It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "An ant bit one of the prophets, so he burned the colony of the ants. Then Allah Almighty revealed to him: 'Only one ant bit you, yet you destroyed a nation that glorified (Allah)?'"
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الحج / 10068
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "One of the prophets camped beneath a tree, and an ant bit him. He ordered his baggage, and it was taken out from under it (the tree); then he gave orders about it (the ants' nest), and it was burned in fire. Allah Almighty revealed to him: 'Why did you not punish just the one ant?'" [Sahih: Muslim: 2241]
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الحج / 10069
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade killing four creatures: the ant, the honeybee, the hoopoe and the shrike (surad).
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الحج / 10070
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A woman was punished because of a cat which she confined until it died of hunger, and she entered the Fire."
The narrator said: And Allah knows best, she neither fed it nor gave it water when she confined it, nor did she let it go so that it might eat of the creatures of the earth.
In the narration of Ibn Wahb: "So she entered the Fire because of it," and it will be said to her, and Allah knows best: You neither fed it nor gave it water when you confined it, nor did you let it go so that it might eat of the creatures of the earth, until it died of hunger.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الحج / 10071
Ziyad bin Ilaqah narrates from his paternal uncle Qutbah (may Allah be pleased with him), and Ziyad bin Fayyad (may Allah have mercy on him) from Abu Iyad (may Allah have mercy on him), that they both said: It used to be disliked that a man should kill what does not harm him.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الحج / 10072
Ziyad bin Ilaqah narrates from his paternal uncle (may Allah be pleased with him): "It used to be disliked that a man should kill what does not harm him."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الحج / 10073