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.

Odorous House Ant 2
Tapinoma sessile
Western Carpenter Ant 1
Camponotus modoc
Bicolored Carpenter Ant 3
Camponotus vicinus
Western Thatching Ant 4
Formica obscuripes
Red Harvester Ant 5
Pogonomyrmex barbatus
Rough Harvester Ant 5
Pogonomyrmex rugosus
Western Harvester Ant 1
Pogonomyrmex occidentalis
Fire Ants 6
Solenopsis
Red Pavement Ant 8
Tetramorium caespitum
Common Eastern Velvet Ant 9
Dasymutilla occidentalis
Great Golden Digger Wasp 14
Sphex ichneumoneus
Great Black Wasp 15
Sphex pensylvanicus
Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber 16
Sceliphron caementarium
Blue Mud Dauber 17
Chalybion californicum
Beewolf 9
Philanthus gibbosus
Four-banded Stink Bug Hunter Wasp 19
Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus
Eastern Cicada Killer Wasp 20
Sphecius speciosus
Long-horned Bee 16
Svastra obliqua
Agile Long-horned Bee 21
Melissodes agilis
Two-spotted Long-horned Bee 22
Melissodes bimaculatus
Pruinose Squash Bee 23
Peponapis pruinosa
Bumble-bee-mimic Digger Bee 24
Anthophora bomboides
California Cuckoo Bee 25
Xeromelecta californica
Cuckoo Bee 26
Melecta pacifica
Black-and-gold Bumble Bee 28
Bombus auricomus
Nevada Bumble Bee 29
Bombus nevadensis
High Country Bumble Bee 30
Bombus balteatus
Brown-belted Bumble Bee 31
Bombus griseocollis
Morrison's Bumble Bee 32
Bombus morrisoni
Red-belted Bumble Bee 33
Bombus rufocinctus
Black-notched Bumble Bee 34
Bombus bifarius
Hunt's Bumble Bee 31
Bombus huntii
Forest Bumble Bee 35
Bombus sylvicola
American Bumble Bee 36
Bombus pensylvanicus
Western Bumble Bee 37
Bombus occidentalis
Western Honey Bee 38
Apis mellifera
Golden Sweat Bee 39
Augochlorella aurata
Green Metallic Sweat Bee 40
Augochloropsis metallica
Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee 41
Agapostemon virescens
Ligated Furrow Bee 42
Halictus ligatus
Orange-legged Furrow Bee 43
Halictus rubicundus
Zephyr Sweat Bee 44
Lasioglossum zephyrum
European Wool Carder Bee 45
Anthidium manicatum
Alfalfa Leafcutter Bee 46
Megachile rotundata
European paper wasp 48
Polistes dominula
Golden Paper Wasp 49
Polistes aurifer
Dark Paper Wasp 50
Polistes fuscatus
Western Paper Wasp 43
Mischocyttarus flavitarsis
Parasitic Yellowjacket 12
Dolichovespula arctica
Common Aerial Yellowjacket 51
Dolichovespula arenaria
Bald-faced Hornet 52
Dolichovespula maculata
Prairie Yellowjacket 53
Vespula atropilosa
Western Yellowjacket 54
Vespula pensylvanica
Spiny Leaf Gall Wasp 59
Diplolepis polita
Pigeon Tremex 60
Tremex columba
Black-and-red Horntail 61
Urocerus cressoni
Elm Sawfly 62
Cimbex americana
Punctured Tiger Beetle 16
Cicindela punctulata
Green Claybank Tiger Beetle 63
Cicindela denverensis
Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetle 64
Cicindela duodecimguttata
Big Sand Tiger Beetle 65
Cicindela formosa
Blowout Tiger Beetle 66
Cicindela lengi
Common Claybank Tiger Beetle 64
Cicindela limbalis
Western Tiger Beetle 34
Cicindela oregona
Purple Tiger Beetle 67
Cicindela purpurea
Bronzed Tiger Beetle 68
Cicindela repanda
Festive Tiger Beetle 65
Cicindela scutellaris
Oblique-lined Tiger Beetle 65
Cicindela tranquebarica
Blue-margined Ground Beetle 69
Pasimachus elongatus
Big-headed Ground Beetle 40
Scarites subterraneus
Common black ground beetle 70
Pterostichus melanarius
Wood Ground-beetle 71
Carabus nemoralis
St. Johnswort Beetle 72
Chrysolina hyperici
Green Dock Beetle 73
Gastrophysa cyanea
Knab's Leaf Beetle 74
Chrysomela knabi
Cottonwood Leaf Beetle 34
Chrysomela scripta
Willow Leaf Beetle 75
Plagiodera versicolora
Striped Willow Leaf Beetle 43
Disonycha alternata
Three-spotted Flea Beetle 33
Disonycha triangularis
Spinach Flea Beetle 76
Disonycha xanthomelas
Sumac Flea Beetle 77
Blepharida rhois
Checkered melon beetle 78
Paranapiacaba tricincta
Spotted Cucumber Beetle 41
Diabrotica undecimpunctata

Edited by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

Photo Credits

  • 1. (c) California Academy of Sciences, 2000-2010, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
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  • 24. (c) USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Laboratory, some rights reserved (CC BY)
  • 25. (c) Donna Pomeroy, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Donna Pomeroy
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