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.
Whip Scorpion
A flattened, spider-like arachnid with a pair of extraordinarily long, whip-thin front legs used to feel out its surroundings in the dark, and large spiny pedipalps held out front like a crab's claws. Despite the name and fearsome appearance, it has no stinger and no fangs.
arachnidCamel Cricket
A wingless, humpbacked cricket with unusually long legs that gives it a spider-like appearance, often startling people when it turns up in damp basements or crawl spaces.
grasshopper-cricketSod Webworm
A dull, grayish-green caterpillar that hides in silk-lined burrows by day and emerges at night to chew grass blades down to the thatch.
caterpillar-larva
Spiny Orb Weaver
A small, hard-shelled orb weaver shaped like a tiny crab, with six sharp spines projecting from a brightly colored abdomen suspended in a neat wheel-shaped web.
spider
Spined Soldier Bug
A predatory stink bug identified by the sharp, pointed spines projecting from its shoulders, valued in gardens and farm fields for hunting caterpillars, beetle larvae, and other pest insects.
true-bug
Western Black Widow
A glossy, jet-black spider with a bold red hourglass mark on the underside of her round abdomen, the western black widow builds a tangled, irregular web in dark, undisturbed corners of the American West.
spider
Daddy Longlegs
A small, oval-bodied arachnid carried on extremely long, thread-like legs, distinct from true spiders in having a one-piece fused body and no silk glands or web.
arachnidDaddy Longlegs (Harvestman)
A leggy, one-piece-bodied arachnid that scurries through leaf litter and garden beds on impossibly long, spindly legs, easily mistaken for a spider despite belonging to an entirely different arachnid order.
arachnid
Hag Moth Caterpillar (Monkey Slug)
One of the strangest caterpillars in North America, with curling, hair-covered arm-like projections that make it look uncannily like a tiny tuft of matted fur or a miniature spider monkey.
caterpillar-larva
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
Harvestman
An arachnid built almost entirely of legs, with a single compact, oval body segment and no waist separating it into two parts like a true spider. Common in gardens and forests worldwide, it scuttles along on impossibly long, thin legs scavenging for food after dark.
arachnidMud Dauber Wasp
Slender, long-waisted wasps that build distinctive nests from mud, mud daubers stock their cells with paralyzed spiders. Their tube or urn-shaped mud nests are common under eaves and bridges.
waspMeadow Katydid
Small, slender, and beautifully camouflaged among grass blades, meadow katydids fill open fields and marsh edges with a soft, buzzy, insect-like ticking that blends into the summer evening background.
grasshopper-cricket
Mexican Redknee Tarantula
One of the most recognizable tarantulas in the world, this heavy-bodied spider has jet-black legs banded with vivid orange-red at each joint, and defends itself by kicking a cloud of irritating hairs from its abdomen rather than attacking.
spider
Skipper Butterfly
A stocky, fast-darting butterfly with a large head, hooked antennae tips, and thick furry body, intermediate in appearance between butterflies and moths, named for its quick, skipping flight.
butterfly
Rocky Mountain Wood Tick
A robust, ornately patterned tick of the western mountains that clings to shrubs and grasses waiting to grab a passing mammal.
arachnid
Armyworm
A striped, greenish-brown caterpillar that gets its name from its habit of migrating in dense, destructive groups across grass and grain fields.
caterpillar-larva
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
Halloween Pennant
With broad orange-amber wings banded in dark brown, this dragonfly perches conspicuously atop tall grass stems, swaying like a small flag in the breeze.
dragonfly
Dog Tick
A flattened, oval arachnid with mottled silvery markings that waits on grass tips and low brush for a passing host to climb aboard and attach.
arachnidGrasshopper
A robust, strong-jumping insect with short antennae and powerful hind legs, commonly seen springing away through grass and low vegetation on warm sunny days.
grasshopper-cricket
American Dog Tick
A stout, mottled brown-and-silver tick that waits on grass blades with its front legs outstretched, ready to latch onto a passing host.
arachnid
Green Grasshopper
A bright grass-green grasshopper with a rasping, sustained song, the common green grasshopper is one of the most familiar sounds of a European summer meadow.
grasshopper-cricket
Armyworm Moth
A plain tan to reddish-brown moth whose caterpillars are famous for marching in large groups across fields, stripping grasses and grain crops as they move.
moth