Bugs of East Asia
Asian giant hornets, atlas moths, fireflies, and the silkworms that built empires.
107 on file
Asian Giant Hornet
Slaughters whole bee colonies in hours. Wears a sting that breaks down flesh.
Atlas Moth
World's largest moth. Wings shaped like snake heads. No mouth, no food, no time.
Diving Bell Spider
Only spider that lives entirely underwater. Builds its own scuba tank out of silk.
Red Imported Fire Ant
Builds living rafts during floods. Floats for weeks. Costs the US $6 billion a year.
Fire-Chaser Jewel Beetle
Detects forest fires from 80 km away. Flies INTO them. Lays eggs in still-smoking wood.
Silkworm Moth
Domesticated 5,000 years ago. Built the Silk Road. Adults can no longer fly.
Spotted Lanternfly
The bug your state told you to step on. Invasive, destructive, gorgeous, tasty.
Chinese Giant Stick Insect
Longest insect on Earth — 64 cm. Looks like a twig. Some species haven't needed males in centuries.
Atlas Beetle
Asia's largest rhino beetle. Three forward horns. Males wrestle for branches.
Argentine Ant
One global super-colony. Ants from Italy and Portugal recognize each other as family.
Asian Honey Bee
The bee that cooks giant hornets alive. Tolerates varroa. Speaks waggle-dance with a Japanese accent.
Carpenter Ant
Doesn't eat wood — excavates it. Galleries through your beams. Largest ant in eastern North America.
Goldenrod Crab Spider
Changes color from white to yellow over weeks. Ambushes bees on flowers. No web.
European Hornet
Europe's largest social wasp. Hunts at night by lamplight. Less aggressive than her tiny cousins.
European Paper Wasp
Invented paper before humans. Recognizes nestmates by face. Tense dominance hierarchies under your eaves.
Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle
Lifts 850× her own weight. The kabutomushi of Japan — kept as a pet, wrestled in arenas, the heart of childhood.
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Invasive Asian shield-bug. Devastates apples, peaches, soybeans. Stinks like burnt cilantro on contact.
Carrot Rust Fly
Major NA/European carrot pest. Diagnostic rust-colored tunnels through carrot taproots. Detoxifies Apiaceae furanocoumarins.
Giant Asian Honey Bee
LARGEST HONEY BEE in the world. MASSIVE single-comb open hives. SHIMMERING WAVE DEFENSE.
Asian Hornet (Yellow-Legged Hornet)
Major invasive European pest. Hovers at beehives intercepting HONEY BEES — thousands of bees killed daily.
Cabbage Maggot Fly
Major NA/European cruciferous crop pest. Maggots burrow into cabbage roots. Detoxifies plant glucosinolates.
Onion Maggot Fly
Major NA/European onion pest. Larvae detoxify the SULFUR COMPOUNDS that make onions burn human eyes.
Oriental Fruit Moth
Most damaging stone fruit pest worldwide — sister to codling moth, controlled by pheromone mating disruption.
Sheep Tick (Castor Bean Tick)
Primary European LYME DISEASE vector. Also vectors tick-borne ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS. 65K+ Lyme cases/year in Europe.
Black Garden Ant
Most familiar ant in European gardens. Synchronized 'FLYING ANT DAY' mating swarms every summer.
Violet Ground Beetle
Brilliant METALLIC VIOLET-PURPLE European ground beetle. 35 mm. Nocturnal predator of slugs, snails, earthworms.
Yellow Meadow Ant
Lives ENTIRELY UNDERGROUND. Workers are BLIND. Farms ROOT APHIDS inside underground galleries.
West Indian Drywood Termite
Most damaging drywood termite worldwide. Reason for the dramatic WHOLE-HOUSE FUMIGATION TENT.
Water Boatman
LOUDEST animal on Earth scaled to body size. 99 dB underwater calls. Calls made by rubbing PENIS against abdomen.
California Red Scale
Most damaging scale insect pest of CITRUS worldwide. Foundational AUGMENTATIVE biocontrol case study.
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
Catastrophic forest pest. Has killed essentially ALL mature eastern hemlocks across Appalachia.
Migratory Locust
Catastrophic crop pest of Africa/Asia/Europe. Foundational PHASE POLYPHENISM case — solitary becomes gregarious.
Greenhouse Whitefly
Most damaging pest of GREENHOUSE production worldwide. First-ever commercially mass-reared biocontrol target.
Scarlet Lily Beetle
Brilliant SCARLET-RED beetle. Larvae cover themselves in their own FECAL EXCREMENT for defense.
Giant Asian Mantis
8-10 cm SE Asian mantis. Captures small lizards, snakes, hummingbirds. Popular pet mantis worldwide.
Brown Planthopper
Major rice pest of Asia. Causes 'HOPPERBURN' — entire fields die in days when populations explode.
Coffee Berry Borer
Single most damaging pest of COFFEE worldwide. $500M-$1B annual losses. Detoxifies CAFFEINE with gut microbes.
Fall Armyworm
Major NA agricultural pest. INVADED Africa in 2016, Asia in 2018, Australia in 2020. Threat to global food security.
Citrus Longhorned Beetle
Sister to Asian longhorned beetle. Attacks 100+ tree species. Major global invasive forest pest.
Spotted-Wing Drosophila
Major invasive soft-fruit pest. Lays eggs INSIDE firm ripe intact fruits using SERRATED ovipositor.
Goldenrod Crab Spider
Color-changing CHAMELEON spider. Switches between WHITE and YELLOW to match flower color. Walks sideways like a crab.
European Red Wood Ant
Massive THATCH-COVERED MOUNDS up to 2m tall. PROTECTED SPECIES across Europe. Major forest pest control.
European Beewolf
Solitary wasp that EXCLUSIVELY hunts HONEY BEES. Cultivates antibiotic-producing bacteria in antennal glands.
Asian Longhorned Beetle
Invasive wood-boring beetle. Threatens NA maple forests. $700M USDA eradication effort.
Black Soldier Fly
Larvae are the foundation of MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR global insect-protein industry. Bioconverts waste into feed.
Hessian Fly
Major wheat pest. Brought to NA in 1776 by Hessian mercenaries. Foundational gene-for-gene coevolution model.
Japanese Beetle
Most polyphagous invasive beetle in NA. Eats 300+ plant species. $460M annual damage.
Azure Bluet Damselfly
Brilliant azure-blue damselfly. Famous 'mating wheel' posture during copulation.
Brown Hawker
European hawker dragonfly with HEAVILY-TINTED AMBER WINGS visible in flight. 8 cm body, hours of patrol.
Marmalade Hoverfly
4 BILLION migrate across Britain annually. Largest insect migration on Earth. Pollen mass ~80M tons.
Giant Tachinid Fly
8,200+ species, all parasitoids of other arthropods. Free natural pest control.
Blue-Tailed Damselfly
Females come in THREE distinct color morphs. Some imitate males to avoid male harassment.
Cattle Warble Fly (Heel Fly)
Larvae burrow into cattle legs, migrate ALONG THE SPINAL CORD, and exit from 'warbles' on the back.
Face Fly
Cattle face-feeder. Vector of cattle pinkeye. Overwinters in rural attics by the thousands.
Large Bee Fly
Fly that mimics a bumblebee. FLICKS her eggs into bee burrows from above. Long hovering proboscis.
Cuckoo Bumblebee
Bumblebee that abandoned workers. Invades host bumblebee nests, kills the queen, takes over the colony.
Six-Spot Burnet Moth
Day-flying moth that contains REAL cyanide. Bird predators learn quickly. Bright red-and-black warning.
European Field Cricket
The original 'grasshopper' of Aesop's fable. Glossy black. Sings from burrow entrance.
Queen of Spain Fritillary
Largest silver underside patches of any European butterfly. Migrates north from Iberia and North Africa.
Seven-Spot Ladybird
The original 'ladybird.' Named for Mary's Seven Sorrows. Eats 5,000 aphids per lifetime.
Banded Demoiselle
Damselfly with iridescent dark blue wing band. Water-quality indicator. Elaborate courtship dance.
Brimstone Butterfly
Sulfur-yellow male probably gave English the word 'butterfly.' Lives up to 12 months. Leaf-shaped wings.
Comma Butterfly
White comma mark on hindwing underside. Ragged wing edges mimic a dead leaf. UK comeback species.
Cookie Cutter Spider
Rear is flattened into a HARDENED DISC marked like a coin. Uses the disc as a literal door to seal her burrow.
Orange Tip
Spring butterfly with bright orange wing tips (males only). Caterpillars are cannibalistic.
Small Tortoiseshell
Bright orange-and-black with blue marginal spots. First butterfly of European spring. UK population in steep decline.
Hornet Moth
Moth that mimics a European hornet so well even entomologists are fooled. Wings are transparent.
Clouded Yellow
Bright orange-yellow migrant. Multi-generational annual migration. 'Clouded yellow years' bring billions north.
Garden Tiger Moth
Chocolate-brown wings with cream stripes. Orange hindwings flash. Toxic and warning-colored.
Peacock Butterfly
Four enormous peacock-eye spots. HISSES when threatened by rubbing wing veins together.
Silver-Washed Fritillary
Largest European fritillary. Lays eggs on tree bark, not the host plant. Caterpillar overwinters without feeding.
Common Blue Butterfly
Brilliant sky-blue. 75% of her family lives in mutualism with ants. Caterpillar feeds ants honeydew.
Firebug
Bright red-and-black aggregating bug. Discovery of juvenile hormone traces to her in 1966.
Lantern Bug
Carries a hollow snout projection. Maria Sibylla Merian's 1701 'glowing lantern' myth still persists.
Owl Fly
Dragonfly look-alike that's actually a lacewing relative. Giant owl-eyes. Butterfly-club antennae.
Red-Blue Checkered Beetle
Iridescent red-and-blue. Adult pollinator. Larva hitchhikes on bees and eats their brood.
European Garden Spider (Cross Spider)
European garden orb-weaver. White cross on her back. First spider to build a web in space (1973).
Birch Sawfly
Most ancient Hymenoptera lineage. 'Saw' ovipositor cuts plant slits for eggs. Larva shoots wax.
Zebra Jumping Spider
Black-and-white striped jumping spider on your sunny windowsill. Watches you with puppy-dog eyes.
Common Backswimmer
Only insect that swims UPSIDE DOWN. Bite hurts like a bee sting. Eats mosquito larvae and tadpoles.
Indian Dead Leaf Butterfly
Wings closed — perfect dead leaf with veins and fungal spots. Wings open — brilliant blue-and-orange.
Great Diving Beetle
Hunts tadpoles and small fish underwater. Carries an air bubble under her wings. Larva is a 'water tiger.'
White Plume Moth
Wings divided into feathered plumes. Forms a 'T' silhouette at rest. Family of 1,500 species.
Snake Fly
Insect with a 'snake' neck. Tiny ancient order — 270 million years old. Only in the Northern Hemisphere.
Water Scorpion
True bug that mimics a scorpion. Long tail is a snorkel. Hunts tadpoles with raptorial front legs.
Acorn Weevil
Female's snout is half her body length — drills through acorn shells. Cause of acorn 'wormholes.'
Chinese Mantis
Largest mantis in North America. Eats hummingbirds at feeders. Sold as 'beneficial' garden biocontrol.
Asian Needle Ant
Painful sting comparable to a wasp. Anaphylaxis documented. Displacing native ants in eastern US.
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle
USDA introduced her as biocontrol — she displaced native ladybeetles, invades homes by the thousands, bites.
Fall Webworm
Drapes branch tips in silken webs in late summer. Native invasive across Europe and Asia since 1940s.
Small Emperor Moth
Only saturniid moth native to Britain. Day-flying orange males. Adults cannot eat.
Spongy Moth (formerly Gypsy Moth)
Renamed from 'gypsy moth' in 2022. Released in Massachusetts in 1869. Has defoliated tens of millions of acres.
Colorado Potato Beetle
Most pesticide-resistant insect on Earth. Resistant to 56+ different insecticides. Devastates potato crops globally.
Emerald Ash Borer
Killed 100 million ash trees since 2002. Most economically destructive forest insect ever introduced to North America.
Spanish Fly (Blister Beetle)
Source of the cantharidin 'aphrodisiac.' Hypermetamorphic life cycle. Hitchhikes on bees to their nests.
Atlantic Horseshoe Crab
450 million years old, blue-blooded living fossil, used to test every vaccine on Earth for endotoxins.
Asian Longhorned Beetle
Asian invader. Has killed 130,000+ US trees since 1996. Glossy black with white spots and impossibly long antennae.
Scarlet Malachite Beetle
Britain's most beautiful beetle. Emerald-green with scarlet wing tips. Critically declining.
Apollo Butterfly
Translucent white alpine butterfly with red eye-spots. CITES protected. Climate-pressured upslope.
Mourning Cloak
Lives 10-12 months. Flies across snow in winter. Drinks tree sap, not nectar. Solar-warmed wings.
Red Admiral
Long-distance migrant. Territorial males dive-bomb anything that moves through their patch.
Giant Ichneumon Wasp
Drills 12 cm into wood with her abdomen to lay an egg on a wasp larva. Larva eats it alive. Darwin's parable.
Alfalfa Leafcutter Bee
Cuts perfectly round leaf discs and rolls them into cigar-cells. Backbone of US alfalfa seed industry.
Camel Spider
Third major arachnid order. Largest jaws-to-body ratio in arachnids. The fastest arachnid runner.
Chigger (Harvest Mite)
Larva liquefies your skin and drinks it through a tube. The 'burrow into the skin' myth is false.
Six-Spotted Fishing Spider
Walks on water. Catches fish. Dives underwater with an air-bubble respirator.
Formosan Subterranean Termite
Super-termite. 10 million workers per colony. Carton nests the size of an oven.