Global menu

Insects and other arthropods

Search for an insect or an arthropod

  • Abbott’s sphinx

    These moths’ wings have scalloped margins. The forewings are brown with lighter markings, and the hindwings are yellow with dark edges. In flight they can be confused with bumble bees, since they emit a buzzing sound as they forage among flowers.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Lepidoptera
    Family
    Sphingidae
  • Megachile rotonda

    They are smaller than our indigenous leafcutting bees (5 to 9 mm long, rather than 9 to 20 mm). They are stocky, with broad heads, and females have a ventral brush of short, stiff silver-grey hairs under the abdomen.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Hymenoptera
    Family
    Megachilidae
  • Harmonia axyridis

    Asian lady beetles are between 4.8 and 7.5 mm long. Their elytra, covering a pair of membranous wings, occur in different shades ranging from yellow, orange and red to black and have anywhere from 0 to 20 spots. In Canada, the most common form is orange with 19 black spots.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Coleoptera
    Family
    Coccinellidae
  • Anoplophora glabripennis

    An Asian longhorned beetle is from 20 to 35 mm long. It has long black antenna, with white bands. Its black elytra are marked with about twenty irregular white spots. The scutellum is black, and its legs are black and greyish-blue.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Coleoptera
    Family
    Cerambycidae
  • Cimex lectularius, cosmopolitan.

    Bed bugs belong to the Cimicidae family. This family is composed of more than 100 species that feed on the blood of birds and mammals.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Hemiptera
    Family
    Cimicidae
  •  Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus

    These black wasps have broken whitish or pale yellow bands in the centre of their abdomens, narrowing toward the tip. They have light-coloured legs and amber or greyish wings. They are 17 to 19 mm long.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Hymenoptera
  • Sceliphron caementarium

    These wasps are black with yellow spots. They have a narrow waist (pedicel) about the same length as the rest of the abdomen. They range in total length from 24 to 28 mm. 

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Hymenoptera
    Family
    Sphecidae
  • Papilio polyxenes

    This butterfly’s wingspan is between 9 and 10 cm. Its black wings have two rows of yellow spots along the edges. The lower wings have an orange spot with a black centre on the bottom edge, and the tip of the wing is long and thin.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Papilionidae
    Family
    Lepidoptera
  •  Black vine weevil

    These oval-shaped insects are slate grey to black, 7.5 to 11 mm long, with elbowed antennae. Their elytra (wing covers) are covered with tiny concave areas and patches of short grey or yellow hairs and golden “scales.” They are flightless, since the elytra are fused, but can run quickly.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Coleoptera
    Family
    Curculionidae
  • Bombus terricola

    Bumble bees are large, stocky, hairy insects, generally from 6 to 25 mm long. Their bodies are often black and yellow, sometimes with orange, red or white markings.

    Class
    Insecta
    Order
    Hymenoptera
    Family
    Apidae