The insect notebook
Meet the insects around you.
20 short guides for a closer look at familiar insects.
Start with a name you recognize. Each guide offers a few useful clues, a question to explore and a source to read next. These pages cover species and broader insect groups; what you encounter depends on your region and season, with examples focused on North America.
Ladybugs
Ladybugs, also called lady beetles or ladybirds, are small beetles. Many garden species eat aphids and other soft-bodied insects.
Read the guide ↗Monarch Butterfly
The monarch butterfly has a four-stage life cycle: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult. Its caterpillars depend on milkweed host plants.
Read the guide ↗Cabbage White Butterfly
The cabbage white is a small white butterfly whose green caterpillar is known as the imported cabbageworm.
Read the guide ↗Honey Bees
The western honey bee is a social bee introduced to North America for honey production. It is one kind of bee, not a name for every flower visitor.
Read the guide ↗Bumble Bees
Bumble bees are important pollinators of wildflowers and crops, including tomatoes and blueberries.
Read the guide ↗Ants
Ants are social insects. A colony may include workers, queens and males, and the ants you see foraging are only part of its life.
Read the guide ↗Paper Wasps
Paper wasps are social wasps associated with open, umbrella-like paper nests. Their hunting links them to other insects in the garden.
Read the guide ↗Dragonflies
Dragonflies are flying predators often seen around ponds. Their immature stages live in water.
Read the guide ↗Damselflies
Damselflies are slender relatives of dragonflies. Their young are aquatic predators.
Read the guide ↗Praying Mantises
A praying mantis is a predator with enlarged grasping front legs. Its still posture can be part of an ambush.
Read the guide ↗Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are familiar plant-feeding insects of fields and grassy edges. Several species occur in North American farmland.
Read the guide ↗Crickets
Crickets usually have long antennae and strong hind legs. Many are active at night, but not every cricket makes a song.
Read the guide ↗Cicadas
Cicadas are tree-associated insects known for loud calls. The hollow shells on trunks are shed skins from their final molt.
Read the guide ↗Fireflies
Fireflies, also called lightning bugs, are beetles. Familiar flashing species are only part of this diverse group.
Read the guide ↗Aphids
Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects that feed on plant sap. Colonies may gather on tender stems or leaves.
Read the guide ↗Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
The brown marmorated stink bug is a shield-shaped, plant-feeding insect introduced to North America from Asia.
Read the guide ↗Boxelder Bugs
Boxelder bugs are black-and-red true bugs often noticed when they gather on warm building surfaces.
Read the guide ↗Earwigs
Earwigs are garden insects best recognized by a pair of pincers at the end of the abdomen.
Read the guide ↗Silverfish
Silverfish are small wingless insects with a tapered body and three tail-like appendages. Indoors, they often seek cool, damp hiding places.
Read the guide ↗House Fly
The house fly is a familiar dull-gray fly found around homes. Its pale, legless larvae are called maggots.
Read the guide ↗