12 insects starting with the letter S — each with origin, classification, and notes.
If you've been searching for insects that start with S, you'll find 12 detailed insects below. We're not interested in giving you only a list of names — every entry on this page links to a full profile with the kind of detail you'd actually want to know.
For insects, that means taxonomy, habitat, diet, life cycle, and ecological role.
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.
That's our current list of insects starting with the letter S. We add new entries every week — if you have a favorite insect starting with S that isn't on this page, let us know and we'll write it up.
Looking for more? Try insects that end with S, or contain S anywhere in the name.