How fast can a microscopic creature travel?

I'm trying to figure out how fast my tiny critters from a previous question, Mistraille, can travel. Why? It's not that I'm detail orientated and want to know the exact decimal point of speed they can reach but rather I want to know how much time my victims with open wounds have to prevent the carnivorous Mistraille from infecting them.

Critter Details

• My critter is very very tiny, about the size of plankton and zooplankton (think microns).
• They always travel in a group/swarm and are named after their appearance, a low lying mist or fog back.
• They travel by crawling on the ground, hopping or jumping (on top of each other if necessary) and gliding on proto-wings. (see generic sediment transport image below).
• They normally travel with the direction of the prevailing wind, but can travel against it if necessary.
• They travel with more 'determination' (speed and cohesion) when prey has been smelled. (for the purposes of this question, wind and 'determination' can be ignored as I only need to figure out their basic speed. Wind and 'determination' dynamics are more story orientated).

Victim Details plants or animals with open sores or cuts can be infected by Mistraille and then be eaten from the inside.

If given enough time;

• plants could produce a resin or gummy substance to seal the 'wound'
• plants could send out a signal and the surround plants could uproot themselves to 'run away' with the wind.
• animals and humans could cause the wound to be covered with a seal (gummy plants) to prevent the Mistraille from infecting them.
• animals and humans could 'run away'.

But all of this takes time. How much time do they have? seconds, minutes, hours?

QUESTION

In a lab-based situation with no outside forces helping, How fast could a microscopic critter realistically travel metres to tens of metres?

BONUS

What body characteristics would make them slower/faster?

posted over 7 years ago

EveryBitHelps‭

1 reputation 25 0 0 0