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.
Flame Skimmer
A blazing orange-red dragonfly of western waterways, the Flame Skimmer perches boldly on sunlit rocks and twigs, its amber-tinted wings glowing like embers in flight.
dragonfly
Grain Moth
A tiny buff-colored moth whose larvae tunnel invisibly inside individual kernels of stored grain, hollowing them out from within.
mothPygmy Grasshopper
A tiny, ground-hugging grasshopper with an elongated pronotum extending back over its body, often found hopping along muddy pond edges.
grasshopper-cricket
Flour Beetle
A tiny, shiny reddish-brown beetle that infests flour, cereal, and other dry stored foods, often found in dense clustered populations.
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
Pharaoh Ant
A tiny, pale-yellow ant that thrives almost exclusively indoors, forming vast interconnected colonies within the warm voids of heated buildings.
ant
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.
beetleSpiny 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-larvaRipple 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
Drugstore Beetle
A tiny brown beetle with grooved wing covers that once earned its name by burrowing into dried herbs and medicines kept on pharmacy shelves.
beetle
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
Furniture Beetle
A tiny, reddish-brown to dark brown cylindrical beetle whose larvae, commonly called 'woodworm,' bore small round tunnels through seasoned furniture and timber.
beetle
Bagrada Bug
A tiny, orange-and-black stink bug with an intricate mottled pattern, notable as a small-bodied specialist pest of cabbage-family plants in warm, dry climates.
true-bug
Red Flour Beetle
A tiny, flattened, rust-red beetle found in stored flour and grain worldwide, capable of flight and closely resembling the confused flour beetle apart from the shape of its antennal club.
beetle
Fruit Fly
A tiny tan fly with prominent red eyes that swarms around overripe fruit, wine, and vinegar, appearing seemingly out of nowhere thanks to an extremely fast life cycle.
fly
Clothes Moth
A tiny, pale golden moth that avoids light and flutters weakly from dark closets, more often noticed by the damage its larvae leave in stored fabrics than by the moth itself.
moth
Common Clothes Moth
A tiny, plain golden-buff moth that rarely flies far into open light, best known not for its adult form but for its silk-spinning larvae that chew holes in wool, fur, and feathers.
mothBark Beetle
A tiny, cylindrical, dark-bodied beetle that tunnels beneath tree bark, leaving distinctive branching gallery patterns as the clearest sign of its presence.
beetle
Question Mark Butterfly
A ragged-edged anglewing butterfly named for the tiny silver question-mark squiggle on its mottled brown underside, with tawny-orange upperwings dotted in black.
butterfly
Little Yellow
A tiny, pale lemon-yellow butterfly with a thin, crisp black wing border, fluttering close to the ground in fields and roadsides across the southern and eastern United States.
butterflyBrown Lacewing
Smaller and less conspicuous than its green relatives, the Brown Lacewing is a subtle but effective predator of aphids and other tiny insects in gardens, forests, and orchards.
otherRiffle Beetle
Tiny and unassuming, riffle beetles cling tightly to submerged rocks in swift, clean streams for their entire lives, making them one of the most reliable living indicators of healthy water.
beetle
Karner Blue
A tiny, silvery-blue butterfly dependent entirely on wild lupine and now known chiefly from a small number of protected sandy-soil habitats in the Great Lakes and Northeast.
butterfly