Hungry ghosts and food offerings to the dead

One of the four lowest realms of the 31 planes of existence is the realm of the hungry ghosts or hungry shades or petas or pretas. These cannot be souls or spirits, because in Buddhism, there is no transmigration of souls. On this page , it is described as: > peta yoni — here the beings have deformed bodies and are usually > consumed by hunger and thirst In the Janussonin Sutta , the Buddha states that food offerings to the dead cannot reach them if they are reborn in hell, as animal, as human or as devas (heavanly beings). **However, food offerings to the dead would reach them or other ancestors who are born as hungry ghosts or petas.** Those who offer this, would not go unrewarded for their generosity, according to the sutta. This appears to be the practice described in the Tirokudda Kanda . Ven. Nanda Mahathera writes here : > Peta-yoni (pa + ita) lit., departed beings, or those absolutely devoid > of happiness. They are not disembodied spirits of ghosts. They possess > deformed physical forms of varying magnitude, generally invisible to > the naked eye. They have no planes of their own, but live in forests, > dirty surroundings, etc. Ven. Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo describes them here as: > Hungry shades come in all different shapes and sizes — really > entertaining, the hungry shades. Some of them have heads as big as > large water jars, but their mouths are just like the eye of a needle: > that's all, no bigger than the eye of a needle! Some of them have legs > six yards long, but hands only half a foot. They're amazing to watch, > just like a cartoon. Some of them have lower lips with no upper lips, > some of them are missing their lips altogether, with their teeth > exposed all the time. There are all kinds of hungry shades. Some of > them have big, bulging eyes, the size of coconuts, others have > fingernails as long as palm leaves. You really ought to see them. Some > of them are so fat they can't move, others so thin that they're > nothing but bones. And sometimes the different groups get into > battles, biting each other, hitting each other. Based on all the descriptions above, it sounds to me like hungry ghosts or hungry shades are microorganisms. It also makes sense that when food offerings are made to the dead, they would be consumed by microorganisms. Questions: 1. What are the hungry ghosts or hungry shades really? 2. Could they be microorganisms? Have any Buddhist scholars considered this possibility? 3. Is offering of food to the dead still practised today? 4. Is this a recommended practice or is it not recommended? And why? According to this answer , the Buddha neither rejected nor endorsed the practice. 5. Does the opinion of the different Buddhist schools differ from each other on this?