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.
Plant Bug (Tarnished Plant Bug)
A small, oval, mottled brownish true bug with a distinctive yellow triangular marking behind the head, the tarnished plant bug is a fast-moving plant feeder common across gardens, fields, and weedy edges.
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Bordered Plant Bug
A dark, oval-bodied true bug with a distinct pale margin around its wing edges, often mistaken for a large ant or beetle when its nymphs cluster together in tight groups.
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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.
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Planthopper
A varied group of sap-feeding true bugs known for their sideways-held wings, jumping ability, and, in some tropical species, exaggerated head projections used for display.
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Psyllid
A tiny, sap-sucking hopper that resembles a miniature cicada and springs away in a blur when its host leaf is disturbed.
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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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Leaf-Footed Bug
A large, elongated brown true bug named for the flattened, leaf-shaped expansions on its hind legs, often found feeding on fruits, seeds, and vegetables in gardens and orchards.
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Caddisfly Larva
A soft-bodied aquatic larva famous for building a portable protective case from sand, gravel, or plant debris bound together with silk.
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Squash Bug
A flat-backed, brownish-gray true bug commonly found clustered on the leaves and stems of squash and pumpkin plants, where it feeds by piercing plant tissue.
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Black Vine Weevil
A flightless, all-black snout beetle notorious for notching the edges of leaves at night while its underground larvae feed on plant roots and crowns.
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Mexican Bean Beetle
A copper-colored, spotted beetle resembling an overgrown ladybird that feeds on bean plant leaves along with its spiny yellow larvae.
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Weevil
A beetle instantly recognizable by its elongated, downward-curving snout tipped with tiny chewing mouthparts, used to bore into seeds, nuts, grain, and plant stems.
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Gall Midge
A delicate, mosquito-like fly whose larvae trigger plants to grow strange, often colorful swellings called galls, each species usually tied to one particular host plant.
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Grub Worm
A plump, C-shaped, creamy-white larva with a distinct brown head, living underground where it feeds on grass and plant roots before eventually maturing into a scarab beetle.
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Bagworm
A caterpillar that constructs and lives inside a spindle-shaped case of silk and plant debris, dragging its portable shelter along as it feeds on tree foliage.
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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.
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Spittlebug
A small hopping true bug best known in its nymph stage, which surrounds itself in a frothy mass of white foam on plant stems, commonly called cuckoo spit.
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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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Soldier Fly
A wasp-mimicking fly with a flattened, often metallic body that spends its larval life quietly breaking down decaying plant matter or aquatic debris.
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Scale Insect
A small, immobile insect that appears as a flat or domed, waxy bump firmly attached to a stem or leaf, easily mistaken for a plant blemish rather than a living creature.
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Water Scavenger Beetle
Rounded and glossy, water scavenger beetles paddle through weedy ponds gathering air with a short antenna rather than a snorkel-like tube, feeding mostly on decaying plant matter and algae.
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Cinnabar Moth
A striking black-and-red day-flying moth whose boldly banded orange-and-black caterpillars feed conspicuously on ragwort, sequestering plant compounds as a chemical defense advertised by their vivid warning colors.
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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.
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Whitefly
A tiny, moth-like white insect that clusters on the undersides of leaves and bursts into a snowy cloud when the plant is disturbed. Despite the name, it is not a true fly but a sap-feeding relative of aphids and scale insects.
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