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.
House Cricket
A pale tan, dark-banded cricket originally from warm regions of Asia that has spread worldwide both as an occasional indoor nuisance and as a widely farmed feeder insect.
grasshopper-cricket
Ironclad Beetle
A slow-moving, mottled gray beetle famed for having one of the hardest, most crush-resistant exoskeletons of any insect, often found clinging motionless to dead wood or tree bark.
beetle
Jerusalem Cricket
A large, wingless, ground-dwelling insect with a shiny amber body, a strikingly human-like face, and a robust, banded abdomen, most often uncovered while digging in soil.
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Woolly Aphid
A tiny, soft-bodied aphid that hides beneath a dense coat of white, cottony wax filaments, often appearing as fuzzy white patches clustered on bark or twigs rather than as recognizable insects.
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Tachinid Fly
A bristly, house-fly-like insect that looks unremarkable at a glance but hides one of the most important ecological roles among flies: its larvae develop as internal parasites of caterpillars, beetles, and other insects, quietly regulating populations across the landscape. Gardeners often welcome tachinid flies as natural allies against crop-damaging pests.
fly
Termite
A pale, soft-bodied social insect that lives in hidden colonies and feeds on cellulose in wood and plant debris, often mistaken for an ant despite belonging to an entirely different insect order.
other
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
Baltimore Checkerspot
A striking black butterfly checkered with rows of orange and cream-white spots, closely associated with wet meadows and its turtlehead host plant, and recognized as a state insect symbol in parts of its range.
butterfly
Katydid
A leaf-mimicking insect with broad, veined green wings shaped remarkably like foliage, best known for the loud, rhythmic 'katy-did, katy-didn't' chorus males produce on warm summer nights.
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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
European Stag Beetle
Europe's largest beetle, a glossy dark brown insect in which males carry oversized antler-like mandibles used to wrestle rivals, resembling the antlers of a stag.
beetle
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.
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Mealybug
A soft, oval insect coated in a powdery white waxy secretion that gives it a fuzzy, cotton-like appearance, typically found clustered in leaf joints and along stems of houseplants.
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Pond Skater
Skimming effortlessly across the surface of still water on long, spindly legs, the pond skater uses ripples to detect struggling insects, which it seizes and pierces with needle-like mouthparts.
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Devil's Flower Mantis
One of the largest mantis species on Earth, this striking insect can suddenly rear up and fan out vividly colored wings and legs into a dramatic, flower-like threat display.
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Walking Stick
A remarkably twig-like insect with a long, slender, brown to green body and thin legs, so effective at mimicking a plant stem that it can be nearly invisible while motionless on vegetation.
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Silverfish
A wingless, silvery-gray insect with a tapered, fish-like body and three long tail bristles, known for its quick, darting movements and preference for dark, humid hiding spots.
other
Meadow 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
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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Giant Prickly Stick Insect
A hefty, spine-covered phasmid that mimics dead leaves and curled bark, and when threatened, arches its abdomen like a scorpion's tail in a dramatic bluff display.
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Stinging Rose Caterpillar
A boldly striped slug caterpillar in candy-like tones of yellow, orange, and purple, crowned with tufted spine clusters that can sting on contact.
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Bush Cricket
Known by its long, thread-like antennae and evening chorus of chirps, this leaf-colored insect spends its life hidden among grass and foliage, often heard far more often than seen.
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Treehopper
A small, oddly shaped sap-feeding bug best known for an enlarged, often bizarre pronotum extending backward over its body, sometimes shaped like a thorn, leaf, or spike.
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