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.
Orchid Mantis
A dazzling pink-and-white mantis whose petal-shaped leg lobes let it pass as a flower, luring pollinating insects close enough to ambush.
mantis-stick
Goliath Beetle
One of the largest and heaviest beetles on Earth, a massive scarab with a bold pattern of black, white, and brown stripes across its shield-like body.
beetle
Codling Moth Larva
The classic 'worm in the apple,' this pinkish-white caterpillar tunnels straight to the core of apples and pears, leaving a telltale frass-plugged entry hole behind.
caterpillar-larva
Convergent Ladybird Beetle
A common orange-red ladybird with black spots and two distinctive converging white lines on its thorax, widely valued as a natural aphid predator.
beetle
Zebra Longwing Caterpillar
A creamy-white caterpillar dotted with black spots and armed with branching black spines, feeding exclusively on passionflower vines whose chemistry it stores for defense.
caterpillar-larva
Backswimmer
A boat-shaped aquatic true bug that swims upside down using oar-like hind legs, patrolling pond water in search of small prey.
aquatic-insect
Onion Fly
A slender gray fly closely related to houseflies whose white legless larvae bore into onion bulbs, feeding in clusters within a single rotting bulb.
fly
Painted Lady Butterfly
A medium-sized orange-and-black butterfly with a mosaic of white-spotted black wingtips, famous as the most widely distributed butterfly on Earth and a long-distance migrant.
butterfly
Virginia Tiger Moth
An almost pure-white, fluffy tiger moth with a few small black dots on the wings and body, whose caterpillar is the familiar pale yellow "yellow woolly bear."
moth
Tobacco Hornworm
A large, chunky green caterpillar with diagonal white stripes and a curved red-orange horn at its tail end, often found stripping tomato and tobacco plants.
caterpillar-larva
Comma Butterfly
An orange-brown butterfly with distinctively ragged, scalloped wing edges and a small white comma-shaped mark on the underside of the hindwing, resembling a dead leaf when at rest.
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
Pill Millipede
A short, heavily armored millipede that rolls into a tight, perfect ball when disturbed, closely resembling a pill bug but built from far fewer, broader body segments.
myriapod
Mourning Cloak Caterpillar
A gregarious, velvety black caterpillar speckled with white dots and a striking row of brick-red spots down its back, often seen feeding in clusters on willow branches.
caterpillar-larva
Carpet Beetle
A tiny, rounded beetle with a mottled scale pattern of white, brown, and yellow, whose bristly larvae are known for feeding on wool, fur, and other dried animal fibers indoors.
beetle
Cochineal
A tiny, sedentary scale insect that lives clustered on prickly pear cacti beneath a protective coat of white, waxy fluff, historically prized for the deep red pigment it produces.
true-bug
Tomato Hornworm
A large, thick green caterpillar with diagonal white stripes and a distinctive curved horn at its tail end, often found stripping leaves from tomato plants in gardens.
caterpillar-larva
Ten-lined June Beetle
A large, brown scarab beetle marked with bold white racing stripes down its wing covers, known for its loud buzzing flight and hissing defensive squeak.
beetle
Lesser Water Boatman
A flat-backed, oar-legged true bug that rows through pond water with fringed hind legs, surfacing periodically to trap a silvery bubble of air against its body.
true-bug
Asian Tiger Mosquito
A small, dark mosquito boldly marked with silvery-white stripes, including one distinctive stripe running straight down the center of its back, that bites readily in broad daylight.
fly
Peppered Moth
A medium-sized moth with finely speckled black-and-white wings that camouflage it against lichen-covered bark, world-famous as a textbook example of evolution in action during the industrial era.
moth
Silvery Checkerspot
An orange-brown checkered butterfly named for the row of small silvery-white crescent spots along the underside hindwing margin, commonly seen nectaring at composite flowers in open habitats.
butterfly
Monarch Caterpillar
A boldly banded caterpillar in white, yellow, and black stripes, unmistakable as it munches its way through milkweed leaves before transforming into North America's most famous migratory butterfly.
caterpillar-larva
Monarch Butterfly
A large butterfly with bold orange wings crossed by black veins and a black, white-spotted border, famous for its multi-generational migration between North America and central Mexico.
butterfly