Library Section

Insects

Explore the FaunaNest insect library, featuring original profiles of butterflies, moths, beetles, and other remarkable arthropods. Every guide breaks down appearance, habitat and range, diet, behavior, life cycle, and …

By John Shim

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Every guide in Insects

Use these links to move quickly between closely related pages in the same section.

Antlion

What Is a Antlion? Antlions are insects in the family Myrmeleontidae, best known for the predatory larvae that dig …

Atlas Beetle

What Is a Atlas Beetle? The atlas beetle (Chalcosoma atlas) is one of the largest and most striking scarab beetles in …

Atlas Moth

What Is a Atlas Moth? The atlas moth (Attacus atlas) is one of the largest moths in the world, a member of the giant …

Bess Beetle

What Is a Bess Beetle? The bess beetle, Odontotaenius disjunctus, is a large, shiny black beetle native to the woodlands …

Blue Morpho

What Is a Blue Morpho? The blue morpho (Morpho menelaus) is a large, brilliantly colored butterfly of the family …

Cabbage White

What Is a Cabbage White? The cabbage white (Pieris rapae) is a small, pale butterfly in the family Pieridae, often …

Cecropia Moth

What Is a Cecropia Moth? The cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia) is a large silk moth in the family Saturniidae and is …

Cinnabar Moth

What Is a Cinnabar Moth? The cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) is a brightly colored day- and night-flying moth in the …

Common Buckeye

What Is a Common Buckeye? The common buckeye (Junonia coenia) is a medium-sized, warm-weather butterfly of the …

Damselfly

What Is a Damselfly? Damselflies are slender, agile predatory insects that make up the suborder Zygoptera within the …

Deer Fly

What Is a Deer Fly? Deer flies are small, biting flies in the genus Chrysops, part of the horse fly family (Tabanidae). …

Dobsonfly

What Is a Dobsonfly? The dobsonfly (Corydalus cornutus) is a large, soft-bodied insect in the order Megaloptera, best …

Dragonfly

What Is a Dragonfly? A dragonfly is a fast, agile flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera within the order …

Dung Beetle

What Is a Dung Beetle? Dung beetles are a large, diverse group of scarab beetles best known for feeding on and burying …

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

What Is a Eastern Tiger Swallowtail? The eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is a large, brightly colored …

Elephant Hawk-Moth

What Is a Elephant Hawk-Moth? The elephant hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) is a striking, medium-sized moth in the family …

Emperor Dragonfly

What Is a Emperor Dragonfly? The emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator) is one of the largest and most powerful dragonflies …

European Hornet

What Is a European Hornet? The European hornet (Vespa crabro) is the largest true hornet native to Europe and much of …

Fall Webworm

What Is a Fall Webworm? The fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) is a moth in the family Erebidae, best known for the …

Field Cricket

What Is a Field Cricket? The field cricket (Gryllus pennsylvanicus) is a familiar dark-colored insect known for the loud …

Firebrat

What Is a Firebrat? The firebrat (Thermobia domestica) is a small, wingless insect in the order Zygentoma, the same …

Firefly

What Is a Firefly? Fireflies, also called lightning bugs, are soft-bodied beetles in the family Lampyridae, not true …

Fruit Fly

What Is a Fruit Fly? The common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is a tiny insect in the family Drosophilidae that is …

Giant Swallowtail

What Is a Giant Swallowtail? The giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) is a large, striking butterfly and one of the …

Giant Water Bug

What Is a Giant Water Bug? The giant water bug (Lethocerus americanus) is one of the largest true bugs in North America, …

Goliath Beetle

What Is a Goliath Beetle? The Goliath beetle (Goliathus goliatus) is one of the largest and heaviest insects on Earth, a …

Great Diving Beetle

What Is a Great Diving Beetle? The great diving beetle (Dytiscus marginalis) is a large predatory water beetle native to …

Green Lacewing

What Is a Green Lacewing? The green lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea) is a delicate, soft-bodied insect in the order …

Harlequin Beetle

What Is a Harlequin Beetle? The harlequin beetle (Acrocinus longimanus) is a large, strikingly patterned longhorn beetle …

Harlequin Bug

What Is a Harlequin Bug? The harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica) is a small, brightly patterned stink bug in the …

Hercules Beetle

What Is a Hercules Beetle? The Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) is one of the largest flying insects on Earth and a …

Horsefly

What Is a Horsefly? Horseflies are stout, fast-flying biting flies in the family Tabanidae, with the true horseflies …

Hummingbird Hawk-Moth

What Is a Hummingbird Hawk-Moth? The hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) is a day-flying moth in the family …

Ichneumon Wasp

What Is a Ichneumon Wasp? An ichneumon wasp is any member of family Ichneumonidae, an enormous group of parasitic wasps …

Imperial Moth

What Is a Imperial Moth? The imperial moth (Eacles imperialis) is a large, vividly colored member of the giant silkworm …

Io Moth

What Is a Io Moth? The io moth (Automeris io) is a colorful North American member of the giant silk moth family, …

Isabella Tiger Moth

What Is a Isabella Tiger Moth? The Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella) is a common North American moth in the …

Ivy Bee

What Is a Ivy Bee? The ivy bee (Colletes hederae) is a solitary, ground-nesting bee named for its close reliance on the …

Japanese Beetle

What Is a Japanese Beetle? The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is a small, brightly colored scarab beetle best known …

Jewel Beetle

What Is a Jewel Beetle? Jewel beetles are members of the family Buprestidae, a large group of wood-boring beetles famous …

Jewel Wasp

What Is a Jewel Wasp? The jewel wasp (Ampulex compressa), also called the emerald cockroach wasp, is a small solitary …

Julia Butterfly

What Is a Julia Butterfly? The Julia butterfly (Dryas iulia) is a slender, bright orange butterfly of the family …

Jumping Bristletail

What Is a Jumping Bristletail? Jumping bristletails are small, wingless insects that make up the order Archaeognatha. …

June Beetle

What Is a June Beetle? June beetle is a common name for the many scarab beetles in the genus Phyllophaga, a large group …

Monarch Butterfly

What Is a Monarch Butterfly? The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is one of the most recognizable insects in the …