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Animal Crossing: New Horizons bug guide and complete list

When and where you catch every insect in your Switch’s Critterpedia

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An Animal Crossing character holds up a butterfly Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Julia Lee (she/her) is a guides producer, writing guides for games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Genshin Impact. She helped launch the Rift Herald in 2016.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch has 80 different bugs to collect. In this guide, we’ll show you how, when, and where to catch every bug.

To master the art of bug catching, you’ll need to snag every bugs, which can spawn at various locations and different times. Some of them also require items and locations like tree stumps or hybrid flowers before they’ll appear on your island. We’ve specified those requirements in our table below.

All this information is available in your Critterpedia, but only after you’ve caught a bug. The Critterpedia will also note whether or not Blathers has the bug in the museum yet, as denoted by an owl icon that appears to the left of the bug’s name when you highlight it.

We’ve compiled information about all of the bugs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons below.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons bug list and guide

Critter # Bug Location Value Time Month (Hemisphere)
Critter # Bug Location Value Time Month (Hemisphere)
1 Common Butterfly Flying 160 4 a.m. - 7 p.m. September-June (Northern) / March-December (Southern)
2 Yellow Butterfly Flying 160 4 a.m. - 7 p.m. March-June, September-October (Northern) / March-April, September-December (Southern)
3 Tiger Butterfly Flying 240 4 a.m. - 7 p.m. March-September (Northern) / September-March (Southern)
4 Peacock Butterfly Flying by hybrid flowers 2,500 4 a.m. - 7 p.m. March-June (Northern) / September-December (Southern)
5 Common Bluebottle Flying 300 4 a.m. - 7 p.m. April-August (Northern) / October-February (Southern)
6 Paper Kite Butterfly Flying 1,000 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern)
7 Great Purple Emperor Flying 3,000 4 a.m. - 7 p.m. May-August (Northern) / November-February (Southern)
8 Monach Butterfly Flying 140 4 a.m. - 5 p.m. September-November (Northern) / March-May (Southern)
9 Emperor Butterfly Flying ƒ 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. June-September, December-March (Northern) / December-March, June-September (Southern)
10 Agrias Butterfly Flying 3,000 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. April-September (Northern) / November-March (Southern)
11 Raja Brooke's Birdwing Flying by purple flowers 2,500 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. April-September, December-February (Northern) / November-March, June-August (Southern)
12 Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Flying 4,000 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. May-September (Northern) / November-March (Southern)
13 Moth Flying by light 130 7 p.m. - 4 a.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern)
14 Atlas Moth On trees 3,000 7 p.m. - 4 a.m. April-September (Northern) / October-March (Southern)
15 Madagascan Sunset Moth Flying 2,500 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. April-September (Northern) / October-March (Southern)
16 Long Locust On ground 200 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. April-November (Northern) / November-May (Southern)
17 Migratory Locust On ground 600 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. August-November (Northern) / February-May (Southern)
18 Rice Grasshopper On ground 160 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. August-November (Northern) / February-May (Southern)
19 Grasshopper On ground 160 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. July-September (Northern) / January-March (Southern)
20 Cricket On ground 130 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. September-November (Northern) / March-May (Southern)
21 Bell Cricket On ground 430 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. September-October (Northern) / March-April (Southern)
22 Mantis On flowers 430 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. March-November (Northern) / September-May (Southern)
23 Orchid Mantis On white flowers 2,400 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. March-November (Northern) / September-May (Southern)
24 Honeybee Flying 200 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. March-July (Northern) / September-January (Southern)
25 Wasp Falls from shaking trees 2,500 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern)
26 Brown Cicada On trees 250 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
27 Robust Cicada On trees 300 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
28 Giant Cicada On trees 600 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
29 Walker Cicada On trees 400 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. August-September (Northern) / February-March (Southern)
30 Evening Cicada On trees 660 4 a.m. - 8 a.m., 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
31 Cicada Shell On trees 10 All day July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
32 Red Dragonfly Flying 180 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. September-October (Northern) / March-April (Southern)
33 Darner Dragonfly Flying 230 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. April-October (Northern) / October-April (Southern)
34 Banded Dragonfly Flying 4,500 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. May-October (Northern) / November-April (Southern)
35 Damselfly Flying 500 All day November-February (Northern) / May-August (Southern)
36 Firefly Flying 300 7 p.m. - 4 a.m. June (Northern) / December (Southern)
37 Mole Cricket Underground 500 All day November-May (Northern) / May-November (Southern)
38 Pondskater Ponds 130 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. May-September (Northern) / November-March (Southern)
39 Diving Beetle Ponds and rivers 800 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. May-September (Northern) / November-March (Southern)
40 Giant Water Bug Ponds and rivers 2,000 7 p.m. - 8 a.m. April-September (Northern) / October-March (Southern)
41 Stinkbug On flowers 120 All day March-October (Northern) / September-April (Southern)
42 Man-faced Stink Bug On flowers 1,000 7 p.m. - 8 a.m. March-October (Northern) / September-April (Southern)
43 Ladybug On flowers 200 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. March-June, October (Northern) / September-December, April (Southern)
44 Tiger Beetle On ground 1,500 All day February-November (Northern) / August-May (Southern)
45 Jewel Beetle On tree stumps 2,400 All day April-August (Northern) / October-February (Southern)
46 Violin Beetle On tree stumps 450 All day May-June, September-November (Northern) / November-December, March-April (Southern)
47 Citrus Long-horned Beetle On tree stumps 350 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern)
48 Rosalia Batesi Beetle On tree stumps 3,000 All day May-September (Northern) / November-March (Southern)
49 Blue Weevil Beetle On coconut trees 800 All day July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
50 Dung Beetle Pushing snowballs 3,000 All day December-February (Northern) / June-August (Southern)
51 Earth-boring Dung Beetle On ground 300 All day July-September (Northern) / January-March (Southern)
52 Scarab Beetle On trees 10,000 11 p.m. - 8 a.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
53 Drone Beetle On trees 200 All day June-August (Northern) / December-February (Southern)
54 Goliath Beetle On coconut trees 8,000 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern)
55 Saw Stag On trees 2,000 All day July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
56 Miyama Stag On trees 1,000 All day July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
57 Giant Stag On trees 10,000 11 p.m. - 8 a.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
58 Rainbow Stag On trees 6,000 7 p.m. - 8 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern)
59 Cyclommatus Stag On coconut trees 8,000 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
60 Golden Stag On coconut trees 12,000 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
61 Giraffe Stag On coconut trees 12,000 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
62 Horned Dynastid On trees 1,350 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
63 Horned Atlas On coconut trees 8,000 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
64 Horned Elephant On coconut trees 8,000 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
65 Horned Herucles On coconut trees 12,000 5 p.m. - 8 a.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern)
66 Walking Stick On trees 600 4 a.m. - 8 a.m., 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. July-November (Northern) / January-May (Southern)
67 Walking Leaf Near trees, disguised as furniture leaf 600 All day July-August (Northern) / January-March (Southern)
68 Bagworm Falls from shaking trees 600 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern)
69 Ant On rotten food 80 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern)
70 Hermit Crab Beach 1,000 7 p.m. - 8 a.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern)
71 Wharf Roach On rocks at beach 200 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern)
72 Fly On trash items 60 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern)
73 Mosquito Flying 130 5 p.m. - 4 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern)
74 Flea On villagers 70 All day April-November (Northern) / October-May (Southern)
75 Snail On rocks (raining) 250 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern)
76 Pill Bug Hit rocks 250 11 p.m. - 4 p.m. September-June (Northern) / March-December (Southern)
77 Centipede Hit rocks 300 4 p.m. - 11 p.m. September-June (Northern) / March-December (Southern)
78 Spider Falls from shaking trees 480 7 p.m. - 8 a.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern)
79 Tarantula On ground 8,000 7 p.m. - 4 a.m. November-April (Northern) / May-October (Southern)
80 Scorpion On ground 8,000 7 p.m. - 4 a.m. May-October (Northern) / November-April (Southern)

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