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.
Black Soldier Fly
A sleek, dark, wasp-like fly whose larvae are voracious decomposers of decaying organic material, while the short-lived adults do not feed at all.
fly
Fruit Fly (Mediterranean)
A small but strikingly patterned fly with mottled, banded wings held out to the sides in a fan and a body dotted with silvery spots, best known for larvae that tunnel through ripening fruit. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, it has spread with human trade to become one of the most widely recognized fruit-infesting insects in the world.
fly
Mealworm Beetle
A shiny, oval, dark reddish-brown to nearly black beetle whose larva, the familiar 'mealworm,' is a common sight in stored grain products.
beetle
Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar
A plump, apple-green giant silk moth larva with rows of silvery spots that swells to the size of a large finger before spinning a papery brown cocoon.
caterpillar-larva
Grub Worm
A plump, C-shaped, creamy-white larva with a distinct brown head, living underground where it feeds on grass and plant roots before eventually maturing into a scarab beetle.
beetle
Mud Wasp
A slender, thread-waisted solitary wasp famous for plastering rows of tube-shaped mud cells under eaves and porch ceilings, each one stocked with paralyzed spiders for its larva.
wasp
Case-bearing Clothes Moth
A tiny, drab tan moth whose larva constructs and carries a small portable silk case as it feeds on wool, fur, and other keratin-based fibers, making it a recognized fabric pest in homes.
moth
White Grub
A pale, C-shaped larva with a brown head capsule and six stubby legs, spending its entire early life hidden underground feeding on roots before emerging as a stout May or June beetle.
beetle
Water 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-insect
Varied Carpet Beetle
A tiny beetle mottled with white, brown, and yellow scales that, as a fuzzy larva, quietly grazes on natural fibers tucked away in closets and attics.
beetle
Casemaking Clothes Moth
A small mottled moth whose larva builds a tiny portable silk case, dragging its own protective shelter along as it grazes on wool and fur.
moth
Eastern Dobsonfly
The classic dobsonfly of eastern North America, famous for the male's outsized, tusk-like jaws and for its aquatic larva, the hellgrammite, a favorite live-bait fishing lure.
aquatic-insect
Tarantula Hawk
One of the largest wasps in the world, with a glossy metallic blue-black body and vivid burnt-orange wings, famous for hunting tarantulas to provision a single underground burrow for its larva.
wasp
Southern Flannel Moth (Puss Caterpillar Moth)
A small, densely furred tan-to-orange moth best known for its unusual larva, a soft-looking, cat-tailed caterpillar whose fluffy coat hides rows of venomous spines.
moth
Leaf Miner
Rather than chewing from the outside, a leaf miner larva tunnels between the upper and lower surfaces of a leaf, leaving behind pale, winding trails or blotches that trace its path as it feeds.
fly
Codling Moth
A small, inconspicuous grey-brown moth best known through the work of its larva, the classic apple 'worm' that tunnels into fruit, making this tiny moth one of the most economically significant insects in orchards worldwide.
moth
Glowworm Beetle
A beetle whose females remain larva-like and glowing for their entire lives, producing rows of soft greenish light along their segmented, worm-like bodies, while males develop into small, feathery-antennaed flying beetles.
beetle
Chigger
A nearly microscopic mite larva that waits in clusters on grass tips for a passing host, taking a single brief meal before dropping away unseen. Only this larval stage is parasitic; the free-living adult spends its life hunting tiny prey in the soil.
arachnid
Lacewing
A delicate, pale green insect with large, transparent, intricately veined wings and shining golden or copper-colored eyes, valued as a natural predator of aphids in its larval form.
other
Fox Moth
A stout, reddish-brown moth with a pale diagonal band across each forewing, closely resembling a fox in color, most often noticed as its large, densely furred dark caterpillar basking on open ground in spring.
moth
Antlion
An insect best known for its larval stage, the doodlebug, which digs a small conical pit trap in loose sand to ambush unwary ants, while the winged adult resembles a slender, delicate damselfly.
other
Regal Moth (Hickory Horned Devil)
One of the largest moths in North America, with orange-red and gray-veined wings on the adult, best known for its enormous, formidable-looking caterpillar, the hickory horned devil, a blue-green giant bristling with long orange spines.
moth
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.
moth
Ichneumon Wasp
A slender, long-antennaed parasitoid wasp, often mistaken for a giant mosquito or a stinging insect, that is best known for the extraordinarily long ovipositor some species use to drill into wood and lay eggs on hidden larvae.
wasp