10. Less than a k’zayis. For most food issurim, one only gets malkus if he eats a k’zayis. Insects, however, are stricter. If one eats a whole worm or insect—alive or dead—it has the status of a “briyah” [creature], and one who eats it violates the issur and gets malkus even if it is less than a k’zayis (משנה מכות דף י''ג ע''א, רמב''ם פ''ב מאכלות אסורות הכ''א ).
11. If the insect is not whole, e.g., it is missing a limb, one only gets malkus for eating a k’zayis. But it is still assur to eat less than a k’zayis, in accordance with the rule of “חצי שיעור אסור מן התורה ” (גמ' מכות דף ט''ז ע''ב, רמב''ם הכ''ד ).
12. Briyah is not botul. Because insects are more serious, in that one gets malkus for a briyah less than a k’zayis (above, 10), Chazal were machmir (ט''ז יו''ד סי' ק' סק''א ) and decreed that an insect or worm is not botul even in a mixture one thousand times its volume (שו''ע שם ס''א ). For most food issurim, there is a rule that the issur is botul b’shishim. But if a whole insect falls into a dish and one cannot identify it, it is not botul even if the dish is one thousand times the volume of the insect.
13. If the insect is not whole, e.g., it is missing a leg or wing, it does not have the status of a briyah. Thus, if it gets mixed into something else and cannot be identified, it is botul b’shishim like any other assur food (שו''ע שם ).
