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.
Marsh Treader
An extremely slender, thread-like true bug that walks slowly and deliberately across the water's surface on stilt-like legs, resembling a tiny floating twig as it hunts among marsh vegetation.
aquatic-insect
Saucer Bug
Flattened and rounded like its namesake, the saucer bug is a stout, oval predator that lurks among pondweed, ambushing small invertebrates and other prey with a piercing beak.
true-bugBackswimmer
A boat-shaped aquatic true bug that swims upside down using oar-like hind legs, patrolling pond water in search of small prey.
aquatic-insect
Water Boatman
A small, streamlined aquatic true bug with oar-like hind legs used for swimming, commonly seen gliding just beneath the surface of ponds and calm freshwater.
aquatic-insect
Jewel Bug
A living gemstone of the insect world, the jewel bug shimmers in dazzling metallic greens, blues, reds, and golds. Its enlarged shield-like back covers the entire body, making it look like a polished piece of enamelware.
true-bug
Boll Weevil
A small, grayish-brown snout beetle with a long, curved rostrum, historically famous for its close feeding association with cotton flower buds and bolls.
beetleMarsh Fly
A slender, unassuming fly best known for larvae with a remarkable diet: nearly every species in the family feeds on aquatic or terrestrial snails and slugs, making marsh flies natural specialists in wetland food webs. Adults are often found resting quietly on sedges and other marsh vegetation near the water's edge.
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Green Stink Bug
A broad, shield-shaped bug in solid bright green with a shell-like appearance, easily disturbed off host plants and known for releasing a pungent odor when handled.
true-bug
Bumblebee Moth
A fuzzy, day-flying sphinx moth that hovers at flowers like a bee, with mostly clear wings and a black-and-yellow banded body that mimics a bumblebee.
moth
Assassin Bug
A slender, long-legged predatory true bug with a curved, needle-like beak used to ambush and pierce other insects, often patterned in bold orange, black, or red warning colors.
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Water Scorpion
An elongated, twig-like aquatic true bug with grasping raptorial forelegs and a long, thin breathing tube at the tail end, resembling a slender scorpion as it lies in ambush among submerged plants.
aquatic-insect
Bagworm Moth
A moth best known for its larva's habit of constructing and living inside a spindle-shaped case of silk and plant debris that hangs from twigs, with adult males a plain sooty-winged moth and females remaining wingless and grub-like inside the bag for life.
mothCreeping Water Bug
Broad, oval, and flattened like a tiny shield, the creeping water bug crawls methodically through submerged vegetation rather than swimming freely, using its stout, raptorial front legs to seize prey.
true-bug
Long-Legged Fly
A jewel-bright little fly that flashes metallic green, blue, or bronze in the sunlight as it darts across leaves on comically long, stilt-like legs, pausing to perform quick territorial displays. Both adults and larvae are active hunters of even smaller insects, making this tiny fly a useful predator in gardens and wetlands alike.
flyGall Mite
An almost worm-shaped, microscopic mite that induces plants to grow strange pouches, pockets, and felt-like patches around its feeding sites.
arachnidFlea Beetle
A tiny, shiny beetle that springs away like a flea when disturbed, leaving characteristic small round holes peppered across the leaves it feeds on.
beetle
Stag Beetle
A large, glossy beetle whose males wield oversized, antler-like mandibles resembling a stag's rack of horns, used for wrestling rival males rather than for feeding.
beetle
Cabbage Looper Moth
A drab mottled-brown moth best known for its pale green, looping caterpillar that arches its back like an inchworm while feeding on garden vegetables.
mothLily Leaf Beetle
A brilliant scarlet-red beetle with a jet-black head, legs, and underside that feeds almost exclusively on true lilies and fritillaries, often stripping leaves down to bare stems.
beetle
Aphid
A tiny, soft-bodied, pear-shaped insect that clusters in dense colonies on plant stems and leaf undersides, feeding on sap through needle-like mouthparts and often coated in sweet honeydew.
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Whitefly
A tiny, moth-like white insect that clusters on the undersides of leaves and bursts into a snowy cloud when the plant is disturbed. Despite the name, it is not a true fly but a sap-feeding relative of aphids and scale insects.
true-bugWater Scavenger Beetle
Rounded and glossy, water scavenger beetles paddle through weedy ponds gathering air with a short antenna rather than a snorkel-like tube, feeding mostly on decaying plant matter and algae.
beetleDrywood Termite
A termite that lives entirely within the dry wood it feeds on, needing no soil contact at all, and revealing itself mainly through small piles of pellet-like frass pushed from tiny exit holes.
other
Zebra Swallowtail
A sleek, triangular-winged swallowtail striped boldly in black and pale green-white like a zebra, with long tails and red-and-blue accent spots, whose caterpillars feed exclusively on pawpaw trees.
butterfly