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 Centipede
A fast, wiry arthropod with 15 pairs of extremely long, banded legs that make it look far bigger than its actual body size, often seen darting across bathroom or basement floors at night.
myriapod
Great Spangled Fritillary
A large, robust orange butterfly with bold black markings above and a striking array of large silvery spangles on a tawny-brown underside, closely tied to woodland violets.
butterfly
Common Ringlet
A small, plain buff-orange satyr butterfly of open grassy places, notable for its understated coloring and Holarctic distribution spanning North America, Europe, and Asia.
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.
other
American Lady
A boldly patterned orange-and-black brushfoot butterfly best identified by two large eyespots on its underside hindwing and a distinctive small white spot within the orange field of its forewing.
butterfly
Gulf Fritillary
A vivid orange, long-winged butterfly whose underside gleams with brilliant metallic silver spangles, closely tied to passionflower vines throughout the warmer parts of the Americas.
butterfly
Banded Hairstreak
A gray-brown, tailed hairstreak marked by a postmedian band of white-edged dark spots on the hindwing underside and a small orange-capped blue spot near the tail, closely tied to oak and hickory woodlands.
butterfly
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
Tobacco Hornworm Moth (Carolina Sphinx)
A large, streamlined gray-brown sphinx moth with six pairs of orange spots along its abdomen, best known as the adult stage of the tobacco hornworm caterpillar that feeds on tomato and tobacco plants.
mothNet-winged Beetle
A soft-bodied beetle with broad, ridged wing covers patterned in bold orange or red and black bands, whose netlike wing venation and vivid coloring warn potential predators of its unpalatability.
beetle
Milkweed Tussock Caterpillar
Rows of dense orange, black, and white hair tufts run down the back of this milkweed specialist, whose young larvae feed in tight groups that skeletonize milkweed leaves before dispersing to feed alone.
caterpillar-larva
Julia Butterfly
A brilliant, elongated-winged orange butterfly of tropical and subtropical habitats, with males glowing an intense unmarked orange and females showing subtler markings and a hint of black striping.
butterfly
Leafhopper
A small, wedge-shaped insect that darts sideways and springs away in quick hops when disturbed, often brightly striped or patterned and found clinging to the underside of leaves.
true-bug
Emperor Moth
A striking silk moth with a large eyespot on each of its four wings, showing pronounced differences between the smaller, orange-brown, day-flying males and the larger, greyer, night-flying females.
moth
Eastern Tailed-Blue
A tiny gossamer-wing butterfly with a delicate thread-like tail on each hindwing and a small orange spot near the tail base, common in open weedy habitats throughout the eastern half of North America.
butterfly
Drinker Moth
A stout, furry moth with warm tawny-orange to buff-brown wings marked by two small white spots on each forewing, named for its caterpillar's habit of drinking water droplets from grass blades.
moth
Brown Widow Spider
Named for its mottled tan-and-brown coloring rather than glossy black, the brown widow is easily recognized by its distinctive spiky, off-white egg sacs and an orange hourglass on its underside.
spider
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
Bald-faced Hornet
A black-and-white social wasp, actually a type of yellowjacket rather than a true hornet, best known for building large, football-shaped gray paper nests suspended from tree branches or eaves.
wasp
Great Tiger Moth
A boldly patterned tiger moth with chocolate-brown and cream lace-like markings on the forewings and vivid orange hindwings spotted with blue-black, one of the most visually striking moths in temperate gardens.
moth
Sweat Bee
A small, often metallic green or bronze bee in the family Halictidae, named for its habit of landing on skin to sip perspiration, and an important generalist pollinator of wildflowers and crops.
beeWolf Spider
A robust, hairy, ground-dwelling spider with excellent night vision and a habit of chasing down prey rather than trapping it in a web; females are often seen carrying an egg sac or a back full of spiderlings.
spiderRootworm
Working unseen below ground, rootworm larvae chew tunnels through the root systems of corn and other crops, the underground counterpart to the small, often striped or spotted beetles seen on leaves and flowers above.
beetlePine Sawyer Beetle
A large, long-antennaed longhorn beetle of pine and spruce forests, mottled gray-brown to black, that produces a rasping sound when handled and whose larvae tunnel deep into dead or dying conifer wood.
beetle