Denver-Boulder Metro Area: Bugs
This guide contains spiders, bees, wasps, ants, beetles, dragonflies, grasshoppers, flies and other bugs that can be found in the Denver-Boulder Metro Area, including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties.
Hyaline Grass Bug
Liorhyssus hyalinus is a species of scentless plant bugs belonging to the family Rhopalidae, subfamily Rhopalinae.
Red-shouldered Bug
Jadera haematoloma, the red-shouldered bug, goldenrain-tree bug or soapberry bug is a species of true bug that lives throughout the United States and south to northern South America. It feeds on seeds within the soapberry plant family, Sapindaceae, and is known to rapidly adapt to feeding on particular hosts. People often confuse this species with the ...more ↓
Western Boxelder Bug
Boisea rubrolineata or the western boxelder bug is identical to the boxelder bug aside from having prominent red veins on its corium. It is found on the west of North America.
Eastern Boxelder Bug
The boxelder bug (Boisea trivittata) is a North American species of true bug. It is found primarily on boxelder trees, as well as maple and ash trees. The adults are about 12.5 millimetres (0.49 in) long with a dark brown or black coloration, relieved by red wing veins and markings on the abdomen; nymphs are bright red.
Eight-spotted Skimmer
The Eight-spotted Skimmer (Libellula forensis) is a dragonfly of the skimmer family.
Widow Skimmer
The Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) is one of the group of dragonflies known as king skimmers. The species can be found commonly across much of the United States (except in the higher Rocky Mountains areas) and in southern Ontario and Quebec. Adults have a steely blue body area but juveniles are yellow with brown stipes. Wings of both sexes are marked with prominent black ...more ↓
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
The Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) is a common North American skimmer dragonfly, found in southern Canada and in all 48 of the contiguous U.S. states.
Four-spotted Skimmer
The four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata), known in North America as the four-spotted skimmer, is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae found frequently throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.
Flame Skimmer
The flame skimmer or firecracker skimmer (Libellula saturata) is a common dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to western North America.
Calico Pennant
The calico pennant (Celithemis elisa) is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is native to eastern Canada and eastern United States.
Halloween Pennant
The Halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina) is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is native to eastern North America, including Ontario in Canada and the United States as far west as Colorado.
Variegated Meadowhawk
The Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to North America.
Black Meadowhawk
The Black Darter or Black Meadowhawk (Sympetrum danae) is a dragonfly found in northern Europe, Asia, and North America. At about 30 mm (1.2 in) long, it is Britain's smallest resident dragonfly. It is a very active late summer insect typical of heathland and moorland bog pools.
Cherry-faced Meadowhawk
The Cherry-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum internum) is a dragonfly of the genus Sympetrum. It is found across northern and central United States and most of Canada, including southern portions of the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Its abdomen is brown, turning dark red at maturity in both sexes. The sides of the abdomen are marked with black triangles and the legs are ...more ↓
White-faced Meadowhawk
The White-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum obtrusum) is a dragonfly of the genus Sympetrum. It is found in the northern United States and southern Ontario. Adult males are identifiable by a distinctive pure white face and red bodies.
Western Meadowhawk
The Western Meadowhawk (Sympetrum occidentale) is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to western North America. In adult form, the Meadowhawk has a length of 1 1/4 to 1 5/8 inches (31 to 40 mm). The key distinguishing feature is a cloudy, orange-brown band that covers the inner half of each wing. The band may appear darker towards the outside. Males have a yellowish ...more ↓
Band-winged Meadowhawk
The Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum) is a dragonfly of the genus Sympetrum belonging to the family Libellulidae.
Autumn Meadowhawk
The Yellow-legged Meadowhawk or Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum) is a member of the Libellulidae family and grows to 26–35 mm long.
Wandering Glider
Pantala flavescens, the globe skimmer, globe wanderer or wandering glider, is a wide-ranging dragonfly of the family Libellulidae. This species and Pantala hymenaea, the "spot-winged glider", are the only members of the genus Pantala from the subfamily Pantalinae. It was first described by Fabricius in 1798. It is considered to be the most ...more ↓
Spot-winged Glider
The Spot-winged Glider (Pantala hymenaea) is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae. It looks very much like the Wandering Glider with the addition of a basal spot on the hindwing....
Black Saddlebags
The black saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) is a species of skimmer dragonfly found throughout North America. It has distinctive wings with characteristic black blotches at their proximal ends, which make the dragonfly look as though it is wearing saddlebags.
Red Saddlebags
The Red-mantled Saddlebags or Red Saddlebags (Tramea onusta) is a species of skimmer dragonfly found throughout the eastern United States. It has translucent wings with red veins, and has characteristic dark red blotches at their proximal base, which makes the dragonfly look as if it is carrying saddlebags when flying. The last two bands and the cerci of these dragonflies ...more ↓
Western Pondhawk
Erythemis collocata, the western pondhawk, is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to the western United States and Mexico.
Eastern Pondhawk
The Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis), also known as the Common Pondhawk, is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to the eastern two-thirds of the United States and southern Ontario, Canada. The species is distinguished in that the female is bright green and the adult male has a blue abdomen with a green face and green and blue thorax.
Dot-tailed Whiteface
The dot-tailed whiteface (Leucorrhinia intacta) is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is also one of the most common and widespread in the genus Leucorrhinia.
Belted Whiteface
Belted Whiteface or Red-waisted Whiteface (Leucorrhinia proxima) is a species of dragonfly in family Libellulidae. It is found across Canada as far north as Alaska and south to northern parts of the United States.
Blue Dasher
The Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) is a dragonfly of the skimmer family. It is common and widely distributed in the United States.
Eastern Amberwing
The Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis tenera) is a species of dragonfly in family Libellulidae. It is very small, reaching a total length of no more than 25 mm. The males have orange or amber wings. Both genders have a red pterostigma.
Roseate Skimmer
The Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) is a species dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is native to the Americas, where its distribution extends from the United States to Brazil. It is common and widespread. It is an introduced species in Hawaii.
Common Whitetail
The Common Whitetail or Long-tailed Skimmer (Plathemis lydia) is a common dragonfly across much of North America, with a striking and unusual appearance. The male's chunky white body (about 5 cm long), combined with the brownish-black bands on its otherwise translucent wings, give it a checkered look. Females have a brown body and a different pattern of wing spots, ...more ↓
Desert Whitetail
The Desert Whitetail (Plathemis subornata) is a species of dragonfly in the family in Libellulidae. P. subornata is often put into the genus Libellula.
Pale Snaketail
Ophiogomphus severus is a species of dragonfly in the family Gomphidae. It is commonly known as the pale snaketail.
Common Green Darner
The Green Darner or Common Green Darner (Anax junius), after its resemblance to a darning-needle, is a species of dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. One of the most common and abundant species throughout North America and it ranges south to Panama. It is well known for its great migration distance from the northern United States south into Texas and Mexico. It also ...more ↓
Lance-tipped Darner
Aeshna constricta, the lance-tipped darner, is a species of darner in the family of dragonflies known as Aeshnidae. It is found in North America.
Variable Darner
The Variable Darner (Aeshna interrupta) is a dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae, native from Alaska through the Northwest Territories to Newfoundland, south to New Hampshire and Michigan in the eastern United States, and to the mountains of New Mexico, Arizona, and California in the west. It's named after the distinctive broken stripes on the sides of the thorax of many ...more ↓
Paddle-tailed Darner
Paddle-tailed Darner (Aeshna palmata) is a species of dragonfly in family Aeshnidae. It is common throughout eastern Canada and United States. It's named after its distinctive paddle-shaped appendages. It lives in many habitats, particularly lakes, ponds, and slow streams, usually with dense shore vegetation.Aeshna palmata was scientifically described for the first ...more ↓
Shadow Darner
The Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa) is a species dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. It is found in all provinces in Canada excepting Newfoundland and most states in the United States.
Blue-eyed Darner
The Blue-eyed Darner (Aeshna multicolor, syn. Rhionaeschna multicolor) is a dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae.
American Rubyspot
The American Rubyspot (Hetaerina americana) is a damselfly of the family Calopterygidae. Males have a lustrous red head and thorax. The abdomen of both genders is brilliant green. The female may have either green or copper colored marks on the thorax.
Ebony Jewelwing
The ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata) is a species of broad-winged damselfly. It is one of about 170 species of Odonata, found in the eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada, ranging west to the Great Plains. Other common names include black-winged damselfly.
Great Spreadwing
The great spreadwing (Archilestes grandis) is a damselfly in the family Lestidae. When great spreadwings are startled they often return to the same perch or a perch nearby.
Spotted Spreadwing
Lestes congener, common name Spotted Spreadwing, is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae.
Slender Spreadwing
Lestes rectangularis is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. It is known by the common name slender spreadwing. It is native to eastern North America, including eastern Canada and the United States.
Double-striped Bluet
The double-striped bluet (Enallagma basidens) is species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. This species grows to lengths 21–28 mm. Its common name from the peculiar black shoulder stripe, which is divided in two by a thin blue stripe. This is the key identification characteristic; no other damselfly has a shoulder stripe that looks like this one.
Boreal Bluet
The boreal bluet (Enallagma boreale) is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae.
Tule Bluet
The Tule Bluet (Enallagma carunculatum) is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae found in North America.
Familiar Bluet
The familiar bluet (Enallagma civile) is a damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae, native to much of the United States and southern Canada.
Southern Damselfly
Southern Damselfly (Coenagrion mercuriale) is a species of damselfly in family Coenagrionidae. It is found in Algeria, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom. Its natural habitats are rivers and freshwater springs. It is threatened by ...more ↓
Eastern Forktail
Eastern forktail (Ischnura verticalis) is a member of the damselfly family Coenagrionidae.
Common Earwig
Forficula auricularia, the common earwig or European earwig, is an omnivorous insect in the family Forficulidae. The European earwig survives in a variety of environments and is a common household insect in North America. The name "earwig" comes from a false superstition that these insects crawl into human ears and enter the brain; in fact, they are harmless to ...more ↓
Willow Pinecone Gall Midge
Rabdophaga strobiloides, the willow pinecone gall midge, is a species of gall midges in the family Cecidomyiidae.
Margined Calligrapher
Toxomerus marginatus, is a common species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of North America.
Orange-spined Drone Fly
Eristalis nemorum is a species of hoverfly. It is found in the Palearctic (Fennoscandia South to Iberia, the Balkans and Italy, Ireland eastwards through Central Europe into Turkey and Russia and on into the Russian Far East, Siberia and Japan) and in the Nearctic (Quebec south to Colorado).
Common Drone Fly
Eristalis tenax is a hoverfly, also known as the drone fly (or "dronefly"). It is migratory and cosmopolitan, the most widely distributed syrphid species in the world, and is known from all regions except the Antarctic. It has been introduced into North America and is widely established.
Thick-legged Hoverfly
Syritta pipiens is a very common species of European hover fly. Sometimes called the thick-legged hoverfly, from its distinctive broad hind femora. They are fast nimble fliers, Larvae feed in rotting organic matter.
Adejeania vexatrix
Adejeania vexatrix is a species of fly in the family Tachinidae. It is found in western North America from Mexico to Wyoming and British Columbia. In addition to its bright orange abdomen and prominent, heavy black setae, this species is noted for its greatly elongated palpi, which stick straight forward from under the fly's head. A similar looking tachinid fly, Hystricia ...more ↓
Swift Feather-legged Fly
Trichopoda pennipes is a fly in the family Tachinidae. The larvae are parasitoids of several true bugs, particularly squash bugs and leaf-footed bugs in the family Coreidae and stinkbugs in the family Pentatomidae and it is used as a biological control agent for these agricultural pests. It is native to North and South America and has been introduced into southern Europe.
Common Greenbottle Fly
The common green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) is a blow fly found in most areas of the world, and the most well-known of the numerous green bottle fly species. It is 10–14 mm long, slightly larger than a house fly, and has brilliant, metallic, blue-green or golden coloration with black markings. It has short, sparse black bristles (setae) and three cross-grooves on the ...more ↓
secondary screwworm
Cochliomyia macellaria, the secondary screwworm, is a species of blow fly in the family Calliphoridae.
Yellow Dung Fly
Scathophaga stercoraria, commonly known as the yellow dung fly or the golden dung fly, is one of the most familiar and abundant flies in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere. As its common name suggests, it is often found on the feces of large mammals, such as horses, cattle, sheep, deer, and wild boar, where it goes to breed. The distribution of S. ...more ↓
House Fly
The housefly (Musca domestica) is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha. It is believed to have evolved in the Cenozoic era, possibly in the Middle East, and has spread all over the world as a commensal of humans. It is the most common fly species found in houses. Adults are grey to black with four dark longitudinal lines on the thorax, slightly hairy bodies and a single pair of ...more ↓
Peacock Fly
Callopistromyia annulipes is a species of ulidiid or picture-winged fly in the genus Callopistromyia of the family Ulidiidae.
Picture-winged Fly
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Thistle Stem Gall Fly
Urophora cardui or the Canada thistle gall fly is a fruit fly which, contrary to its common name, is indigenous to Central Europe from the United Kingdom east to near the Crimea, and from Sweden south to the Mediterranean.
Cyrtopogon
Cyrtopogon is a genus of robber flies in the family Asilidae. There are at least 120 described species in Cyrtopogon.
Greater Bee Fly
The large bee-fly, Bombylius major, is a bee mimic. The eggs are flicked by the adult female toward the entrance of the underground nests of solitary bees and wasps. After hatching, the larvae find their way into the nests to feed on the grubs.
Giant mayfly
Hexagenia limbata, the giant mayfly, is a species of mayfly in the family Ephemeridae. It is native to North America where it is distributed widely near lakes and slow-moving rivers. The larvae, known as nymphs, are aquatic and burrow in mud and the adult insects have brief lives.
Chinese Mantis
The Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) is a species of praying mantis native to Asia and the nearby islands. In 1896 this species was accidentally introduced by a nurseryman at Mt. Airy near Philadelphia, PA. Tenodera sinensis often is erroneously referred to as Tenodera aridifolia sinensis because it was at first described as a subspecies of Tenodera ...more ↓
European Mantis
Mantis religiosa, referred to as the European Mantis outside of Europe and known simply as the Praying Mantis in Europe and elsewhere, is one of the most well-known and widespread species of the order Mantodea.
Common Green Lacewings
Chrysoperla is a genus of green lacewings in the neuropteran family Chrysopidae. Therein they belong to the Chrysopini, the largest tribe of subfamily Chrysopinae.
Common Silverfish
A silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) is a small, wingless insect in the order Zygentoma (formerly Thysanura). Its common name derives from the animal's silvery light grey color, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements, while the scientific name (L. saccharina) indicates the silverfish's diet consists of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches.
Common Pill-bug
Armadillidium vulgare, the (common) pill-bug, (common) pill woodlouse, or roly poly, is a widespread European species of woodlouse. It is the most extensively investigated terrestrial isopod species.
