31 insects containing the letter S — each with origin, classification, and notes.
Below are insects that contain the letter S anywhere in the name. Each of the 31 insects below opens to a full profile.
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.
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.
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.
A common name applied to several different long-legged arachnids — including harvestmen (which aren't spiders), cellar spiders, and crane flies (an actual insect) — none of which are dangerous to humans despite persistent myths.
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.
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.
Tiny insects that chemically reprogram oak trees to build elaborate protective structures around their larvae — the oak apple, marble gall, and spangle gall are all created by different gall wasp species; each species produces a uniquely shaped gall from its own chemical signals, essentially directing the tree's own cells to build a home and food supply.
A jumping insect with powerful hind legs and short antennae, eaten across many human cultures and capable, in certain species, of transforming into devastating swarming locusts.
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.
A large biting fly with painful blood-feeding females — capable of cutting through skin with scissor-like mouthparts, leaving wounds that bleed freely and persist for hours, with major impacts on livestock and outdoor activities.
A grasshopper that has transformed into the swarming phase — physiologically distinct from its solitary form, capable of forming billion-strong swarms that devastate agriculture across continents.
A wingless parasitic insect — head lice are particularly common among schoolchildren, body lice can transmit serious diseases including epidemic typhus, and pubic lice are a sexually transmitted parasite.
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.
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.
A tiny biting midge so small it slips through standard window screens, leaving disproportionately painful itchy welts — the bane of summer evenings in coastal and wetland areas.
A large, furry, pale grey moth whose caterpillar is one of the most extraordinary in Britain — vivid green with a dark saddle, a fierce face-like pattern, and two whip-like tails that it waves when threatened; adults are beautifully marked with grey and cream patterning and are among the most striking moths of woodland edges and riverside willows.
A large, often metallic-shelled beetle of the Scarabaeidae family — most famously the dung beetles of African savannas, sacred in ancient Egyptian religion as a symbol of rebirth.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Britain's largest insect — the male stag beetle's enormous antler-like jaws can be longer than his body but are used for wrestling rival males rather than biting; a declining species dependent on rotting wood in old gardens and ancient parkland; adults do not feed and live only a few weeks as adults after 3–7 years as grubs.
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.
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.
An ancient aquatic insect whose larvae are the gold standard of clean water — stonefly larvae require highly oxygenated, cold, unpolluted streams to survive, making them invaluable biological indicators of water quality; adults are drab, flat-winged insects that rest on bankside stones and vegetation, rarely flying far from the stream where they developed; one of the most ancient insect orders, with fossils over 300 million years old.
A diverse group of stinging insects ranging from solitary mud-daubers to aggressive social yellowjackets — predators of garden pests, distinguished from bees by smooth bodies and the ability to sting repeatedly.
An insect that walks on the surface film of still or slow-moving water using hydrophobic leg hairs that trap air — an iconic example of surface-tension locomotion and a model organism for materials science research.
A small blue butterfly of California's San Francisco peninsula — extinct since the 1940s, the first North American butterfly species lost to habitat destruction, and the namesake of the Xerces Society for invertebrate conservation.
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