InsectDB
102 insect and arthropod species with natural history, habitat, diet, and ecological significance. From Monarch Butterflies to Bullet Ants.
Featured
Monarch Butterfly
The most famous migratory insect. Eastern populations travel up to 4,800 km from Canada to...
Atlas Moth
The largest moth in the world by wing area. Their wingtips mimic cobra heads to deter pred...
Hercules Beetle
The longest beetle in the world. Males have enormous horns used in combat with rival males...
Japanese Giant Hornet
The largest hornet in the world. A single colony can annihilate an entire honeybee hive of...
Blue Morpho Butterfly
Their iridescent blue color is not from pigment but from microscopic scales that reflect l...
Dragonfly (Emperor)
One of the fastest insects, reaching speeds of 36 km/h. They have a 95% hunting success ra...
Bullet Ant
Has the most painful insect sting on the Schmidt Pain Index - rated 4+ (the highest), desc...
Silkworm
The only fully domesticated insect - they cannot survive in the wild after 5,000 years of ...
Hymenoptera (18)
Japanese Giant Hornet
The largest hornet in the world. A single colony can annihilate an entire honeybee hive of...
Leafcutter Ant
The first farmers on Earth - they cultivate fungus gardens 60 million years before humans ...
Tarantula Hawk Wasp
Has the second most painful insect sting on the Schmidt Pain Index - described as blinding...
Honeybee
Essential for global food security - they pollinate 75% of leading global food crops, cont...
Bullet Ant
Has the most painful insect sting on the Schmidt Pain Index - rated 4+ (the highest), desc...
Paper Wasp
They make paper by chewing wood fibers mixed with saliva - humans did not invent paper unt...
Africanized Honeybee
Known as killer bees, though the name exaggerates their danger. They are a hybrid of Afric...
Cicada Killer Wasp
Among the largest wasps in North America. They paralyze cicadas with a precise sting, fly ...
Army Ant
They do not build permanent nests - they form living bivouacs from their own bodies, with ...
Carpenter Ant
They do not eat wood - they excavate it to create nesting galleries. A mature colony can c...
Mud Dauber Wasp
Solitary wasps that build mud nests shaped like organ pipes or pots. They paralyze spiders...
Carpenter Bee
They bore perfectly circular holes in wood to create nesting galleries. Despite their inti...
Wasp (Yellowjacket)
The most aggressive common wasp - they can sting multiple times without dying (unlike hone...
Honeybee (Killer Bee)
Created accidentally in Brazil 1956 when African queen bees escaped. They defend their hiv...
Bumblebee
They can regulate their body temperature by vibrating their flight muscles, allowing them ...
Ant (Carpenter, Asian)
Among the largest ants in the world. Queens can reach 25 mm. They do not eat wood but exca...
Ichneumon Wasp
The largest wasp family with over 25,000 species. They lay eggs inside or on other insects...
Ant (Army, Driver)
Also called siafu, they form the largest colonies of any social insect - up to 22 million ...
Coleoptera (14)
Hercules Beetle
The longest beetle in the world. Males have enormous horns used in combat with rival males...
Goliath Beetle
Among the heaviest insects on Earth - adults can weigh up to 50 grams, larvae up to 100 gr...
Firefly
Their bioluminescence is among the most efficient light sources in nature - 95% of energy ...
Ladybug (Seven-Spot)
A single ladybug eats 5,000 aphids in its lifetime. They reflex-bleed toxic alkaloid fluid...
Bombardier Beetle
Defends itself by mixing hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide in an internal chamber, produc...
Dung Beetle
Sacred in ancient Egypt - the scarab god Khepri represented the rising sun. They navigate ...
Stag Beetle
Males have enlarged mandibles resembling stag antlers, used for fighting rivals and attrac...
Rhino Beetle
Among the strongest animals on Earth - they can lift 850 times their own body weight. Thei...
Jewel Beetle
Their iridescent metallic colors come from structural properties of their exoskeleton, not...
Elephant Beetle
Named for the long trunk-like horn on males. They are nocturnal and attracted to lights. T...
Weevil
The largest family of beetles with over 97,000 species described - more than all fish, rep...
Bark Beetle
Tiny but devastating - they have killed billions of trees across North America. Mountain p...
Jewel Beetle (Metallic)
Their metallic colors are produced by photonic crystal structures in their exoskeleton, no...
Leaf Beetle
One of the largest beetle families with over 37,000 species. The Colorado potato beetle ne...
Hemiptera (12)
Periodical Cicada
Famous for their 13 or 17-year life cycles - the longest of any insect. Brood X, the large...
Bed Bug
One of the most successful human parasites. They can survive 6-12 months without feeding. ...
Assassin Bug
Ambush predators that inject digestive enzymes into prey, liquefying the insides before su...
Water Boatman
The loudest animal relative to body size - males of one species stridulate at 99 dB using ...
Cicada (Annual)
Unlike their periodical cousins, annual cicadas appear every year. They have the loudest i...
Water Strider
They walk on water using hydrophobic leg hairs that trap air and prevent the legs from bre...
Giant Water Bug
Also called toe-biters for their painful bite - among the most painful of any insect. They...
Aphid
They reproduce so rapidly that a single aphid could theoretically produce 600 billion desc...
Stink Bug
They produce a pungent chemical cocktail from glands on their thorax when disturbed - a de...
Lace Bug
Named for their intricately sculpted wings that look like fine lace. Despite their delicat...
Stink Bug (Brown Marmorated)
One of the most damaging invasive agricultural pests. It arrived in the US from Asia in 19...
Water Scorpion
Not a true scorpion but an aquatic true bug. It breathes through a long tail tube that fun...
Lepidoptera (10)
Monarch Butterfly
The most famous migratory insect. Eastern populations travel up to 4,800 km from Canada to...
Atlas Moth
The largest moth in the world by wing area. Their wingtips mimic cobra heads to deter pred...
Blue Morpho Butterfly
Their iridescent blue color is not from pigment but from microscopic scales that reflect l...
Silkworm
The only fully domesticated insect - they cannot survive in the wild after 5,000 years of ...
Painted Lady Butterfly
The most widely distributed butterfly on Earth, found on every continent except Antarctica...
Cecropia Moth
The largest native moth in North America. Their caterpillars grow to 10 cm and are green w...
Luna Moth
One of the most beautiful moths with pale green wings and long curved tails. Their tails s...
Glasswing Butterfly
Their wings are transparent - the tissue between veins lacks the colored scales found on o...
Tobacco Hornworm
Their caterpillars can consume their own body weight in leaves every day. They are a major...
Tent Caterpillar
They build distinctive silk tents in trees that can be visible from kilometers away. A sin...
Diptera (9)
Mosquito (Anopheles)
The deadliest animal on Earth. Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria, killing over 600,000...
Blue Bottle Fly
Among the first insects to arrive at a dead body - forensic entomologists use their life c...
Mosquito (Aedes)
The primary vector for dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya. Unlike Anopheles, they...
Botfly
Their larvae develop inside living mammals, including humans - one of the few insects that...
Robber Fly
Aerial predators that catch other insects mid-flight with their spiny legs. They inject ne...
Tsetse Fly
Both males and females suck blood - unlike most blood-feeding insects where only females b...
Crane Fly
Often called mosquito hawks or daddy longlegs, but they do not eat mosquitoes and are harm...
Mosquito (Culex)
The primary vector for West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis, and lymphatic filariasis. T...
Crane Fly (Giant)
The largest crane flies can have a 6 cm body with 10 cm leg span. Despite their mosquito-l...
Araneae (5)
Peacock Spider
Technically a spider, but jumping spiders have more in common visually with insects. Males...
Wolf Spider
They do not build webs - they hunt by chasing down prey. Females carry their egg sacs atta...
Jumping Spider
The most intelligent spiders - they can plan complex routes to reach prey, visualizing the...
Orb Weaver Spider
They build the classic circular webs that most people picture when thinking of spiders. So...
Tarantula (Goliath)
The largest spider in the world by mass - up to 170 grams. Despite their size, they are re...
Orthoptera (4)
Desert Locust
The most destructive insect on the planet. A single swarm can contain 80 million individua...
Cricket
They chirp by rubbing their wings together (stridulation), and temperature can be estimate...
Katydid
Named because their song sounds like katy-did-katy-didnt. They are masters of leaf mimicry...
Grasshopper
They can jump 20 times their body length - equivalent to a human jumping 40 meters. Some s...
Isopoda (3)
Pill Bug
Not actually an insect but a terrestrial crustacean - more closely related to crabs and sh...
Sowbug
Often confused with pill bugs but they cannot roll into a ball. They are terrestrial crust...
Pill Woodlouse
The only crustacean that can roll into a perfect ball for protection. This behavior is cal...