Very small tail broken off insect (5)
I believe the answer is:
midge
'broken off insect' is the definition.
'midge' can be an answer for 'insect' (midge is a kind of insect). I am unsure of the 'broken off' bit.
'very small tail' is the wordplay.
'very small' becomes 'midget' (I've seen this before).
'tail' means to remove the last letter (I've seen 'tailed' mean this (to tail something can mean to remove its end)).
'midget' with its final letter taken off is 'MIDGE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for midge that I've seen before include "Tiny swarming fly" , "Small swarming biting insect" , "Tiny swarming insect" , "Small biting fly" , "Dipterous insect, in swarms by water" .)