Insects
Indianmeal Moth
The Plodia interpunctella or Indianmeal moth is a member of the Pyralidae family and occasionally referred to as the North American High-Flyer. The larvae are also called waxworms that feed on dry grains and cereals. The females of the species can...
Diamondback Moth
The Plutella xylostella is often referred to as the Diamondback or Cabbage moth. This species is has a brief lifespan of only 14 days and is thought to have originated in the Mediterranean region of Europe, but has since dispersed across the world. T...
Comet Moth
The Argema mittrei, more commonly known as the Comet or Moon Moth, is an endangered species. It is a native of Madagascar and that is the only place where one can observe them in the wild. This large silk moth can be bred in captivity and is one of t...
Bogong Moth
The Agrotis infusa or Bogong moth is a species of nocturnal moth that in spring will swarm in great numbers around public buildings in Canberra, Australia. They are commonly found in Southern parts of Australia featuring a wingspan of one and three qu...
Death's-head Hawkmoth
Three species in the Acherontia genus make up the group commonly referred to as the Death's-head Hawkmoth. One species is native to Europe, while the other two are found in Asia. These moths are named for their unique skull shaped markings on their t...
Nine-spotted moth
The Amata phegea or Nine-spotted moth is a member of the Arctiidae family. These moths feature black wings and white spots with an average wing span of 1.3 to 1.6 inches and yellow abdominal ring. Its black antennae have white tips. The Nine-spotted m...
Small-headed Fly
The Small-headed Fly or Hunchback Fly family consists of approximately 520 species. They have a notable odd appearance featuring a small head, a hunched back and a long tubular feeding appendage. Their compound eyes generally have large facets on top...
Leaf-miner Fly
The Agromyzidae family, often called Leaf-miner flies, consists of 2500 species worldwide. Species vary in size and wingspans from less than four hundredth of an inch to one quarter of an inch. Adults can be distinguished by the hardening on the ...
South American Scarab Dung Beetle
The South American Scarab Dung Beetle (Oxysternon conspicillatum) is a species of dung beetle of the superfamily Scarabaeoidea. Most Scarab beetles are known as true dung beetles as they feed mainly on feces. Dung beetles live in many different habitat...
Band-eyed Brown Horsefly
The Band-eyed Brown Horsefly (Tabanus bromius), is a species of biting horsefly. It is on of the smaller European horsefly species, with a body length of about .59 inches. Photo Copyright and Credit
Deer Fly
The Deer Fly (Chrysops spp.), also known as the "yellow fly", is a fly of the family Tabanidae that can be a pest to cattle, horses, and humans. It is often found in damp environments, such as wetlands or forests. It lays clusters of shiny black eggs o...
Migratory Locust
The Migratory Locust (Locusta migratoria), is the most widespread species of locust. It occurs throughout Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It was once very common in Europe but has now become rare there. Because of the vast geographic area it o...
Giant Leopard Moth
The Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia), also known as the Eyed Tiger Moth, is a moth of the Arctiidae family. It is distributed throughout the southern and eastern United States from New England to Mexico. This species has a wingspan of 3 inc...
Rothschild's Birdwing
The Rothschild's Birdwing (Ornithoptera rothschildi), is a large butterfly from the birdwing genus endemic to the Arfak Mountains, Western New Guinea. The Rothschild's Birdwing has the most restricted distribution of all birdwings. Its preferred habita...
Common Green Birdwing
The Common Green Birdwing (Ornithoptera priamus), is widespread from New Guinea east through the Solomon Islands and south to Australia. The females are larger and less vividly colored than the males, being mainly blackish or dark brown with patter...
Southern Tailed Birdwing
Southern Tailed Birdwing (Ornithoptera meridionalis), is the smallest species of butterfly in its genus. It is found in southern Papua New Guinea and in several areas along the south coast of Irian Jaya. It is strictly a lowland species, favouring prim...
Cairns Birdwing
The Cairns Birdwing (Ornithoptera euphorion), is Australia's largest native butterfly species. Cairns Birdwings are found southwards from Mount Webb and Cooktown to Mackay in Queensland. Favored habitat is primary rainforest, although the species will ...
Queen Alexandra's Birdwing
Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae), is the largest butterfly in the world. The species was named by Lord Walter Rothschild in 1907, in honor of Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. The first European to dis...
Rajah Brooke Butterfly
The Rajah Brooke Butterfly (Trogonoptera brookiana), is a distinctive black and electric-green birdwing butterfly from rainforests in Borneo and Malaysia. It is the national butterfly of Malaysia. The wings of the male butterflies are black and eac...
Western Tiger Swallowtail
The Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus), is a common Swallowtail Butterfly of western North America, and is frequently seen in urban parks and gardens as well as in rural woodlands and riparian areas. The normal range of the Western Tiger Swall...
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus), is species of swallowtail butterfly. It is found in the Eastern United States, as far north as southern Vermont, and as far west as extreme Eastern Colorado. It flies from spring through fall, and most o...
Mountain Apollo
The Mountain Apollo (Parnassius apollo), is a butterfly of the Papilionidae family. It is found on mountains in Europe usually above 3250 feet and up to 6550 feet, preferring flowery meadows and mountain pastures. It is found throughout Europe and is p...
Scarce Swallowtail
The Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius), is a butterfly found in gardens, fields and open woodlands. It is found in places with sloe thickets and particularly orchards. It is also called Sail Swallowtail or Pear-tree Swallowtail. It is widesprea...
Clouded Apollo
The Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne), is a butterfly species of the family of Swallowtail butterflies found in Eurasia. Clouded Apollos inhabits meadows and woodland clearings with plenty of flowering plants, both in the lowlands and in the mounta...
Black Swallowtail
The Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes), is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It has a wingspan of 3.25 to 4.25 inches. The upper surface of the wings is mostly black. On the inner edge of hind wing is a black spot centered in large...
Codling Moth
The Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella), is a member of the Lepidopteran family Tortricidae. They are known as an agricultural pest, their larva being the common apple worm. It is originally native to Europe but was introduced to North America, where it has...
Polyphemus Moth
The Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus), is a member of the Saturniidae (giant silk moths) family. It is a tan colored moth, with an average wingspan of 6 inches. Its most noticeable feature is the large purplish eyespots on its two hind-wings. The ...
Aedes
Aedes is a genus of mosquito found in tropical and subtropical zones. The name comes from the Greek aēdēs, meaning unpleasant, so called because of the diseases this mosquito transmits, which include dengue and yellow fever. There are presently...
Ailanthus webworm
The Ailanthus webworm (Atteva punctella) is an Ermine moth found commonly in the United States. There origin of the Ailanthus webworm is clouded in uncertainty, but it is thought to be native to South Florida and the American tropics, with the origi...
Wasp
A wasp is any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is not a bee, sawfly, or an ant. The less familiar suborder Symphyta includes the sawflies and wood wasps, which differ from the Apocrita by having a broad connection between the ...
Many-plumed Moth
The Alucitidae or many-plumed moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings. Both fore- and hind-wings consist of about six rigid spines, from which radiate flexible bristles creating a structure similar to a bird's feather. The fa...
Pentatomidae
Pentatomidae is a family of insects that includes some of the stink bugs and shield bugs. If disturbed, stink bugs will emit a pungent, bad-smelling liquid, whose rancid almond smell is due to cyanide compounds. Their antennae are 5-segmented, which...
Anise Swallowtail (butterfly)
The Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) is a common swallowtail butterfly found in western North America. Both the upper and lower sides of its wings are black, but the upper wing has a broad yellow stripe across it, which gives the butterfly an overa...
Spider wasp
Spider wasps, also called pompilid wasps or spider-hunting wasps, are insects belonging to a diverse family named Pompilidae, of the order Hymenoptera. Spider wasps are sometimes distinct from other wasps in features such as eye structure (no notch ...
Ant
The ants, one of the most successful groups of insects, are of particular interest because they form advanced colonies, and can constitute up to 15 percent of the total animal biomass of a tropical rainforest. They belong to the order Hymenoptera and a...
Aphid
Aphids or greenfly, plant lice (superfamily Aphidoidea) are small plant-feeding insects (1 to 10 mm). Of the 4,000 species of known aphids (distributed in 10 families), around 250 are serious pests for agriculture and forestry as well as an annoyance f...
Chrysomelidae
The Scarlet Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) is native to Europe but is now widely found in North America. Larvae damage cultivated lily and Fritillaria plants. Photo by Keith Edkins The beetle family Chrysomelidae, or leaf beetles is a family of over...
Asian long-horned beetle
The Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) is native to China and Korea where it causes widespread destruction of poplar, willow, elm, and maple throughout vast areas of eastern Asia. Asian longhorned beetles are big, showy insects: shi...
Asian tiger mosquito
Aedes albopictus (Family Culicidae), the Asian Tiger Mosquito or Forest Day Mosquito, is characterized by its black and white striped legs and small, black and white body. It was native to south-east Asia, and occupied a habitat that spread from Madaga...
Reduviidae
Reduviidae is a family of predatory insects in the suborder Heteroptera. It includes assassin bugs and wheel bugs (genera include Arilus, Melanolestes, Psellipus, Reduvius, Rhiginia, Sinea, Triatoma, and Zelus), ambush bugs (genera include Apiomerus an...
Atlas moth
The Atlas moth (Attacus atlas) is a large saturniid moth found in the tropical and subtropical forests of Southeast Asia, and is common across the Malay archipelago to Indonesia. In India, Atlas moths are cultivated for their silk in a non-commercial c...
Pyralidae
The Pyralidae or snout-moths are a family of Lepidoptera (moths). In many classifications, the Crambidae or grass-moths have been treated as a sub-division of the Pyralidae, the combination being one of the largest families in the Lepidoptera. The l...
Passalidae
In the eastern U.S. and Canada, the Bessbug (Passalidae) is a very large beetle measuring roughly 1 inch (2.5 cm) both as an adult and a larva, that feeds on rotting wood. It has a "horn" on the dorsal head. They are highly subsocial beetles that care ...
Cucujiformia
Cucujiformia is an infraorder of Polyphagan beetles, representing the vast majority of plant eating beetles. The infraorder contains six superfamilies: Lymexylidae (ship-timber beetles) Cleroidea (checkered beetles, bark-gnawing beetles and soft...
Blue Morpho (butterfly)
PHOTO CAPTION: Photograph of a Blue Morpho butterfly (Morpho menelaus) by Gregory Phillips The Blue Morpho (Morpho menelaus) is a beautifully iridescent tropical butterfly of the Central and South American regions.
Boll weevil
The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) is a beetle which has an average length of one-quarter inch (6 millimeters). The insect crossed the Rio Grande near Brownsville, Texas to enter the United States from Mexico in 1892 and reached southeastern Alabama ...
Bombyliidae
The Bombyliids are a large family of flies with hundreds of genera. Their life cycles are not well known. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, thus are pollinators of flowers. They superficially resemble bees, thus are commonly called bee flies,...
Brimstone (butterfly)
The Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) is a mid-sized butterfly. The male is yellow and the female is lime green. The caterpillars of this butterfly are known to eat buckthorn leaves.
Bumblebee
The bumblebee is a flying insect of the genus Bombus in the family Apidae and a relative of the common honeybee. The bumblebee feeds on nectar and gathers pollen to feed its young. They are beneficial to humans and the plant world alike, and tend to be...
Carolina mantis
The Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) is the state insect of South Carolina. It is also called a praying mantis or mantid. It is but one of many species of Mantodea (genus Stagomantis) and the smallest of the three types which are native to North...
Caterpillar
A caterpillar is the larval form of a lepidopteran (a member of the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). Caterpillars are characterized by their long segmented bodies and many sets of "legs". They eat voracious leaf eaters and grow rapidl...
Soldier beetle
The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. They are closely related to the Lampyridae, or firefly family. Some are important predators of aphids during their brief adulthood.
Gelechiidae
PHOTO CAPTION: Chrysoesthia drurella (Fabr.) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Photographed by Keith Edkins Harmful Gelechiids Anacampsis sarcitella, pack moth Anarsia lineatella, peach twig borer Pectinophora gossypiella - pink bollworm, larvae bo...
Cicada
A cicada is any of several insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Homoptera, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings. Cicadas live in temperate to tropical climates. Taxonomy There are many thousands of cicada s...
Cinnabar moth
The Cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) is a brightly colored arctiid moth. It is found in Europe and western and central Asia and has been introduced into New Zealand and Australia to control poisonous ragwort, which its larvae feed on. The moth is named ...
Cloudless Sulphur (butterfly)
Cloudless Sulphurs are butterflies in the family Pieridae. They are commonly found in open spaces, gardens, glades, seashores, and watercourses. Their range is wide - from South America to southern Canada; they are most common from Argentina to souther...
Megachilidae
PHOTO CAPTION: Megachile centuncularis (L.) a European leaf-cutter bee, cutting a Wisteria leaf. Photo taken by Keith Edkins The Megachilidae are a family of mainly solitary bees. They carry pollen in specialized structures called scopae. These scop...
Common asparagus beetle
PHOTO CAPTION: The common asparagus beetle Crioceris asparagi is an important pest of asparagus crops. Photo by Keith Edkins 2003 The Common Asparagus Beetle (Crioceris asparagi) is an chief pest of Asparagus crops both in Europe and in North Americ...
Common Blue (butterfly)
The Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae common throughout Europe. It is often found in meadows or open, hilly areas. Its wingspan is 3 to 3.5 cm. The wings or the male are iridescent blue with a white fringe. ...
Water strider
The Water strider, (also known as: Skater, Pond Skater, Jesus Bug, Water Skeeter, water scooter, water skater, and Skimmer) is any of a number of predatory insects in the family Gerridae that rely on the surface tension of water to walk on top of it. T...
Plume moth
PHOTO CAPTION: Cnaemidophorus rhododactylus, a species of plume moth. Image by Gregory Phillips The Pterophoridae (plume-moths) are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings. The fore-wings typically consist of two curved spars with more...
Crambidae
PHOTO CAPTION: Crambus perlella (Photo taken by Keith Edkins) The Crambidae are a family of Lepidoptera (moths). They are quite variable in appearance and the nominal subfamily, Crambinae (grass moths) take up closely folded postures on grass-stems ...
Crane fly
The crane flies (Tipulidae) are a family of insects that closely resemble giant mosquitoes. Like the mosquito, they are in the order Diptera (flies) and are sometimes called mosquito eaters, mosquito hawks, or skeeter eaters. They are also one of three...
Cricket
Crickets, family Gryllidae (also known as "true crickets"), are insects which are related to grasshoppers and katydids (order Orthoptera). They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae and are known for their chirp (which only male crickets can...
Sesiidae
PHOTO CAPTION: Synanthedon tipuliformis (Photo taken by Keith Edkins) The Sesiidae (clearwing moths) are a family of the Lepidoptera in which the wings are transparent. Their bodies are generally striped with yellow, sometimes very brightly, and the...
Damselfly
The Damselfly (Suborder Zygoptera) is an insect in the Order Odonata. Similar to dragonflies, adults aree differentiated by the fact their wings are held along the body when at rest. They are also usually smaller, and weaker fliers than dragonflies, an...
Devil's coach horse beetle
The devil's coach-horse beetle (Staphylinus olens) is a very common and widespread European beetle belonging to the large family of the Rove beetles (Staphylinidae). It is also called Ocypus olens by some authors. This species has also been introduced ...
Dragonfly
The Dragonfly is an insect belonging to the Order Odonata and suborder Anisoptera. It is characterized by large multi-faceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body. The dragonfly's diet consists typically of mosquitoes,...
Earwig
The earwigs are an order (Dermaptera) of insects characterized by large membraneous wings folded underneath short leathery forewings (thus the literal name of the order - "skin wings"). The abdomen extends well beyond the wings, and frequently ends in ...
Carpenter bee
Carpenter bees (Xylocopinae subfamily) are considered to be important pollinators, especially of open-faced flowers, though they are also known to "rob" nectar by boring holes in the sides of flowers with deep corollas (thus not accomplishing pollinati...
Elachistidae
PHOTO CAPTION: Elachista rufocinerea (Photo taken by Keith Edkins) The Elachistidae are a family of Lepidoptera (moths). Larvae have a wide variety of habits including leaf tiers, seed borers, and leaf or stem miners.
Emperor Gum Moth
PHOTO CAPTION: Elachista rufocinerea (Photo taken by Keith Edkins) The Elachistidae are a family of Lepidoptera (moths). Their larvae have a wide variety of habits including leaf tiers, seed borers, and leaf or stem miners. The Emperor Gum Moth (Opo...
Tachinid
PHOTO CAPTION: Eriothrix rufomaculata (Photo taken by Keith Edkins) The tachinid flies (family Tachinidae) are by far the largest and most important group of insect parasitic flies, with over 1300 species in North America. It is a diverse group with...
Oecophoridae
PHOTO CAPTION: Esperia sulphurella (Photo taken by Keith Edkins) The Oecophoridae are a family of Lepidoptera (moths). Many Oecophorids feed on dead plant material and play a useful part in nutrient recycling. However, the family includes the Whi...
European mantis
The European mantis (Mantis religiosa) is one of the most common species of the order Mantodea. Originating in southern Europe, the European mantis was introduced to North America in 1899 on a shipment of nursery plants. Now they are found all over nor...
Yellowjacket
Yellowjackets are typically black-and-yellow wasps of the genus Vespula or Dolichovespula (though some can be black-and-white, the most notable of these being the bald-faced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata). They are characterized mostly by their disti...
Zygaenidae
PHOTO CAPTION: Five-spot Burnet moth, Zygaena trifolii (Photo taken by Keith Edkins) The Zygaenidae are a family of Lepidoptera (moths) typically day-flying with a slow fluttering flight, and with rather clubbed antennae. They generally have a metal...
Firefly
Fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, are nocturnal, luminous beetles of the family Lampyridae. These names come from the fact that some species as adults emit flashes of light to attract mates, using special light-emitting organs in the abdomen. Th...
Flea
PHOTO CAPTION: Scanning Electron Micrograph of a Flea (photo by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / Janice Carr) Flea is the common name for any of the small wingless insects of the order Siphonaptera. Fleas are external parasites, li...
Flower-fly
Flower-flies (also known as hover-flies) are a family of flies (Diptera), with the scientific name of "Syrphidae". As their names suggests, they are most often seen around flowers. The adults feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggo...
Gatekeeper Butterfly
The Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) is a common Butterfly in the United Kingdom. It is sometimes called the Hedge Brown. The Gatekeeper is a member of the subfamily Satyridae in the family Nymphalidae. A similar species is the Meadow Brown. The name G...
Geometer moth
PHOTO CAPTION: Locomotion of Geometrid caterpillar (photo taken by Keith Edkins) The geometer moths or Geometridae are a family of the order Lepidoptera. It is a very large family with around 26,000 species of moths described (over 300 of which occu...
Beetle
PHOTO CAPTION: Goliath Beetle Beetles are one of the main groups of insects. Their order, Coleoptera (meaning "sheathed wing"), has more species than any other order in the entire animal kingdom. Forty percent of all described insect species are bee...
Aeshnidae
The hawkers (also known as darners in North America) are of the family Aeshnidae. They include the largest dragonflies found in North America and Europe, and are among the largest of the dragonflies on the planet. This family represents also the faste...
Green-veined White
The Green-veined White (Pieris napi) is a well-known European butterfly, found in open country and woodland. Like other "white" butterflies, the sexes differ. The female has two spots on each forewing, while the male has only one. Although its ca...
Gulf Fritillary
The Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) is a striking, bright orange butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It was formerly classified in a separate family, the Heliconiidae or longwing butterflies. Like other longwings it does have long, rather narrow w...
Gypsy moth
The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, is a moth of European origin. Life cycle Gypsy moth egg masses are laid on branches and trunks of trees, however egg masses may be found in any sheltered location. Egg masses are buff colored when first laid but ...
Halictidae
Halictidae is a family of the order Hymenoptera consisting of small to midsize bees which are usually dark-colored and often metallic. Several species are all or partly green and a few are red. Most halictids nest in the ground. They are commonly re...
Head louse
Head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) are one of the many varieties of sucking lice (singular "louse") specialized to live on different areas of various animals. As the name implies, head lice are specialized to live among the hair present on the hu...
Helicoverpa zea
The larva of the moth Helicoverpa zea is a major agricultural pest for cotton (where it is known as the cotton bollworm), corn (where it is known as the corn earworm), tomatoes (where it is the tomato fruitworm), and many other crops. The adult moth, p...
Honeybee
The honeybee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by farmers. Honeybees are a subset of bees which fall into the Order Hymenoptera and Suborder Apocrita.
Housefly
The housefly (Musca domestica) is the most common fly occurring in homes and indeed one of the most widely distributed animals and the most familiar of all flies; it is a pest that can facilitate serious diseases. Physical description The adults ...
Hummingbird Hawk-moth
The Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) is a species of hawk moth with a long proboscis. It is capable of hovering in place, as well as making an audible humming noise. These two features make it look remarkably like a hummingbird when it ...
Caelifera
Caelifera, a herbivorous insect, is a suborder of the order Orthoptera. Commonly called grasshoppers in English, the sub-order includes short-horned grasshoppers, grasshoppers and locusts. Characteristics The Caelifera have antennae that are shor...
Apocrita
Apocrita is a suborder of insects in the order Hymenoptera. The Apocrita include wasps, bees and ants, and are comprised of many families. They include the most advanced Hymenoptera and are distinguished from the Symphyta by the narrow waist joining...
Japanese beetle
The Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica) is a beetle about 0.6 inches (1.5 cm) long and 0.4 inches (1 cm) wide (smaller in Canada), with shiny copper-colored elytra and a shiny green top of the thorax and head. Although it is not very destructive in Jap...
Papilionoidea
The superfamily Papilionoidea contains all the butterflies except for the skippers, which are classified in superfamily Hesperioidea. Some authors treat this grouping as a series (Papilioniformes) within a single superfamily that also includes the s...
Katydid
Katydid is the common name of insects belonging to the grasshopper family Tettigoniidae, which contains over 6,800 species. Katydid are also known as "long horned grasshoppers" and "bush crickets." The term "katydid" is used mainly in the U.S., Cana...
Neuroptera (lacewing)
The insect order Neuroptera (net-winged insects) includes the fishflies, snakeflies, lacewings and antlions. The adults of this order possess four membranous wings, with the forewings and hindwings about the same size, and with many veins. They have ch...
Ladybird
Ladybirds, also known as ladybugs or lady beetles are a family, Coccinellidae ("little sphere"), of beetles. The name is thought to allude to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Catholic faith. Ladybirds are found worldwide, with over 4,500 species describe...
Whites (butterfly)
Pieris is a widespread genus of butterflies, many of whose caterpillars feed on cabbages and other members of the brassica family. The crop damaging species have spread from Eurasia to most of the rest of the world, and are considered a pest insect alm...
Large White
The Large White or Cabbage White (Pieris brassicae) is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is common throughout Europe and is often in agricultural areas, meadows or parkland. Its wingspan is 5 to 6.5 cm. The wings are white, with black tips on the ...
Leafcutter ant
Leafcutter ants are found in warmer regions of Central and South America. These remarkable social insects have evolved an advanced agricultural system. They feed on a specialized fungus that grows only in the underground chambers of the ants' nest. The...
Skipper (butterfly)
The Skippers are a group of insects in the order Lepidoptera. They are usually counted as butterflies, but they are somewhat intermediate between the rest of the butterflies and the remaining Lepidoptera, the moths. Skippers are classified in the su...
Tortix moth
The Tortricidae or tortix moths are a family of the Lepidoptera. The typical resting posture is with the wings folded back producing the rather rounded profile. It is a large family with over 6,000 species described. Many of these are economically i...
Luna Moth
The Luna Moth (Actias luna) is a large lime-green saturniid moth found in North America from east of the Great Plains in the United States to northern Mexico and from Ontario eastward through central Quebec to Nova Scotia in Canada. The caterpillar ...
Cockroach
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattodea. The names of the order are derived from Greek blatta, meaning "cockroach". There are roughly 3,500 species in 6 families. Cockroaches exist worldwide, with the exception of the polar regions and in elevat...
Madagascar hissing cockroach
The Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) is a large cockroach which is originally from the island of Madagascar off the African coast. They are large and wingless and grow up to 2.5" in length and are brown to black in color. The in...
Magicicada
Magicicada is the genus of the 13- and 17- year periodical cicadas of eastern North America. These insects display a unique combination of long life cycles, periodicity, and mass emergences. They sometimes go by the common name "seventeen-year locust",...
Jerusalem cricket
The Jerusalem cricket (Stenopelmatus) is a genus of large, flightless insects native to western United States, along the Pacific Coast, and south into Mexico. Because of its large, human-like head, it is commonly called the nino de la tierra (Spanish f...
Meadow Brown
The Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) is a butterfly found in British meadows, where its larvae feed on grasses.
Migrant Hawker
The Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) is one of the smaller species of hawker dragonflies. It measures roughly 63 mm in length and prefers still or slow-flowing water and can tolerate brackish sites. The flight period is from July to the end of October. Th...
Longhorn beetle
The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) are a family of beetles notable for their extremely long antennae. These antennae are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body in fact. The family is large, with over 20,000 species described. Several are se...
Monarch butterfly
The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a well-known North American butterfly with easily identifiable orange and black wings. The females have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot in the center of each hindwing from which pheromo...
Morpho (butterfly)
A Morpho butterfly is one of over 80 described species of the genus Morpho. They are showy, neotropical butterflies found mostly in South America with a few species recorded in southern Mexico and Mesoamerica. Morphos range in wingspan from the3 inch (...
Mosquito
The mosquito is a member of the family Culicidae. These insects have a pair of scaled wings, a pair of halteres, a slender body, and long legs. Only the females of most mosquito species suck blood from other animals. Size varies but is rarely greater t...
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly. Both are of the order Lepidoptera. People who study butterflies and/or moths are called lepidopterists; the study of butterflies is known as "butterflying," and the study of moths "mothing," the ...
Orthoptera
The Orthoptera are an order of insects with incomplete metamorphosis, including the grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, and katydids. Many insects in this order produce sound (known as stridulation) by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs,...
Bee
Bees (Apoidea superfamily) are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants. They are adapted for feeding on nectar, and play an important role in pollinating flowering plants, and are called pollinators. Bees have a long proboscis that they use in...
Painted Lady Butterfly
The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) is a well-known colorful butterfly, known in North America as the Cosmopolite. It is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent except Australia which has a close relative, the Australia...
Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly
The Palos Verdes blue butterfly is a small endangered butterfly native to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in southwest Los Angeles County, California.
Paper wasp
Paper Wasps are social wasps and make up the genus Polistes. They form small colonies with umbrella-shaped nests in sheltered spots, and are quite mild-mannered. They feed on caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects, most of them pests. Despite th...
Parent Bug
The Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea) is a shield bug - a type of insect characterized by its shield-shaped body. It is so named because adults remain with their offspring for several weeks after they hatch; this is relatively rare behavior in the insect w...
Pasture Day Moth
The Pasture Day Moth (Apina callisto or Amazelo callisto), is, as its name implies, active during the day, making it unlike most other species in the Noctuidae family of moths. It is found in most southern areas of Australia, ranging from lower Queensl...
Peacock butterfly
The Peacock (Inachis io) is a well-known colorful butterfly found in temperate Europe and Asia. The species is resident in much of its range, often wintering in buildings or trees. It therefore often appears quite early in spring. This butterfly mea...
Photuris (Firefly genus)
Photuris is a genus of "fireflies" (actually beetles in the family Lampyridae).
Wasp
A wasp is any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is not a bee, sawfly, or an ant. Less familiar, the suborder Symphyta includes the sawflies and wood wasps, which differ from the Apocrita by having a broad connection between the...
Weta
The Weta family comprises over one hundred (generally) large insect species endemic to the New Zealand archipelago. Their name comes from the Maori language, but has acclimatized itself in New Zealand English, so the plural "wetas" may appear. Their ph...
Saturniidae
The Saturniidae, collectively known as saturniids, are among the largest and most spectacular of the Lepidoptera (or moths), with an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 different species existing worldwide. These moths are often brightly colored and have transluc...
Red Admiral
The Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta is a well-known colorful butterfly found in temperate Europe, Asia and North America. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. This large butterfly is iden...
Fire ant
Fire ants are stinging ants of the genus Solenopsis, of which there are 266 species. They include Solenopsis invicta, commonly known as Red imported fire ant (RIFA). Each colony produces large mounds in open areas, and feeds on young plants and seed...
Red Underwing
The Red Underwing (Catocala nupta) is a moth of the family Noctuidae which contains 25000 species. This is a large (80mm wingspan) nocturnal European species which, like most noctuids, is drably colored to aid concealment during the day (unless, lik...
Yellowjacket
Yellowjackets are black-and-yellow wasps of the genus Vespula or Dolichovespula (though some can be black-and-white, the most notable of these being the baldfaced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata). They can be identified by their distinctive combination...
Sapygidae
The Sapygidae are a family of solitary aluleate wasps. There does not seem to be a common English name, but Club-horned wasps (translating the German name Keulhornwespen - in reference to the distinctive thickening of the antennae) seems as good a name...
Symphyta
Symphyta is a group of insects, a taxonomic suborder of the Hymenoptera. The Symphyta are commonly referred to as sawflies, and include insects belonging to several families. They are considered to be the most primitive Hymenoptera and are closely rela...
Leaf beetle
The beetle family Chrysomelidae, or leaf beetles, is a family of over 35,000 species in more than 2,500 genera. Leaf beetles are recognizable by their tarsal formula and distinguished from long-horned beetles (family Cerambycidae) by their short, fi...
Scoliidae
Scoliidae (Scoliid wasps) are represented by 20 genera and about the same number of species in North America. Scoliid wasp larvae act as important biocontrol agents, feeding upon beetle larvae in the ground, including the serious pest, Japanese beet...
Shining flower beetle
The Phalacridae are a family of beetles commonly called the shining flower beetles. They are often found in composite flowers and are oval-shaped, usually tan, and about 2 mm in length.
Silkworm
The silkworm (Bombyx mori or "raw silk of mulberry") is the larva of a moth that is economically important as the producer of silk. Its diet consists solely of mulberry leaves and it is native to northern China. The silkworm is so called because it ...
Crambidae
The Crambidae are a family of Lepidoptera (moths). They are quite variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae (or grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass-stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies include br...
Small Tortoiseshell
The Small Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis urticae) is a well-known colorful butterfly found in temperate Europe. There are a few records from New York City which, however, are believed to have arrived human-assisted. This is a species often found in garden...
Small Heath
The Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) is a butterfly species, widespread in Eurasia and northwestern Africa. Its caterpillars eat grasses.
Small White
The Small White butterfly (Pieris rapae) flies April-May and July-August. It is sometimes known as the Cabbage White because its caterpillars feed on cabbages. Its underwings are yellowish with black speckles, upper are creamy white with dark tips. T...
Hawk moth
Hawk moths (or Sphinx moths) are moths in the family Sphingidae. They are some of the fastest flying insects, capable of flying at over 30 miles per hour (50 km/h). They have a wingspan of 35-150 millimeters. Some hawk moths, like the hummingbird hawk ...
Speckled Wood
The Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) is a butterfly found in the woodlands throughout much of Europe. It is brown and has pale yellow or cream spots and darker eyespots. The depth of color is variable with groups from some areas having brighter colors t...
Cicada killer wasp
The Cicada Killer Wasp is a large, solitary wasp so named because is hunts cicadas and provisions its nest with them. In North America it is sometimes called the Sand Hornet, although it is not a hornet, which belong to the family Vespidae. Taxonomy...
Digger wasp
Sphex is a genus of insects in the Family Sphecidae, order Hymenoptera. Digger Wasps are predators that can sting and paralyze prey insects. In preparation for egg laying they construct a protected "nest" (some species dig nests in the ground, while...
Swallowtail Butterfly
The swallowtail butterflies form the family Papilionidae (550 species). They are large, colorful butterflies. The majority are tropical, but members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica. This family includes the largest butterfli...
Aeshnidae
The hawkers (or darners in North America) comprise the family Aeshnidae. They include the largest dragonflies found in North America and Europe, and are among the largest of the dragonflies on the planet. This family represents also the fastest flying ...
Tachinid
The tachinid flies (family Tachinidae) are by far the largest and most important group of insect parasitic flies, with over 1300 species in North America. It is a diverse group with some resembling large or small drab houseflies, and others brilliantly...
Termite
A termite (also known as a white ant) is any member of the order Isoptera. This is a group of social insects that eat wood and other cellulose-rich vegetable matter. Most termite species are tropical or subtropical, but a few live in temperate regions....
Papilio
Papilio is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae. It includes a number of well-known North American species such as the Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio rutulus. Older classifications of the swallowtails tended to use a large n...
Cricket
Crickets, family Gryllidae (also known as "true crickets"), are insects related to grasshoppers and katydids (order Orthoptera). They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. Crickets are known for the loud chirping noises they make by rubbing...
Froghopper
The froghoppers are a group of Homopteran insects, in the Aphrophoridae, Cercopidae, Cixiidae, Delphacidae, Dictyopharidae, Issidae, Tettigometridae and other related families. They are best known for the larval stage, which produces a protective cover...
Velvet ant
Mutillidae or velvet ants, also known as cow killers, are not ants but a type of wasp. They get their name from the hair that grows on their back. The hair ranges from red and black to completely white. Their shell is very tough, providing protection a...
Vespid
The vespidae are a family of wasps, including all social wasps and some solitary wasps. Each social wasp colony includes a queen and a number of sterile workers. Colonies dye at the onset of winter after a one year lifespan. New queens and males (drone...
Weevil
A weevil is a beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae (the true weevils). They are typically small, measuring less than ¼ inch (6mm), and herbivorous. Due ...
Butterfly
A butterfly is a flying insect of the order Lepidoptera belonging to one of the superfamilies Hesperioidea (the skippers) and Papilionoidea (all other butterflies). Many butterflies have remarkable colors and patterns on their wings. People who study o...
Plume moth
The Pterophoridae or plume-moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings. The fore-wings usually consist of two curved spars with more or less bedraggled bristles trailing behind. The hind wings are similarly constructed on three spar...
Heliconiinae
The Heliconiinae or Heliconians are a subfamily of butterflies. They are found mostly in the tropical Americas. The species broadcast their toxicity with strong warning colors. Species include Isabella's Heliconian Zebra Heliconian or Zebra Long...