Bug Encyclopedia
Search and identify bugs & insects — beetles, butterflies, moths, ants, bees, spiders and more — with size, habitat, danger, behavior, and how to tell them apart.
Squash Bug
A flat-backed, brownish-gray true bug commonly found clustered on the leaves and stems of squash and pumpkin plants, where it feeds by piercing plant tissue.
true-bug
Orange Sulphur
A vivid orange-and-yellow butterfly with sharp black wing borders, one of the most common butterflies over open fields and alfalfa crops throughout North America.
butterfly
Powdered Dancer
Named for the pale, frosty bloom that coats mature males, the Powdered Dancer is a robust river damselfly often seen basking on sunlit rocks and gravel bars.
dragonfly
Regal Fritillary
A large, showy prairie butterfly with bright orange forewings and dramatically contrasting black hindwings dotted with rows of white and cream spots.
butterfly
Northern Bluet
A hardy blue damselfly of northern ponds and lakes, the Northern Bluet ranges farther north than most of its relatives and is often the dominant bluet at cooler, higher-latitude waters.
dragonfly
Millipede
A slow-moving, cylindrical, many-legged detritivore with two pairs of legs per body segment, often seen curling into a tight spiral when disturbed.
myriapodTarantula Hawk Wasp
A giant metallic-blue wasp with rust-orange wings, the tarantula hawk is one of the largest wasps in the world. Females hunt tarantulas as living food for their single offspring.
wasp
Bagworm
A caterpillar that constructs and lives inside a spindle-shaped case of silk and plant debris, dragging its portable shelter along as it feeds on tree foliage.
caterpillar-larvaWater Penny Beetle
A flattened, coin-shaped larva that clings almost invisibly to the surface of submerged stream rocks, named for its uncanny resemblance to a small penny.
aquatic-insectTsetse Fly
A stout grayish-brown fly of African woodlands whose rigid, forward-jutting proboscis and scissor-folded wings set it apart from any ordinary house fly.
fly
Tobacco Hornworm
A large, chunky green caterpillar with diagonal white stripes and a curved red-orange horn at its tail end, often found stripping tomato and tobacco plants.
caterpillar-larvaSpiny Oak-slug Caterpillar
A tiny, flattened slug-shaped caterpillar in shades of green, orange, or purple, bristling with clusters of branched spines that can deliver a sting if handled.
caterpillar-larvaSoldier Fly
A wasp-mimicking fly with a flattened, often metallic body that spends its larval life quietly breaking down decaying plant matter or aquatic debris.
flyRed Paper Wasp
A large, rusty-red paper wasp that builds open, umbrella-shaped nests under eaves and in sheltered structures, often seen hovering near its comb.
waspRipple Bug
A tiny, dark true bug that skates across the surface film of calm water, producing the faint ripples that give it its common name as it hunts for small prey trapped at the surface.
aquatic-insectPeacock Spider
A tiny Australian jumping spider whose males unfurl a fan of vivid, iridescent colors and perform an elaborate rhythmic dance to court females.
spider
Painted Lady Butterfly
A medium-sized orange-and-black butterfly with a mosaic of white-spotted black wingtips, famous as the most widely distributed butterfly on Earth and a long-distance migrant.
butterfly
Lesser Water Boatman
A flat-backed, oar-legged true bug that rows through pond water with fringed hind legs, surfacing periodically to trap a silvery bubble of air against its body.
true-bug
Grizzled Mantis
Mottled in shades of gray and lichen-green, this flattened mantis presses itself against tree bark so convincingly that it seems to melt into the trunk.
mantis-stick
Chinch Bug
A tiny black-and-white true bug that feeds on grasses, often overlooked individually but capable of forming dense colonies in sunny, dry patches of lawn.
true-bug
Brown-tail Moth
A pure white moth with a tuft of brown hair at the tip of its abdomen, whose gregarious, hairy caterpillars overwinter communally in silken webs on tree branches.
mothCave Cricket
Humpbacked and wingless with absurdly long legs and antennae, this pale, silent insect thrives in the total darkness of caves, basements, and damp crawl spaces.
grasshopper-cricket
Bee Fly
A fuzzy, bee-mimicking fly with a long, forward-pointing proboscis that hovers motionless in front of spring flowers while sipping nectar.
fly
Blue-eyed Darner
A large, fast-flying darner with brilliant sky-blue eyes that meet in a seam across the top of the head, patrolling ponds and open fields well into the evening.
dragonfly