How to use the insect identifier
Take a clear photo of the insect
Use natural light if you can. Get the whole body in the frame and try to include antennae and legs.
Open the insect identifier tool
Tap the upload button above. Accept JPG or PNG up to 15 MB. No signup is required.
Review the AI suggestion
You'll get the insect's name, a confidence score, and a safety level. If confidence is low, try a clearer photo.
Read the related guide
Most results link to a detailed guide on this site with photos, prevention tips, and when to call a pro.
What to look for when identifying an insect
The AI does most of the work, but a quick mental checklist saves time. Most insect identification comes down to six visible features:
Insect identification checklist
Check each clue below to narrow down what you saw.
Number of legs
6 legs = insect; 8 legs = spider or mite (not an insect)
Wings
None, two, four, or hard wing covers (beetles)
Body shape
Long and thin, round, segmented, or pear-shaped
Antennae
Long and thin (moths), short and bent (bees), feathered (silk moths)
Color and pattern
Solid, striped, spotted, banded, or iridescent
Where you saw it
Indoors, on plants, near water, under bark
What is this insect? Three questions that narrow it fast
Most people arrive here holding a photo and one question. So before you scroll any further, run these three checks, because between them they rule out the large majority of wrong answers.
- How many legs? Count them first, since six means an insect and eight means an arachnid. That single answer halves the candidate list before colour or size matters at all.
- Does it have antennae? Then look at the head. Every insect carries a pair, while no spider or mite has any. Because antennae survive in a blurry photo better than leg count does, this is often the more reliable of the two.
- Where did you find it? Finally, note the place. A damp basement points at springtails and woodlice, whereas a pantry points at beetles and moths, and a windowsill in autumn points at cluster flies or boxelder bugs.
Once those three are answered you usually have the group, and the group is what decides your next move. Still unsure? Upload the photo to the insect identifier above and compare its suggestion against your own answers.
Insect identification chart: common insects by group
Our insect identifier handles the most common North American household and garden insects, including:
Insect identification chart, by group
Beetles
- Examples
- Carpet beetles, weevils, ladybugs
- Where you see them
- Pantry, gardens, indoors
Flies
- Examples
- Fruit flies, drain flies, house flies
- Where you see them
- Kitchens, drains, fruit
Ants
- Examples
- Black ants, carpenter ants, sugar ants
- Where you see them
- Counters, walls, outdoors
Bees & wasps
- Examples
- Honeybees, bumblebees, paper wasps
- Where you see them
- Gardens, eaves, yards
Moths
- Examples
- Pantry moths, silk moths, hawk moths
- Where you see them
- Pantry, lights at night
Butterflies
- Examples
- Monarchs, swallowtails, painted ladies
- Where you see them
- Gardens, meadows
Caterpillars
- Examples
- Monarch larvae, hornworms, woolly bears
- Where you see them
- Plants, trees
True bugs
- Examples
- Bed bugs, stink bugs, boxelder bugs
- Where you see them
- Beds, indoors in fall
For the big green caterpillar with a horn on tomatoes and peppers, see our hornworm guide. For spiders, see our spider identifier. For bugs you can’t place into a clear category, our general bug identifier covers a broader range.
Already know the group? Each one has a full guide. Bees are sorted in our types of bees guide. Ants have a page on how to get rid of ants, and ladybugs one on ladybug vs Asian beetle. Small flies near a sink are usually drain flies, and a fast roach in the kitchen is most often a German cockroach.
Flying insect identification: start with the wings
Flying insects are the hardest group to photograph and the easiest to narrow down, because the wings give the answer before anything else does. So look at the wings first, then the antennae.
Flying insect identification by wing type
One pair only, with small knobs behind them
- Likely group
- Flies (Diptera)
- Everyday examples
- House flies, fruit flies, drain flies, crane flies
Hard covers meeting in a straight line down the back
- Likely group
- Beetles (Coleoptera)
- Everyday examples
- Ladybugs, carpet beetles, June beetles
Two pairs, covered in fine scales, often dusty to the touch
- Likely group
- Moths and butterflies
- Everyday examples
- Pantry moths, hawk moths, monarchs
Two pairs, clear and hooked together in flight
- Likely group
- Bees, wasps, ants (Hymenoptera)
- Everyday examples
- Honeybees, paper wasps, flying ants
Held tent-like over the back, front half thickened
- Likely group
- True bugs (Hemiptera)
- Everyday examples
- Stink bugs, boxelder bugs, cicadas
Two pairs, long and net-veined, held flat or upright
- Likely group
- Dragonflies and lacewings
- Everyday examples
- Darners, green lacewings
Two quick tells save most of the work. First, a single pair of wings almost always means a fly, because no other common group has lost the second pair. Second, powder on your fingers after handling means scales, and scales mean a moth or a butterfly rather than anything else.
What actually makes an insect an insect
An insect is not simply a small crawling animal. The word has a precise meaning, and three features settle it. Every adult insect has six legs, a body divided into three sections, and a pair of antennae. Miss any of those and you are looking at something else.
- Head. Carries the eyes, the antennae, and the mouthparts. Antennae are the quickest check, because no spider or mite has them.
- Thorax. The middle section. All six legs attach here, and so do the wings when there are any. Legs coming off the abdomen means it is not an insect.
- Abdomen. The rear section, holding the digestive and reproductive organs.
One warning about leg count. It applies to adults. A caterpillar looks like it has far more than six. Behind the three pairs of true legs sit soft stubs called prolegs. They are not legs, and they vanish when the caterpillar changes into a moth or butterfly. So count only the jointed pairs nearest the head.
The things people call insects that are not
Most misidentifications are not about species. They are about the group, and getting the group wrong sends people to the wrong treatment entirely. These are the five that come up constantly.
Not insects, and how to tell instantly
Arachnids
- Examples
- Spiders, mites, ticks, scorpions, harvestmen
- Legs
- 8
- The instant tell
- No antennae at all, and two body sections rather than three
Myriapods
- Examples
- Centipedes, millipedes
- Legs
- Many
- The instant tell
- A long segmented body with legs on nearly every segment
Crustaceans
- Examples
- Woodlice, pillbugs, sowbugs
- Legs
- 14
- The instant tell
- Armoured overlapping plates. These are land crustaceans, closer to crabs than to beetles
Entognatha
- Examples
- Springtails
- Legs
- 6
- The instant tell
- Six legs, but the mouthparts are tucked inside the head, and it jumps by flicking a tail-like furcula
Annelids and larvae
- Examples
- Earthworms, maggots, grubs
- Legs
- 0 or unclear
- The instant tell
- No jointed legs and no distinct head capsule
The myriapods are the two people ask about most. One pair of legs per segment and a fast runner is a centipede; two pairs per ring and a slow mover that coils into a spiral is a millipede.
Springtails are the real edge case. Books called them insects for years, and they do have six legs. Today they sit in their own group, Entognatha, because the mouthparts are tucked inside the head. For everyday ID that hardly matters. For a treatment label it does, since sprays aimed at true insects often barely touch them.
Why the group matters more than the species
Name the group first. It saves time and money, because the group decides what you do next far more than the exact species does.
- Treatment differs. Products for insects frequently do nothing to mites, which is why people repeat a spray and conclude it failed.
- Risk differs. Almost no insect in a home is medically significant. The few arachnids that are, such as widows and recluses, are worth identifying properly.
- Cause differs. Springtails, woodlice, and booklice all point at damp rather than dirt, so the fix is a dehumidifier rather than an insecticide.
- It halves the candidate list. Six legs versus eight rules out most of the wrong answers before you look at colour or size.
Once you know the group, follow the right guide. For eight legs, use the spider identifier. If the bug has already gone, what bug is this works from what you remember. If you still have it in front of you, identifying by picture is fastest.
Insect identifier app vs browser tool
Dedicated insect identification apps (Picture Insect, iNaturalist, Seek) work well, but each has tradeoffs. iNaturalist needs an account; Picture Insect uses paid features for some species; Seek is general-purpose. A browser tool like ours runs without an install and protects your photo from being stored long-term.
- Browser tool (this site): No signup, no install, mobile-friendly.
- iNaturalist: Best for unusual or rare species; community helps confirm.
- Picture Insect: Quick mobile results; some species require paid features.
- Seek by iNaturalist: Great for kids; uses your phone camera live.
Pest control disclaimer. Photo-based identification can help, but it is not always perfect. For dangerous spiders, large infestations, or anything you are unsure about, contact a licensed pest control professional.