Body length1.5 hundredths m
37.5 millionthsSupertankers
1.8 hundredthsCricket bats
About 10-20 mm depending on species
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Firefly
A beetle that makes its own light to find a date/Insects & Arachnids
Fireflies are actually beetles, not flies, and they produce light through a chemical reaction in their abdomen called bioluminescence. Each species has a unique flash pattern used to attract mates, essentially running a tiny nightclub in a meadow. Their light-producing process is remarkably efficient, converting nearly 100% of energy into light with almost no heat, which puts every light bulb ever made to shame.
Measurements
Body mass20 millionths kg
50 millionthsCans of soup
4 millionthsHuman heads
7.4 billionthsBlue whale tongues
About 20 mg
Wingspan2.5 hundredths m
18 trillionthsSun diameters
4.2 tenthsThumb lengths
Flight speed5 tenths m/s
1.67Conveyor belts
167Hawaiian lava flows
510 millionthsSR-71 Blackbirds
Flash frequency5 tenths Hz
204 trillionthsMicrowave frequencies
2.2 tenthsMetronome ticks
11.3 millionthsCD sample rates
About one flash every 2 seconds, varies by species
Bioluminescent power100 millionths W
1.7 trillionthsCruise ship engines
118 billionthsToasters
Roughly 0.1 milliwatt, nearly 100% efficient