Insects & Spiders of North America (and other Bugs)
Backyard Bugs
Here is a list of the common groups of insects and arachnids in the USA. Some sections include information about exotic pet insects too. Please CLICK the text and photo links below to visit the databases for those groups of bugs. We have pictures of many bugs that are common in United States cities. We also have a large picture database of various insects and spiders that are common in the hobby of keeping live bugs as pets. Please make use of the <Back button on your browser from the sub-category pages until we have a chance to make navigation a bit easier.
| Common Name | Scientific Name | Description | Size | Photo Link |
| Ants | Hymenoptera | usually wingless, ground-dwelling | 1/4-3/4 in. |
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| Aphids, Leafhoppers & Cicadas | Homoptera | most small, suck juices from plants. Cicadas have familiar buzzing song and are an inch or more in length. | 1/2-1 1/2 in. |
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| Aquatic Bugs | Various bugs found in water | Various bugs found in water including True Bugs (Hemiptera) and Beetles (Coleoptera) | 1/8 - 3 in. |
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| Bees Wasps & Hornets | Hymenoptera | 2 pairs of wings, fairly long antennae, most sting | 1/2 - 1 in. |
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| Beetles: Including Scarab, Stag, Rhino | Coleoptera | hardened wing-covers, rounded shape | 1/4 - 3 in. |
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| Butterflies | Lepidoptera | fly by day, usually colorful, hold wings vertically at rest | 3/4 - 3 in. |
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| Centipedes & Millipedes | Chilopoda & Diplopoda | many pairs of legs, long-bodied (not actually insects) | 3/4 - 4 in. |
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| Cockroaches | Blattaria | Mostly nocturnal. Closely related to mantids, though pronotum (neck-covering) usually extends over downward-pointing head. | 1/2 - 4 in. |
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| Dragonflies & Damselflies | Odonata | 2 pairs of wings, usually found near source of water | 1 1/2 - 3 in. |
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| Earwigs | Dermaptera | pincers on end of abdomen, often seen on roses and in ears of corn at grocery stores | 1/2 - 1 in. | |
| Flies | Diptera | 1 pair of wings, short antennae, stingless | 1/4 - 1 in. |
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| Grasshoppers, Crickets & Katydids | Orthoptera | "Hopper" insects, hind pair of legs are longer | 1/2 - 4 in. |
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| Lacewings, Antlions, Alderflies | Myrmeleontidae | Wings with prominent veins. Antennae long. Antlions like dragonflies with long antennae. Mantispids like mantises with raptorial forelegs. | 1/2- 3 in. |
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| Mantises | Mantidae | Large. front pair of legs together as if "praying" but used for catching other bugs | 1/4 - 4 in. |
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| Moths | Lepidoptera | Most fly by night, usually brown and not very colorful, hold wings in tent shape over body | 1/4 - 5 in. |
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| Pill and Sow Bugs | Isopoda | info. soon | 1/2 in.... |
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| Spiders | Araneae | 8 legs, often in webs but not always, 2 main body parts (insects have 3) | 1/4 - 3 in. |
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| Stick-insects (Walkingsticks) | Phasmida | long, skinny, look like twigs, usually brown or green | 3/4 - 6 in. |
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| Termites | Isoptera | most commonly seen in summertime, male is winged at this time with a reddish body, otherwise clear to white and found underground or in wood. | 1/4 - 1 in. |
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| True Bugs- Stink Bugs | Hemiptera | some species seem to come in swarms (boxelder bug) and are common on houses and bushes | 1/8 - 3 in. |
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| Scorpions | Scorpiones | Nocturnal arachnids with two pincers and tail with venomous "stinger" on the end of it. Some species are considered deadly. | 3/4 - 10 in. |
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| Slugs & Snails | Gastropoda | Snails have shells. Slugs don't. | 1 - 10 inches |
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| Whipspiders | Amblypygi | These strange arachnids are part spider, part scorpion. Cave-dwellers and found on rock faces. Recede within cracks in rocks by day. | 1/2 - 3 in. |
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| Tarantulas | Theraphosidae | Usually large and covered with hair. Species distinguished as arboreal or terrestrial. Most species are mildly venomous. | 3 - 12 in. |
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| Vinegaroons | Thelyphonida (Uropygi) | info. soon | 3 in. |
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| Windscorpions | Solfugidae | Fast as wind, nocturnal arachnids. Jaws proportionately largest in animal kingdom. Non-venomous. | 3/4 - 6 in. |
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