List of Insects and Bugs

Insects and bugs are fascinating creatures that play vital roles in our ecosystem. They belong to the class Insecta, which is the largest class of arthropods and comprises approximately 90% of all animal species on Earth. Insects and bugs are incredibly diverse, with over a million known species, and scientists estimate that there may be as many as 30 million more species waiting to be discovered. These tiny creatures come in a range of shapes, sizes, and colors, and can be found in almost every habitat on the planet, from the depths of the ocean to the highest mountaintops. In this blog post, we will explore the list of insects and bugs that inhabit our world.

Table of Contents

Names of Insects and Bugs

Aedes aegypti
African painted bug
Africanized honey bee
Alates
Alderfly
Ambush bug
American cockroach
American dog tick
Anopheles mosquito
Ant
Aphid
Apple maggot fly
Arrowhead scale
Ash borer
Assassin bug
Bagworm
Bagworm moth
Banded woolly bear
Bark beetle
Bed bug
Bee
Bee fly
Beetle
Big-eyed bug
Birch leafminer
Black ant
Black carpet beetle
Black fly
Black vine weevil
Blacklegged tick
Black-legged tick
Blister beetle
Blowfly
Bluebottle fly
Blue-green sharpshooter
Boll weevil
Boxelder bug
Boxwood leafminer
Broad mite
Brown marmorated stink bug
Brown recluse spider
Buckeye butterfly
Butterfly
Cabbage looper
Caddisfly
California oakworm
California red scale
Camel cricket
Carpenter ant
Carpet beetle
Caterpillar
Centipede
Chigger
Chocolate moth
Cicada
Citrus whitefly
Click beetle
Cluster fly
Cockroach
Colorado potato beetle
Common green lacewing
Common house spider
Conehead termite
Conenose bug
Cranefly
Crayfish
Cricket
Cuckoo wasp
Daddy longlegs
Darkling beetle
Deathwatch beetle
Deer tick
Dobsonfly
Dog flea
Dragonfly
Earwig
Eastern tent caterpillar
Emerald ash borer
European hornet
False chinch bug
Field cricket
Fire ant
Firefly
Flea
Flesh fly
Fly
Fruit fly
Fungus gnat
Giant water bug
Glassy-winged sharpshooter
Glowworm
Gnat
Grain beetle
Grape berry moth
Grape flea beetle
Grasshopper
Green lacewing
Green stink bug
Ground beetle
Gypsy moth
Harlequin bug
Harvester ant
Head lice
Hickory horned devil
Hister beetle
Honey bee
Honeybee
Hornet
Horsefly
House cricket
Housefly
Ichneumon wasp
Indian meal moth
Japanese beetle
Jewel wasp
June bug
Katydid
Ladybug
Larch sawfly
Leaf miner
Leaf-footed bug
Leafhopper
Leech
Lesser grain borer
Lice
Lightning bug
Locust
Longhorn beetle
Louse
Luna moth
Lygus bug
Madagascar hissing cockroach
Maggot
Mayfly
Meal moth
Mealworm
Mediterranean fruit fly
Merchant grain beetle
Mexican bean beetle
Midge
Millipede
Minute pirate bug
Mite
Monarch butterfly
Monarch caterpillar
Mosquito
Mosquito hawk
Moth
Mud dauber wasp
Nymph
Oak processionary caterpillar
Orchard spider
Oriental cockroach
Paper wasp
Pill bug
Pillbug
Pine needle scale
Praying mantis
Psyllid
Queen bee
Rat flea
Red ant
Red spider mite
Rhinoceros beetle
Rice weevil
Roach
Robber fly
Scale insect
Scorpion
Silverfish
Slug
Snail
Sow bug
Spider
Spittlebug
Springtail
Squash bug
Stag beetle
Stick insect
Stonefly
Tarantula
Termite
Tick
Tiger beetle
Tiger moth
Tobacco hornworm
Tomato hornworm
True bug
Tsetse fly
Walking stick
Wasp
Water bug
Water strider
Weaver ant
Webworm
Weevil
Western conifer seed bug
Whitefly
Widow spider
Wolf spider
Yellowjacket
Zebra butterfly

Are All Bugs Insects?

No, not all bugs are insects. In common language, the term “bug” is often used to refer to any small creeping or flying creature, including insects, arachnids, and other small invertebrates.

However, in scientific terms, “bug” refers to insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, which includes true bugs such as stink bugs, bed bugs, and cicadas. These insects have mouthparts adapted for piercing and sucking, and many of them have distinctive shield-shaped bodies.

So while all insects are bugs in common language, not all bugs are insects in scientific terms.

Why are insects called bugs?

The term “bug” originally referred to a specific type of insect – the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). The word “bug” is thought to have originated from the Middle English word “bugge,” which referred to a type of ghost or hobgoblin. The term “bugge” was later applied to insects, especially bed bugs, which were commonly found in homes and associated with nighttime nuisances.

Over time, the term “bug” became a more general term for any small, creeping, or crawling insect. Today, the word “bug” is often used interchangeably with “insect,” although technically not all insects are considered bugs. Bugs are a specific order of insects known as Hemiptera, which are characterized by their piercing and sucking mouthparts and forewings that are thickened at the base and membranous at the tip.

In summary, insects are often called bugs because of the historical association with bed bugs and the gradual expansion of the term to include other small, crawling or creeping insects.

What insects are not bugs?

In everyday language, people often use the term “bug” to refer to any small crawling or flying creature, but in biological terms, the word “bug” specifically refers to a group of insects called Hemiptera, which includes true bugs such as stink bugs, cicadas, and aphids.

Therefore, there are many insects that are not bugs. Some examples include:

Beetles: Beetles belong to the order Coleoptera and are characterized by their hard, protective forewings, which cover their membranous hind wings.
Butterflies and moths: Butterflies and moths belong to the order Lepidoptera and are known for their delicate wings covered in scales.
Ants, bees, and wasps: Ants, bees, and wasps belong to the order Hymenoptera and are characterized by their narrow waist and ability to sting.
Flies: Flies belong to the order Diptera and are known for their single pair of wings and ability to fly quickly.
Grasshoppers and crickets: Grasshoppers and crickets belong to the order Orthoptera and are characterized by their long hind legs, which they use for jumping.

There are many more examples of insects that are not bugs, but these are some of the most common ones.

Difference Between Insect And Bug

The terms “insect” and “bug” are often used interchangeably, but they actually refer to slightly different things.

Insects are a class of invertebrates that are characterized by having three body segments (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of legs, and often two pairs of wings. Insects include a wide variety of species, such as butterflies, beetles, ants, bees, and grasshoppers.

A bug, on the other hand, is a specific type of insect that belongs to the order Hemiptera. Bugs are characterized by having mouthparts that are modified for piercing and sucking, such as the mouthparts of stink bugs and bed bugs. True bugs also have wings that are partially hardened, with the tips membranous, giving them a distinctive appearance.

So while all bugs are insects, not all insects are bugs. Other types of insects, such as beetles and butterflies, have different mouthparts and wing structures than bugs.