Insects make up the largest group of animals, with over a million described species, and an estimated 5.5 million species in total, though estimates vary widely. Beetles alone are estimated to make up a quarter of the described species on Earth. 

The Garden is home to many insect species with a variety of ecological roles. They are herbivores, pollinators, parasites, or predators of other insects. Some you will see easily and often, such as butterflies, or many of our larger bees or some common beetles. Others might only present themselves indirectly by leaving “signs”: stippled, chewed or diseased leaves; frass (insect poop); sticky honeydew (another form of poop); galls.

This guide is meant to help you find and appreciate a few of the insects that make their homes here (as well as some of the non-insect arthropods such as spiders). They are arranged here by their natural evolutionary groupings.  Some major insect groups that you might encounter include the following, though you may rarely run into some of these:

• Ants, bees, and wasps

• Beetles

• Butterflies

• Dragonflies and damselflies

• Flies

• Grasshoppers and crickets

• Lacewings and their relatives 

• True bugs