Tiny terrors: The mini monsters among us

Dust Mite Millions of terrifying looking dust mites dwell in our houses -- and cause severe allergic reactions in many people. 

Hydrothermal Worm No mere earthworm -- but no dragon either --these worms are deep sea creatures, almost as small as bacteria, that are largely found near hydrothermal vents in the ocean. (FEI Photo Gallery/Philippe Crassous)

Sand Hopper The <i>Orchestia gammarella</i> -- more commonly called a sand hopper -- magnified 10x. (Nikon Small World/Harold Taylor)

Caterpillar Mouth The detailed mouthparts of a caterpillar, showing the sensory organs on the tip of one maxillary palpus. (FEI Photo Gallery/Miranda Waldron)

<b>Young Mollusc</b> A young bivalve mollusc -- the class including such critters as mussels -- looks distinctly different when blown up 10x.  (Nikon Small World / Dr. Gregory Rouse)

Wasp Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of man? With compound eye and antenna like this -- blown up 40x -- perhaps the wasp does. (Nikon Small World / Charles Krebs)

Bed Bug You don't want them in your bed -- and you don't want to get a close up glimpse of them either.  (CDC/ Janice Haney Carr)

Brine Shrimp Blown up 10x, the common brine shrimp looks like some kind of space monster. (Nikon Small World / Dr. Gregory Rouse)

Decapod larva  Some infant sea creatures are cute. Some, like the larva of Sergestes (a deep-water crustacean) grow kind of creepy when see magnified 30x. (Nikon Small World / Solvin Zankl)

Albicorne Larva Trichoptera Odontocerum -- or simply the albicorne -- are little critters that live in the gravelly, sandy beds of rivers. And seen magnified 10x, they're startling.  (Nikon Small World/Fabrice Parais)

Backswimmer insect Even the tiniest critters -- like this little insect, the simply adorable Notonecta Glauca -- seem capable of swooping one away when blown up 100x. (Nikon Small World / Massimo Brizzi)

Water flea <i>Daphnia pulex</i> -- the common water flea -- lives, oh, in pretty much every lake out there. And seen at 10x, they're arresting.  (Nikon Small World / Dr. Jan Michels)

Atherix ibis (fly) This aquatic larva is clearly some kind of alien creature, when magnified 25x. (Nikon Small World / Fabrice Parais)

Bearded Weevil Weevils are super common beetles that hang out -- oh, pretty much everywhere. Up close, however, this Rhinostomus barbirostris Fabricius is fairly freaky.  (Nikon Small World / Alexa Vanegas)