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.
Sphinx Moth
A large, streamlined, fast-flying moth with narrow triangular wings and a robust, tapering body, famous for hovering at flowers at dusk like a hummingbird.
moth
Mourning Cloak
A dark, velvety maroon-brown butterfly edged with a ragged cream-yellow border and a row of iridescent blue spots, notable for overwintering as an adult and often being one of the very first butterflies seen flying in early spring.
butterfly
Spider Wasp
A quick, nervous-flying solitary wasp with long spiny legs and constantly flicking wings, recognized for its habit of running across open ground in short bursts while hunting spiders to paralyze and store for its young.
wasp
American Grasshopper
A large, strong-flying grasshopper related to the locusts of the Old World, the American grasshopper can occasionally form dense, damaging aggregations across the southern United States.
grasshopper-cricketMadagascan Sunset Moth
A day-flying moth with iridescent wings that shimmer through bands of green, blue, red, and gold, so vividly colored that it is frequently mistaken for a butterfly despite being a true moth.
moth
Wasp
A slender-waisted, smooth-bodied flying insect typically banded in black and yellow, recognizable by its narrow 'wasp waist' and folded wings, and often social, building paper nests in colonies.
waspSnowberry Clearwing Moth
A day-flying sphinx moth with black-and-yellow banding and mostly transparent wings that closely mimics a bumblebee, hovering at flowers to feed through a long uncoiled proboscis.
moth
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth
A robust, olive-and-burgundy day-flying moth with mostly transparent wings that hovers at flowers exactly like a tiny hummingbird, unspooling a long proboscis to sip nectar.
moth
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.
butterfly
Hummingbird Hawk-Moth
A day-flying moth that hovers in front of flowers on blurring wings while unspooling a long proboscis to sip nectar, so closely mimicking a hummingbird in flight that it is frequently mistaken for one.
moth
Six-spot Burnet Moth
A day-flying moth with glossy black-green forewings marked by six bold red spots and vivid crimson hindwings, a striking warning-colored insect often mistaken for a butterfly as it visits summer wildflowers.
moth
Fiery Skipper
A small, fast, orange-and-black skipper often seen zipping low over lawns and gardens, with jagged black wing borders that resemble scorched edges.
butterfly
Common Blue
A small, sun-loving butterfly whose males flash brilliant violet-blue wings while females wear warm brown with a scattering of orange spots.
butterflyAcrobat Ant
A small ant named for its habit of raising its distinctive heart-shaped abdomen up over its body like an acrobat when disturbed or alarmed.
ant
Soldier Beetle
A slender, soft-bodied beetle in orange and black or yellow and brown, often seen clustered on late-summer flowers where it feeds on pollen, nectar, and small insects.
beetleTreehopper
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.
true-bug
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.
arachnid
Asparagus Beetle
A small, boldly patterned blue-black beetle with cream and orange-red markings that clusters on emerging asparagus spears in spring.
beetle
Sac Spider
A pale, uniformly colored spider that spins a small silk sac retreat rather than a capture web, often found tucked into rolled leaves or corners of rooms.
spider
Screech Beetle
This small, oval water beetle earns its name from the loud squeak it produces when picked up, a sound made by rubbing internal body parts together rather than by any vocal organ.
beetle
Calico Pennant
This small, boldly patterned skimmer flashes red or yellow wing patches and heart-shaped abdominal spots as it flutters low over pond vegetation like a tiny pennant flag.
dragonfly
Cabbage Bug
A small, metallic shield bug patterned in contrasting patches of black with red, white, or yellow, closely tied to cabbage and other brassica crops across Europe and Asia.
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
Luna Moth Caterpillar
A large, plump, apple-green caterpillar with faint yellow side stripes and rows of small red-orange tubercles, the larval form of one of North America's most beautiful giant silk moths.
caterpillar-larva