Mimicry bugs
Every species in the Wild Files corpus where mimicry is a defining trait.
47 on file
Atlas Moth
World's largest moth. Wings shaped like snake heads. No mouth, no food, no time.
Hummingbird Hawkmoth
Looks like a hummingbird. Flies like a hummingbird. Is, in fact, a moth.
Orchid Mantis
The world's only animal that mimics an entire flower. Bees prefer her to the real flowers.
Chinese Giant Stick Insect
Longest insect on Earth — 64 cm. Looks like a twig. Some species haven't needed males in centuries.
Walking Leaf
Looks exactly like a leaf — veins, bite marks, fungal spots, the gentle sway in the wind, all of it.
Malaysian Dead Leaf Mantis
Looks exactly like a dead leaf — curled edges, vein patterns, fake insect damage, the leaf-in-wind sway.
Marmalade Hover Fly
Looks like a wasp. Can't sting. Pollinates your garden. Larvae eat aphids by the thousand.
Forest Giant Owl Butterfly
Owl-eye markings so realistic predators flinch and let her escape.
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.
Macleay's Spectre
Australian giant spiny stick insect. Four defensive behaviors. Popular giant pet stick insect worldwide.
American Snout
Distinctive 'SNOUT' palps. Massive Texas OUTBREAK MIGRATIONS — sky-blocking butterfly clouds.
Locust Borer
Striking YELLOW-AND-BLACK wasp-mimicking longhorn beetle. Major pest of NA black locust trees.
Ilia Underwing
Bark-mimic forewings hide BRILLIANT FLASHING hindwings. 250+ NA species. Most-photographed startle-display moths.
Eastern Amberwing
Smallest NA dragonfly. Bright AMBER WINGS. WASP-MIMIC — pumps abdomen up and down like a wasp.
Banded Net-Winged Beetle
Bright ORANGE elytra with raised NETWORK of veins. Müllerian mimicry — multiple beetle species share the warning pattern.
Ailanthus Webworm Moth
Brilliant orange-and-black wasp-mimicking moth. Tracks the spread of invasive Tree of Heaven across NA.
Polka-Dot Wasp Moth
Brilliant metallic BLUE-BLACK with white POLKA DOTS and bright RED abdomen tip. Oleander pest in southern US.
Apple Maggot Fly
Foundational SYMPATRIC SPECIATION case study. Two host races shifting from hawthorn to apple since the 1860s.
Falcate Orangetip
Tiny white butterfly with HOOKED forewing tips. Males have bright ORANGE wing-tip patches.
Pandora Sphinx
Camouflage hawk moth with olive-pink-cream graduated bands. Larva has FIVE oval eye-spots like a five-eyed snake.
Carolina Grasshopper
Cryptic at rest. Reveals BLACK-AND-WHITE BUTTERFLY-LIKE WINGS in flight. Crackling 'hand-clap' wing sound.
Northern Walkingstick
Most widespread NA walking stick. Looks indistinguishable from a small twig.
Common True Katydid
The 'KA-TY-DID, KA-TY-DIDN'T' summer night sound. Wings shaped like a green leaf complete with veins.
Eastern Black Swallowtail
The 'parsley caterpillar' butterfly. State butterfly of OK and NJ. Female mimics toxic pipevine.
Giant Swallowtail
LARGEST butterfly in North America. Caterpillar = the 'orange dog' citrus pest that mimics BIRD DROPPINGS.
Promethea Moth
Day-flying male MIMICS the toxic pipevine swallowtail. Females are reddish-brown and nocturnal.
Question Mark Butterfly
Folded wings look like a dead leaf. Tiny white SILVER QUESTION MARK on the underside.
Red-Spotted Purple
Mimics toxic pipevine swallowtail. Same species as the white admiral but evolved into a mimic in the south.
Snowberry Clearwing
BUMBLEBEE-mimic clearwing moth. Sister species to the hummingbird-mimic clearwing.
Spicebush Swallowtail
Black butterfly with iridescent blue-green hindwings. Larva looks like a SNAKE with eyespots.
Eastern Forktail
Most ABUNDANT damselfly in eastern NA. Females have THREE color morphs. Female-mimics-male strategy.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Most familiar large NA butterfly. State butterfly of 6 US states. Female has YELLOW and BLACK pipevine-mimicking morphs.
Hummingbird Clearwing
Day-flying hawk moth that looks and behaves so much like a hummingbird that birders misidentify her.
White-Lined Sphinx
Most widespread hawk moth in NA. Hovers at flowers like a hummingbird at dawn and dusk.
Marmalade Hoverfly
4 BILLION migrate across Britain annually. Largest insect migration on Earth. Pollen mass ~80M tons.
Pipevine Swallowtail
TOXIC. Model for at least 5 mimic butterfly species. Caterpillars sequester pipevine alkaloids.
Viceroy Butterfly
Famous monarch mimic. For 100 years taught as Batesian (palatable) — 1991 proved her ALSO toxic.
Large Bee Fly
Fly that mimics a bumblebee. FLICKS her eggs into bee burrows from above. Long hovering proboscis.
Hornet Moth
Moth that mimics a European hornet so well even entomologists are fooled. Wings are transparent.
Firebug
Bright red-and-black aggregating bug. Discovery of juvenile hormone traces to her in 1966.
Postman Butterfly
Eats pollen — only butterfly that does. Lives 6+ months. Centerpiece of modern speciation research.
Lantern Bug
Carries a hollow snout projection. Maria Sibylla Merian's 1701 'glowing lantern' myth still persists.
Mantisfly
Lacewing that evolved into a mantis. Larva hitchhikes on spiders to eat their eggs.
Water Scorpion
True bug that mimics a scorpion. Long tail is a snorkel. Hunts tadpoles with raptorial front legs.
Boxelder Bug
Forms autumn aggregations of thousands on south-facing walls. Same red-and-black mimicry as milkweed bug.
Large Milkweed Bug
Eats only milkweed. Sequesters toxin. Wears warning red-and-black. Major model organism.