Not everyone loves bugs - in fact, it's estimated that anywhere from 6-25% of the population has some sort of insect phobia. While we can't deny that there are some creepy crawlies we'd prefer to avoid, there are actually quite a few species that are pretty darn cute if you take the time to look closely enough. Mother nature is wild, and these bugs exemplify how sometimes her coolest creations are also the smallest. Scroll on to learn more about some sparkling spiders, magenta moths, and cartoon caterpillars.
Chubee
Some people are scared of bees, and while it is important to be careful around them in order to protect yourself from getting stung, the truth is that bumblebees like this one rarely sting unless seriously provoked. If that doesn't help you to feel calmer next time a bee comes around, try to remember this picture. Does this chubby bumbler with her tiny little legs look like she wants to hurt you?
She's so fluffy and disproportionate it almost doesn't look real. We wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to bee (see what we did there?) a small child in a costume.
Sea Sheep
Nature is so freaking weird sometimes; we love it. Humans look so boring compared to creatures like this leaf sheep sea slug (try saying that five times fast). Also known as the salty ocean caterpillar, these teeny little slugs come in at 5 mm to 1 cm in length. That's about the size of a green pea or pencil eraser! They're found waters off the coasts of several Asian countries.
They eat algae found in the waters they inhabit and retain the chloroplasts, which allows them to indirectly perform photosynthesis. They're one of the only animals to have this ability!
Snacking Snail
Many of us grew up watching Spongebob and remember his pet Gary the meowing snail. While Gary was adorable and hilarious, there's no denying that real snails can be just as cute, especially when they're face-deep in teeny tiny flowers. This one appears to have slid up the leaf of another plant in order to reach the daisy next to it, and from there leaned forward for a little lunch.
Spongebob fed Gary 'snail food' from a can. We're not exactly sure what it was, but real snails have evolved to be able to eat almost anything from flowers to fungus.
Handsome Hermit
Why, hello there Mr. Hermit Crab! If you grew up on the east coast of the United States, you may have come across the hermit carbs for sale as pets on the boardwalk, especially at the Jersey Shore. Hermit crabs can live for quite a long time and make for great pets, but it's incredibly important that they're sourced ethically and cared for properly. Do plenty of research before you buy one.
They require proper humidity levels and lighting in order to thrive, and we have to say this fella looks exceptionally well-cared for. He certainly doesn't have any shortage of shells to choose from!
Busy Bee
Even bees have to eat, and this little lady looks like she's right in the middle of an all-you-can-eat buffet. Bees use pollen from flowers as both a source of protein and food for their young and in the process end up transferring it from plant to plant, which is super important for maintaining healthy ecosystems and helping most of the foods we eat to grow! Female bees do most of the work.
To make honey, they collect nectar from flowers and pack it away into the cells of their hives. They then dry it out using their wings and cover it with wax.
The Smallest Starfish
Based on its size, this may look like a baby starfish, but it's actually a fully grown adult! These tiny cuties are called Asterina, which literally means 'little starfish'. They're known for hitching rides on other sea creatures and often end up in fish tanks as a result. Once they've made it into a tank, however, they're generally considered to be pests as they feast on zoanthids, a type of coral.
They also reproduce quite quickly and can end up overtaking a tank as a result. Some owners will introduce harlequin shrimp to their tanks to keep the starfish population under control.
Flying Mammoth
If it weren't for the fingers holding him up, you could have told us that this insect was the size of a woolly mammoth and we'd probably believe you. He certainly looks like one, and he's even got 'woolly' in his name. Behold, the African Woolly Chafer! They're a type of beetle native to the Eastern Cape as well as South Africa, and their fur protects them from the cold.
This protection keeps them warm so that they can continue to fly once the sun has gone down and the temperature dips. They're said to live for about a year.
Cuddly Worm
This one might be a little on the creepy side, but we still thought it was cute enough to include on this list. It's a velvet worm, and though it may look like some kind of cousin of a caterpillar, the two are not related. Velvet worms aren't even really worms. They're invertebrates related to arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes and are actually one of the oldest species known to man.
Don't be fooled by that smile, though. Velvet worms are voracious predators who are known for capturing their prey by emitting a sticky substance sometimes referred to as the "Silly String of Death."
Salem's Bear
Okay, okay - spiders don't exactly have a reputation for being cute and cuddly creatures, but hear us out: tarantulas can make for great pets when handled properly. They're generally quite docile, timid creatures and will only bite if seriously provoked. They're even known to show problem-solving skills when their enclosure or environment isn't set up to their liking. This tarantula named Salem really seems to be enjoying his stuffed bear.
Maybe he likes the soft texture. Some owners have reported that their spider pets have shown preferences for certain surfaces and even refused to touch the ground if they didn't like the material.
Alien Cicada
We definitely thought this picture was photoshopped when we first saw it, but the person who posted it said that they just shined a flashlight on the cicada in order to take the picture and this was the result! This one must have quite recently molted. When cicadas shed their nymph skin, their wings fill with fluid, causing them to have an iridescent quality that lasts about 7 days until they dry.
It looks like he's got neon coursing through his veins. Have you ever heard how loud cicadas are? It's hard to imagine something that looks this pretty making such annoying noises.
A Little Crabby
Here you'll find the cutest little fiddler crab we ever did see. Someone found him on the beach in Koh Lanta, an island off the coast of western Thailand. Funnily enough, Koh Lanta is part of Thailand's Krabi province, though this name translates to "sword" and has nothing to do with any of the island's fauna. He looks like he's got a little painting of the sunset on his back!
Fiddler crabs can be found all over the world and when fully grown, are known for their claws. The males typically have one claw that's much larger than the other.
Cartoon Spider
Like it or not, spiders are incredibly important to maintaining global ecosystems, and without them, we'd all be up to our ears in other unwanted pests. Although they're such a beneficial species, there's no denying our eight-legged friends could use some serious help in the PR department. Images like this one could be a great place to start - how could anyone possibly be afraid of that cute little face?
It looks like something out of a Pixar film or "Lucas the Spider," come to life. We weren't even sure it was real at first, but those big black eyes are completely genuine.
Ready for the Moth Gala
Cruella De Moth, Cruella De Moth. If she doesn't scare you, well, that makes sense because she's essentially harmless. This is actually a type of moth called a garden tiger moth, though we'd like to have a word with whoever was in charge of coming up with a name because those definitely look more like giraffe spots than tiger stripes to us. Either way, it's one of the most gorgeous insects we've seen.
Someone *spotted* this one in southern Portugal, though there are actually over 11,000 different varieties of tiger moths and most of them can be found throughout the eastern coast of Australia.
Walking Flower
This little lady's name is Petal. She's a baby orchid mantis and although she may look dainty, don't be fooled. Right now she eats flightless fruit flies, but by the time she's fully grown, she'll be lightning-fast and able to rip the heads off just about any other insect. Mantises are harmless to humans and rarely bite unless provoked, but when it comes to food, they can do some serious damage.
Petal is a female mantis, so she'll probably live for about eight months. Male mantises grow more quickly and die after about 5-6 months, but both can make for decent pets.
Mr. Moth
We found a lot of cute and colorful bees and spiders throughout our search for unique bug images, but what we liked about this moth is that those feathery things (insect lovers, forgive us for not knowing the technical term) kind of make him look like a little old man. It looks like he's got a unibrow and handlebar mustache. He's a Polyphemus moth, which is a type of giant silk moth.
They're found throughout North America and when fully grown can have a wingspan of almost six inches! Despite their size, they only live for about four days after emerging from their cocoon.
Spiderman
This jumping spider may not be quite as cute as the baby one we saw earlier, but we still thought he was worth including due to the insanely cool coloring on his face. He looks like some kind of wrestler or superhero wearing a mask. There are over 600 different kinds of jumping spiders, and this one, though incredibly tiny from the looks of it, is a member of the Ilargus genus.
According to the World Spider Catalog, (did you know there was such a thing?) jumping spiders are found on every continent except Antarctica, though members of this genus are found primarily throughout South America.
WHAT Chafers?!
Speaking of cartoon character-worthy insects, may we present to you the adorable cockchafer, also known as the doodlebug? There are three different species of this beetle that can be found throughout Europe, all of which were nearing extinction due to unregulated pest control practices used throughout the 20th century. Fortunately, policy changes implemented in the '80s have allowed their numbers to slowly recover. This one has seven orange "leaves," so it's male.
Some sources say that these beetles have been a popular choice of plaything among European children for centuries, including Nikola Tesla, who used four captured chafers to create an "engine."
Gotta Catch 'Em All
Even before composing this list, we'd seen several examples of unexpectedly adorable insects. We smile at chubby little bees and fun-patterned caterpillars, but we never thought a cockroach could be anything but gross until we came across this picture. They're still definitely not our favorite, but this freshly-molted roach looks like he's straight out of a cartoon. He reminds us of a Pokemon or one of the aliens from Lilo & Stitch.
He's a hissing cockroach. They're native to Madagascar but are also a popular choice of pet for insect lovers. These roaches molt 6-7 times before reaching maturity at around 1 year old.
A Bug of Many Names
This little beauty is a hibiscus harlequin bug, which is just one out of 16 names that have been bestowed upon it by taxonomists. It's also known as a cotton harlequin bug due to its preference for eating cultivated cotton, though we have to say we think 'harlequin,' referring to the bug's vibrant and varied colors, is much more fun. Based on this one's metallic purple and green shell, it's still a nymph.
By the time they reach adulthood, the females are usually orange while the males tend to be variations of blue and red. Scientists think these variations in color are a form of camouflage.
Mellow Yellow
As far as we knew prior to making this list, ladybugs, also known as ladybirds, depending on where you are in the world, were red. We'd never seen a yellow one before, but alas, they do exist, and it's not just their color that makes them unique. Most ladybugs/birds have 7 spots, while these bold beauties boast 22 (not including the ones on their heads, which don't count for some reason).
They're also the only type of ladybug that isn't carnivorous. All of the others eat other insects and are considered a great form of pest control for gardeners. These ladies eat mildew.
Little Leafy
At first, we thought this was some kind of spider, but upon closer inspection realized that its "fourth legs" are actually antennae. It has six legs, while spiders have eight. Turns out, it's really a leaf-footed bug nymph. Nymphs are the immature form of certain insects that don't change much as they grow - for example, a caterpillar is not the nymph form of a butterfly. Leaf-footed bugs live for about two weeks.
They're also often mistaken for assassin bugs, though leaf-footed bugs are usually found in groups, feeding on plants while assassin bugs eat other insects and are typically found by themselves.
Fancy Bug
May we introduce you to the Picasso bug, the classic brown stink bug's bougie cousin from Africa. Like its cousin, the Picasso bug, also known as the Zulu hud bug, also emits a noxious odor when disturbed. Unlike the stink bug, they have not taken over the entire east coast of the United States over the last 20 years and destroyed tens of millions of dollars worth of apple crops.
Stink bugs are invasive insects and we curse the day one of those jerks hitched a ride on some ship of imported goods, although we'd mind them less if they looked like this.
Sleeping Beau-Bees
Anthropomorphism is defined as the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object. DreamWork's Bee Movie is a great example of what attributing human characteristics to insects could look like, and while it has received some criticism from bee experts related to its accuracy (have you ever actually seen a bee wear a sweater?) we still think it was a great PR move on behalf of our honey-making friends.
Perhaps looking at these male bees napping inside a flower as anything more than some sort of survival mechanism is an example of anthropomorphism, but that's a risk we're prepared to take.
Pink Lady
This hot pink katydid is giving us serious Marilyn Monroe in "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" vibes. This shade of pink is very rare to find within the animal kingdom. Katydids, also known as bush crickets, are typically green in color for easy camouflage among leaves, but some have a condition called erythrism, which causes them to have an unusual reddish-pinkish pigmentation. Not all katydids with erythrism are this bright, however.
Because this pink coloring makes it so much more difficult for these insects to blend in with their surroundings, most katydids with erythrism are not able to survive until adulthood.
Shiny Spidey
Australia is full of interesting (and sometimes dangerous) animals and insects of all shapes and sizes, and among them is the mirror spider. Also known as the sequin spider, these beauties have the ability to change the distinctive reflective patches on their abdomens depending on their mood. No other species of spider has the ability to change its appearance to such a degree that they almost look like a different species.
When this spider is agitated, its metallic spots will shrink, making its abdomen resemble a strawberry with shiny seeds. When they're calm, the dots expand and create an almost uniform silvery sheen.
Rosy Says "Hello! "
Meet Rosy! She's a rosy maple moth distantly related to Frosmoth the Pokemon! We're kidding, of course, but she definitely looks like she could be part of a cartoon, right? Rosy maple moths are the smallest type of silk moth and get their name from the red maple tree leaves they feed on as caterpillars, though not all of these moths are quite so vibrant. Many are somewhere between cream and white.
Like most moths belonging to the Saturniidae, or great silk moth family, the adults have no mouths and are unable to eat. Because of this, they don't live for very long.
Mosaic Fly
There are about 2,000 different species of lace bugs found around the world, and most of them are quite plain, but the Stephanitis typicus species caught our attention as something we felt needed to be included on this list. Colloquially known as the banana lace-wing bug due to their preferred diet of bananas, Stephanitis typicus can actually cause quite a lot of damage and are generally considered to be pests.
Still, we have to admire the photographer. These bugs are really small - only about 4 mm in adulthood, so it's quite impressive that they were able to capture this so beautifully.
Killer Queen
Where do we even start with this?! Mother nature is amazing, and this silk moth caterpillar is 100% cooler than we'll ever be. That said, he's almost certainly very dangerous, so should you come across a caterpillar that looks like this, please don't touch it however tempting it may be. Bright colors and the spines along his back are dead (wink, wink) giveaways that he's not one to mess with.
The venom of certain silk moth caterpillars can even cause your blood to clot if you're not treated immediately. As pretty as they are, it's definitely safest to admire from a distance.
Goth Moth
While we're on the subject of insects we wouldn't want to mess with, we should probably take a moment to highlight this regal moth, whose wings have literal skulls on them. Not all regal moths look exactly like this, but it's still probably best to stay away if you see one, especially if it's still in the caterpillar stage. Regal moth caterpillars are sometimes referred to as hickory horned devils.
It reminds us of the cover of 'The Silence of the Lambs,' although the insect featured there is actually a death's head hawkmoth. Why are there multiple insects with skulls on them?
Hungry Eyes
Oh, hey there, derpy fella! This little guy is the caterpillar of a fruit-piercing moth, although in our opinion it looks kind of like one of those stuffed animals made from a children's drawing. When these caterpillars feel threatened, they curl up into a shape that makes them appear larger and puts those eye spots, which serve no purpose related to their vision, on full display to scare away predators.
True to its name, the fruit-piercing moth can cause serious damage to fruit crops, piercing the skin with its long proboscis in order to drink the juice. It's considered a major pest.
Baby Snake Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo
Master of disguise, mother nature has designed the spicebush swallowtail caterpillar so that it resembles a common green snake in order to help it evade predators like birds, and this isn't the only time in its life it uses mimicry as a form of defense. The swallowtail is small and dark brown during the early larval stages, so it's often mistaken for bird droppings by those looking for a snack.
By the time they reach butterflyhood, they begin to mimic the pipevine swallowtail, a different, notably foul-tasting butterfly that predators prefer to avoid. We think the caterpillar looks just like the Pokemon Caterpie!
Hold Me Closer, Tiny Spider
The peacock spider family recently welcomed two new species as scientists discovered them for the first time at the end of 2021. The self-described spider enthusiasts had been regularly exploring the bush in Western Australia with the goal of finding an unidentified peacock spider, striking gold in the final two months of the year. The spiders are described as being smaller than a grain of rice at about 4 mm in length.
The discoverers explained that their work is motivated by a desire to improve public understanding and acceptance of spiders, and with photos like this one, we think they're doing a pretty good job.
It's Not Easy Being Yellow
Kermit the Frog, is that you? It's actually a Hawaiian happy-face spider, a species native to Hawaii named for the distinct markings on its abdomen. The rest of their bodies are a translucent yellow color, though have been known to change depending on the spider's most recent meal. Usually, bright colors and patterns such as this indicate that an insect (or arachnid) is poisonous, but the happy-face spider is actually harmless to humans.
While they are cute and would probably be safe to hold in most cases, you'll be hard-pressed to find one of these little guys. They're only about the size of a pinky.
Fluffy Bug
This moth really does look like the Pokemon Frosmoth come to life. It started as a silkworm and then emerged from its cocoon looking like a fluffy white angel. Like many other moths, this little guy does not have a mouth, so he'll live for about two weeks and then pass on. Evolution is a strange thing; as long as the moth could reproduce, the ability to eat was seen as unnecessary.
They don't have digestive systems, either. Unfortunately for him, this means he can no longer enjoy his favorite snack of white mulberry leaves as he once did as a worm.
Slug Fam
Perhaps we're anthropomorphizing again (we definitely are), but we thought this image of two bigger slugs going for a walk with a smaller slug was too cute not to share. They look like parents out for a walk with their new baby, although the smaller slug is actually a different species than the other two so we can assume they're not his biological parents. He looks like a slimy little pickle.
Even if they are a family, it doesn't take two adult slugs to make a baby. Slugs have both male and female reproductive organs, which allows them to fertilize their own eggs.