Winner of Invertebrate of the Year 2026 crowned – and it is the size of a grain of rice

The leaf sheep, a neon green solar-powered slug, has inspired at least one Pokémon character and triumphs in global ballot Chris Packham: ‘Life as we know it hinges on invertebrates’ A neon green solar-powered slug that lives underwater is the winner of the increasingly popular Invertebrate of the Year competition run by the Guardian. The leaf sheep, Costasiella kuroshimae, triumphed in the global ballot after hundreds of thousands of readers around the world read about and shared their appreciation for the spineless creatures who make up the majority of animal life on Earth. Announcing the winner, the broadcaster and environmental campaigner Chris Packham said: “It’s very, very beautiful but also very smart too. It harvests photosynthetic material from the algae it feeds upon and builds its own solar panels.” In a much closer contest than previous years – when the tardigrade and the common earthworm won with popular landslides – the beady-eyed, charming leaf sheep fought off strong competition from the world’s largest bumblebee, the moscardón, Bombus dahlbomii, which finished second. This giant ginger bumblebee is increasingly threatened in its native Patagonia b