee will die. In addition, if the nest lacks food, they will be driven out by worker bees and starve to death during the wanderings. 5 - 8 weeks is the lifespan of worker bees. Besides having to feed the larvae, continuous honey collection also reduces the lifespan of worker bees because they work too much.
6. Dwarf goby: 59 days
That is the dwarf goby in the Australian reef. The Australian Dwarf Goby belongs to the class of carnivorous fish. They have small, slender bodies and are only a few centimeters long. They are also the smallest vertebrates in the world.
Dwarf goby is recorded by the Guinness World Records as the fish with the shortest lifespan.
Professor David Bellwood of James Cook University has submitted to Guinness to confirm the record for the shortest life span of the dwarf goby. According to his share, the life expectancy of the Australian dwarf goby is only 59 days long. In particular, their adult life is only 21 days long. During this time, they will try to live out their true lifespan by mating and giving birth.
