Top 5 Short-Lived Animals: Which of Them Has the Most Fleeting Life Span?

The lifespan of an animal depends on its size, food sources, habitat, defensive capabilities, and other factors. Some of them progress through a life cycle that involves several stages. In some cases, one life cycle stage is much longer than another.

Here are five of the shortest-living animals, focusing on the duration of the adult stage in their life cycle.

5. Dragonfly: 7 - 56 Days

With around 5,000 species worldwide, dragonflies have a lifespan of four to six months as adults. During the stages of its life cycle, a dragonfly transforms from egg to nymph to adult. Once the eggs are laid in the water, it will take about one week for them to hatch. Young dragonflies or nymphs emerge from the egg and stay in the water for two years.

Typically, their lives are cut even shorter due to harsh climate conditions such as strong winds and predators like frogs, birds, lizards, and spiders.

4. Housefly: 28 Days

Houseflies live on every continent and can thrive in different weather conditions. However, their lifespan is very short, just one to two months.

The life cycle of this insect includes the egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. The eggs of a housefly hatch in less than 24 hours while the larva stage lasts five to fourteen days. Meanwhile, the pupal stage goes from three to ten days.

This indicates that each stage of the house fly's life cycle is short. Despite this fleeting lifespan, these insects do not decline in population because every female housefly can lay as many as 500 eggs at a time.

3. Drone Ant: 21 Days

All drone ants are male. They exist for only a few weeks after hatching because their sole purpose is to breed to ensure that their colony's population continues to flourish.

2. Fruit Fly: 14 days

The adult stage of a fruit fly lasts only for 14 days. A female fruit fly can lay 500 to 2,000 eggs in a single lifetime or two weeks. In as little as 12 hours, the eggs hatch into larvae and mature into an adult fruit fly in about 10 to 14 days. Their existence, including the egg stage, lasts 40 to 50 days.

1. Mayfly: Twenty-Four Hours

If adult-stage life is the measure of longevity, then the record for being the most short-lived animal belongs to a mayfly. It is a tiny flying insect that thrives around lakes, ponds, and streams. This species belongs to the order Ephemeroptera, a Greek word that means "short-lived."

The life cycle of this insect starts in egg form. As soon as the eggs are laid in the water, they hatch shortly after. Mayfly nymphs emerge from the eggs and can remain in the water.

Depending on their species, some mayfly nymphs stay in the water for months, while others remain there for several years. The nymph climbs out of the water, molts, and transforms into an adult mayfly. An adult mayfly live only for less than 24 hours.