[2] Relatively small snakes, leptotyphlopids rarely exceed 30 cm (12 in) in length; only Trilepida macrolepis and Leptotyphlops occidentalis grow larger.

[4] Among these snakes is what is believed to be the world's smallest: L. carlae (Hedges, 2008).

[5] Leptotyphlopids are found in Africa, western Asia from Turkey to eastern India, on Socotra Island, and from the southwestern United States south through Mexico and Central America to South America, though not in the high Andes.

The diets of leptotyphlopids consist mostly of termite or ant larvae, pupae, and adults.

Most species suck out the contents of insect bodies and discard the exoskeleton.