1
Bumblebee
Bombus terrestris (buff-tailed); over 250 species globally
A large, fuzzy, surprisingly cold-tolerant social bee that pollinates many crops honeybees can't reach — beloved by gardeners, declining alarmingly across multiple species.
Looking for 9-letter insects? Here are 14 insects that fit — each linked to a full profile.
Letters are counted across the whole name with spaces, hyphens, apostrophes, and diacritics excluded. "Apple Pie" is 8 letters; "Boeuf Bourguignon" is 16.
List of 9-letter Insects
2
Butterfly
Danaus plexippus
A large orange-and-black butterfly famous for an annual multi-generation migration of up to 4,800 km between Canada and central Mexico.
3
Caddisfly
Order Trichoptera (various genera)
An aquatic insect whose larvae build elaborate protective cases from pebbles, sand, twigs, or leaf fragments cemented with silk — a key indicator of clean water quality and the inspiration for fly-fishing artificial lures.
4
Centipede
Chilopoda (class — many species)
A fast-moving multi-legged predatory arthropod (technically not an insect but commonly grouped with them) — its venomous front "fangs" make it one of the few terrestrial invertebrates capable of delivering a painful bite to humans.
5
Cockroach
Periplaneta americana
A large, fast, exceptionally hardy insect that has been on Earth for 200+ million years and is now a near-universal urban pest, the species behind most "cockroach" stories.
6
Damselfly
Zygoptera (suborder)
A slender relative of the dragonfly that holds its wings folded together over its back at rest — graceful aerial hunters of stream and pond edges, distinguishable from dragonflies by their delicate build.
7
Dobsonfly
Corydalus cornutus
A large, prehistoric-looking aquatic insect with enormous sickle-shaped jaws (in males) whose larvae spend up to three years in clean streams before emerging for a brief, non-feeding adult life of 3–7 days.
8
Dragonfly
Anax junius
A large, fast-flying dragonfly that migrates thousands of kilometers across North America in a multi-generational journey, an ancient predator with extraordinary aerial agility.
9
Millipede
Diplopoda (class)
A multi-legged arthropod with two pairs of legs per body segment (unlike centipedes' one) — slow-moving detritivores essential to forest decomposition, with some giant African species reaching nearly 40 cm long.
10
Oil Beetle
Meloe violaceus and related Meloe species
A strange, flightless beetle with a swollen, soft abdomen and a fascinating life history — females lay thousands of eggs, the tiny larvae (triungulins) climb flowers and hitch a ride on mining bees back to their burrows, where they feed on the bee's pollen stores and develop through multiple larval stages; when threatened, the beetles exude a blistering oil (cantharidin) from their leg joints.
11
Robber Fly
Family Asilidae (various genera)
The apex predators of the insect world — powerfully built flies that hunt other insects on the wing, seizing prey mid-air with spiny legs and injecting a paralysing venom, then sucking the prey dry; they tackle prey larger than themselves including wasps, bees, and dragonflies.
12
Tarantula
Theraphosidae (family)
A large, hairy spider with a fearsome reputation that's mostly undeserved — about 1,000 species worldwide, with most posing minimal danger to humans, and the giant Goliath birdeater being the largest spider species at 30 cm leg span.
13
Velvet Ant
Mutillidae (family — over 7,000 species; common North American: Dasymutilla occidentalis)
A wingless wasp despite the name "ant," covered in dense bright fur, with a famously painful sting earning the nickname "cow killer" — the female only; males have wings and don't sting.
14
Yucca Moth
Tegeticula yuccasella
A small white moth bound to yucca plants in an obligate mutualism — the only insect that pollinates yucca, while yucca seeds are the only food its larvae can eat.
About 9-letter insects
That's our current list of insects with exactly 9 letters. Need a different length? Try the browse-by-length pills in the sidebar, or combine with a starting letter — for example, 9-letter insects that start with A.