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.
Tawny Emperor
A warm orange-brown woodland butterfly, close relative of the Hackberry Emperor, best distinguished by its lack of a forewing eyespot and its habit of feeding on sap and dung rather than flowers.
butterfly
Silvery Checkerspot
An orange-brown checkered butterfly named for the row of small silvery-white crescent spots along the underside hindwing margin, commonly seen nectaring at composite flowers in open habitats.
butterfly
Painted Lady
One of the most widely distributed butterflies on Earth, recognized by its orange-and-black mosaic wings with white-spotted black tips and its habit of long-distance migration across continents.
butterfly
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
Spring Azure
One of the earliest-flying small blue butterflies of spring, with soft pale-blue upperwings, a whitish gray underside dotted with faint dark markings, and no tails on the hindwing.
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Marbled White
A striking checkerboard butterfly with bold black-and-white wing patterning, despite its name it belongs to the brown butterfly family rather than the whites.
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Variegated Fritillary
A wide-ranging, mottled orange-brown butterfly that lacks the silvery underside spots of true fritillaries and instead shows an intricate patchwork of tan, orange, and black markings, known for its wandering, migratory habits.
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Giant Swallowtail
The largest butterfly in North America, a dark brown giant marked with a bold diagonal yellow band and yellow spotting that forms an X-like pattern when the wings are spread.
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Monarch Caterpillar
A boldly banded caterpillar in white, yellow, and black stripes, unmistakable as it munches its way through milkweed leaves before transforming into North America's most famous migratory butterfly.
caterpillar-larva
Eastern Comma
A ragged-edged orange-and-brown woodland butterfly named for the small, silvery comma-shaped mark on the underside of its hindwing, with a cryptic dead-leaf pattern that camouflages it perfectly when its wings are closed.
butterfly
Moth
A broad group of scale-winged insects related to butterflies, typically nocturnal, with stout, often furry bodies and feathery or thread-like antennae.
moth
Mason Bee
A compact, metallic blue-black bee that nests in existing narrow cavities and seals its brood cells with mud, prized as one of the most efficient early-spring pollinators of fruit trees.
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Bottle Fly
A stout fly with a shining, metallic blue body that produces a loud, deep buzz and is commonly seen darting around trash cans, compost, and outdoor gatherings.
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Gray Hairstreak
A small slate-gray butterfly with thin white lines, an orange-capped black spot near the hindwing tail, and one of the broadest host-plant ranges of any North American butterfly, making it a familiar visitor to gardens and fields alike.
butterfly
Purple Emperor
A large, elusive woodland butterfly whose males flash an iridescent purple sheen in sunlight, spending most of their time high in the treetop canopy rather than visiting flowers.
butterfly
Cabbage White
A common, small white butterfly with one or two black wing spots, whose green caterpillars are a familiar sight feeding on cabbage-family garden plants.
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Eastern Pondhawk
A bold, ground-perching dragonfly whose bright green females and powdery blue males look almost like different species, and which readily preys on other dragonflies.
dragonfly
Asparagus Beetle
A small, boldly patterned blue-black beetle with cream and orange-red markings that clusters on emerging asparagus spears in spring.
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Checkered White
A white butterfly patterned with irregular gray-black checkered spots, commonly fluttering low over open, sunny, weedy fields across much of North America.
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Clouded Sulphur
A medium-sized pale yellow butterfly with crisp black wing borders, commonly seen fluttering low over clover fields and roadside meadows across North America.
butterfly
West Virginia White
A delicate, pure-white spring butterfly of eastern hardwood forests with faint gray veining on the underside, flying only for a few weeks each year before its short-lived toothwort host plants fade.
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Bed Bug (Bat Bug)
A small, flat, reddish-brown, wingless true bug that hides in tight seams and crevices by day and feeds on blood at night, closely related to the bat bug, which occupies a similar niche in bat roosts.
true-bug
Monarch's Milkweed
A boldly orange-and-black true bug that shares milkweed plants with Monarch butterfly caterpillars, often clustering in large groups on seed pods and stems.
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White Admiral
A large, dark butterfly crossed by a bold white band on both wings, the northern form of the same species that produces the iridescent blue Red-spotted Purple farther south.
butterfly