Insects that contain I — 48 detailed entries

Below are insects that contain the letter I anywhere in the name. Each of the 48 insects below opens to a full profile.

Table of contents 48 entries

List of Insects That Contain I

Aphid

Aphidoidea (superfamily — many species)

A tiny soft-bodied sap-sucking insect that reproduces astonishingly fast through asexual cloning — the gardener's nemesis on roses, vegetables, and fruit, and the prey ladybugs evolved to control.

Assassin Bug

Reduviidae (family; approximately 6,800 species)

A predatory true bug that ambushes and stabs other insects with a powerful curved rostrum, injecting saliva that liquefies the victim's tissues — with some species also capable of transmitting Chagas disease to humans.

Brimstone Butterfly

Gonepteryx rhamni

The sulphur-yellow butterfly that heralds spring — males are an unmistakable lemon-yellow, females a paler greenish-white; one of the longest-lived British butterflies, spending the winter as an adult hibernating among ivy and evergreen leaves, then emerging on warm February days to become the first butterfly many people see each year.

Buff-tip Moth

Phalera bucephala

One of Britain's most extraordinary camouflaged insects — at rest, the buff-tip moth is almost indistinguishable from a broken birch twig, with its pale yellow-buff wing tips and grey middle aligned to mimic a stub of birch; the hairy, yellow-and-black larvae are gregarious and can strip a tree of leaves in days.

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.

Caterpillar

Lepidoptera (order, larval stage)

The larval stage of butterflies and moths — voracious eating machines that can consume 27,000 times their birth weight before pupating, with thousands of species ranging from harmless monarchs to dangerous puss caterpillars.

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.

Cicada

Magicicada septendecim (and related species)

A loud-singing insect spending 13 or 17 years underground as a nymph before emerging in massive synchronized broods to mate and die within weeks.

Clearwing Moth

Family Sesiidae (various genera)

Moths with transparent wings that convincingly mimic wasps and bees — the hornet moth looks exactly like a hornet; other species mimic bumblebees or wasps so precisely that even experienced naturalists hesitate; adults are active by day and fly fast; larvae bore in tree trunks, stems, and roots for 2–3 years.

Click Beetle

Agrypnus murinus

A beetle that escapes predators by snapping its body to launch itself into the air with an audible click — a remarkable mechanical hinge mechanism that can catapult the beetle up to 30 cm high.

Cricket

Acheta domesticus

A nocturnal insect known for the male's incessant chirping, originally from Asia and now naturalized worldwide as a pet-food, fishing-bait, and human-food crop.

Darkling Beetle

Tenebrio molitor

A large family of dark-coloured, flightless desert beetles — including the mealworm beetle and the famous Namib fog-basking beetle that harvests drinking water from coastal fog on its textured back.

Earwig

Forficula auricularia

A nocturnal insect with prominent rear pincers and a famous (false) reputation for crawling into human ears, an attentive mother to its eggs and young.

Fire Ant

Solenopsis invicta

An aggressive, venom-injecting red-brown ant whose painful sting produces a burning sensation and a characteristic white pustule — one of the world's most damaging invasive insects, responsible for billions in annual agricultural and ecological losses.

Firefly

Photinus pyralis (common Eastern firefly)

A bioluminescent beetle whose flashing courtship signals light up summer evenings, with each species using a distinctive flash pattern to find mates.

Fruit Fly

Drosophila melanogaster

A small fly species (Drosophila melanogaster) that became the most important laboratory animal in genetics research — the workhorse of 20th-century genetics, with much of modern biology built on fruit fly studies.

Goliath Beetle

Goliathus goliatus (and related Goliathus species)

The heaviest insect on Earth — a male goliath beetle in its larval stage can weigh up to 100 grams, more than a small bird; the adults are strikingly patterned in black and white and can reach 110 mm in length; found in the tropical rainforests of Africa, they are popular in the insect-keeping hobby.

Green Hairstreak

Callophrys rubi

Britain's only green butterfly — the vivid emerald underside of its wings makes it one of the most beautiful small butterflies of spring; the upperwing is a dull brown, making it effectively invisible when perched on brown vegetation, but when it opens its wings momentarily in sunlight the green underside flashes brilliantly; associated with gorse, broom, and bilberry on heathland and downland.

Inchworm

Geometridae (family — many species)

The caterpillar of geometer moths, distinguished by its looping "measure-the-cloth" gait — pulling rear feet up to front feet, then arching forward — and famous in nursery songs.

Katydid

Tettigoniidae (family — over 8,000 species)

A green, leaf-mimicking long-horned insect closely related to crickets and grasshoppers, with an iconic raspy "katy-did, katy-didn't" night call from male wing-rubbing.

Lacewing

Chrysoperla carnea

A delicate green or brown insect with large, elaborately veined transparent wings and golden eyes — whose larvae are ferocious aphid hunters earning them the nickname "aphid lion," making lacewings one of the most beneficial insects in gardens and agriculture.

Mantis

Mantis religiosa (European mantis)

A predatory insect with raptorial forelegs held in a "praying" posture, capable of swiveling its triangular head 180° and famous for the female's occasional sexual cannibalism.

Midge

Chironomidae (family)

Tiny non-biting flies that emerge in massive swarms from lakes and rivers — looking like mosquitoes but harmless to humans, with critical roles as fish food and as bioindicators of water quality.

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.

Mosquito

Anopheles gambiae (malaria mosquito); Aedes aegypti (yellow fever mosquito)

A small, blood-feeding fly responsible for more human deaths annually than any other animal, the primary vector for malaria, dengue, yellow fever, and Zika.

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.

Orange-tip Butterfly

Anthocharis cardamines

A delicate white butterfly of spring hedgerows — males have vivid orange wingtips that give the species its name, while females are white with black tips, easily mistaken for other whites; the underside of both sexes is marbled green and white, providing perfect camouflage on cow parsley flowers where they roost.

Pill Bug

Armadillidium vulgare

A land-dwelling crustacean — not an insect but an isopod — that rolls into a perfect sphere when threatened, lives in moist soil and leaf litter, and plays an essential role in breaking down decaying plant matter.

Pine Weevil

Hylobius abietis

The most economically damaging forest pest in Europe — the large pine weevil is a dark, mottled brown weevil whose adults feed on the bark of young conifer trees, girdling and killing transplanted seedlings; it is the primary threat to commercial conifer replanting across Scandinavia and northern Europe, where it can destroy entire newly planted coupes; adults feed at night, concealing themselves under bark and debris by day.

Punkie

Ceratopogonidae (family); regional name often refers to Culicoides spp.

A regional Northeastern U.S. name for tiny biting midges, especially common in coastal Maine and the Maritime provinces — small enough to bite through screens and disproportionately painful for their size.

Scorpion

Scorpiones (order — many species)

An ancient arachnid with venomous tail and pincered front claws — among the oldest land animals on Earth (430 million years), with surprising longevity and bizarre fluorescence under UV light.

Scorpionfly

Panorpa communis (and related Panorpa species)

A bizarre-looking woodland insect named for the male's upturned, scorpion-like tail — actually the genitalia, not a sting; scorpionflies have a long, beak-like rostrum, mottled brown and yellow wings, and a peculiar habit of stealing prey from spider webs; they are significant scavengers of dead insects and small animals, and are among the oldest winged insect lineages.

Silverfish

Lepisma saccharina

A small, primitive, wingless insect with a silver-gray scaly body and a long-evolutionary lineage, found in damp homes feeding on starches, paper, and book bindings.

Snail

Gastropoda (class — many species)

A spiral-shelled mollusk (technically not an insect, often grouped colloquially) that moves on a single muscular foot — an agricultural pest in gardens but a French and Italian culinary tradition (escargot, lumache).

Soldier Beetle

Rhagonycha fulva

A soft-bodied, colourful beetle named for its scarlet-and-black colour reminiscent of a British redcoat soldier — an important pollinator that visits flowers for pollen while hunting smaller insects.

Spider

Araneae (order)

An eight-legged predatory arachnid (technically not an insect but commonly grouped with them) — over 50,000 species worldwide, with prey-capture techniques ranging from web-building to ambush, jumping, lassoing, and net-casting.

Springtail

Collembola (class; approximately 8,000 species)

A tiny soil-dwelling hexapod that leaps into the air using a spring-loaded tail appendage — among the most abundant land animals on Earth, with millions per square meter of healthy soil playing a critical role in decomposition and nutrient cycling.

Stick Insect

Phasmatodea (order)

Masters of camouflage that resemble twigs, leaves, or sticks — over 3,000 species worldwide, with some Asian species reaching 60 cm long, including several capable of parthenogenetic reproduction without males.

Stinkbug

Pentatomidae (family)

A shield-shaped insect with foul-smelling defensive chemicals — including the brown marmorated stinkbug, an invasive Asian species that has become a major American agricultural pest since its 2001 detection in Pennsylvania.

Termite

Reticulitermes flavipes (Eastern subterranean termite)

A wood-eating social insect — actually a derived cockroach — that builds elaborate colonies, decomposes vast quantities of plant matter, and causes billions in property damage annually.

Tick

Ixodida (suborder)

A blood-feeding arachnid that transmits more diseases than any other arthropod — including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and rickettsial infections, with major populations expanding due to climate change.

Tortrix Moth

Family Tortricidae (various genera)

Small, bell-shaped moths whose caterpillars are among the most damaging to gardens and orchards — they roll leaves into shelters bound with silk and eat the enclosed tissue; the codling moth (apple's worst enemy) and the light brown apple moth are tortrix moths, and European vine moth damages grapevines worldwide.

Underwing Moth

Catocala spp. (genus — over 200 species)

A large nocturnal moth with cryptic gray-brown forewings camouflaged like tree bark, concealing brilliantly colored hindwings flashed in startle displays to confuse predators.

Vine Weevil

Otiorhynchus sulcatus

The most damaging garden pest in Britain — its soil-dwelling larvae eat through the roots of container plants and garden favourites including fuchsia, begonia, heuchera, and strawberry, causing sudden plant collapse; the adult is a dull black beetle that notches leaf edges at night and cannot fly.

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