Bug Guides
Bug guides
How to tell what is crawling around, whether it is safe, and what to do next. Written by Peeka at the front desk and checked against the data.
Peeka, front desk
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GuideAre spiders insects? No, and here is how to tell in three secondsSpiders are arachnids, not insects. Count the legs, count the body parts, look for antennae. The same test sorts out scorpions, ticks, mites, harvestmen, centipedes and woodlice, and explains why 'bug' means something different to a scientist.Sep 15, 2026 · 5 min read
GuideSmall black bugs in the house: 10 usual suspects and how to tell them apartTiny black insects on the windowsill, in the kitchen, on the carpet or in the bathroom. What they most likely are, sorted by where you found them and whether they fly, jump, crawl or run.Sep 15, 2026 · 7 min read
GuideEarly signs of bed bugs: how to check a bed in five minutes, and what to do if you find themThe five physical signs of bed bugs (the insects, shed skins, eggs, dark spots, blood marks), exactly where to look with a torch and a card, how to check a hotel room, and the first three moves if you find them. No bite diagnosis: skin cannot tell you, the bed can.Sep 15, 2026 · 7 min read
GuideFlying insects in the house: how to tell them apart in under a minuteTiny flies over the fruit, moths at the lamp, something buzzing at the window. A field guide to the flying insects that end up indoors, sorted by size, with the two you should actually act on.Sep 15, 2026 · 7 min read
GuideCommon house insects: how to tell what is living in your home, room by roomThe insects and spiders people actually find indoors, sorted by where you saw it. What each one looks like, what it means, and the short list that deserves action.Sep 15, 2026 · 8 min read
GuideInsect life cycles: complete metamorphosis, incomplete metamorphosis, and the ones with noneThe three ways insects and their relatives grow up: four stages (egg, larva, pupa, adult), three stages (egg, nymph, adult), or just moulting bigger. Which groups do which, why it matters for what you find in the garden, and 171 species sorted by type.Sep 15, 2026 · 7 min read
GuideLovebugs: what they are, why they fly stuck together, how long they live, and how to get them off your carEvery September and May the Gulf Coast fills with black flies joined in pairs. What a lovebug actually is, why they are attached, whether they bite (no), how long the swarm lasts, and the one thing worth doing about them.Sep 15, 2026 · 6 min read
SpeciesGuideSilverfish: identification, why they are in your home, and whether they matterThe silvery, wriggling insect in the bath or the bookcase. How to recognise a silverfish, what it eats, why it likes your bathroom, whether it can hurt you (no), and what actually reduces them.Sep 15, 2026 · 6 min read
GuideTypes of insects: the major orders explained, with one example of each you can actually findBeetles, butterflies and moths, bees and wasps, flies, true bugs, grasshoppers, dragonflies, mantises and the rest: how the main groups of insects differ, how to tell them apart at a glance, and which common species belong to each.Sep 15, 2026 · 8 min readGuideWhat's this bug? Every good way to find out, ranked by how sure you need to beApps, communities and experts for identifying an insect or spider from a photo, including the ones that are not ours. What each is good at, what it costs, and when to stop trusting an app and ask a person.Sep 15, 2026 · 7 min read
GuideWhite bugs: the small white insects people find, and what each one meansTiny white insects on a plant, in the bathroom, in a book or in the flour. Nine likely suspects, how to tell them apart by where you found them and how they move, and which ones are worth doing something about.Sep 15, 2026 · 6 min read
EngineeringDataWhat Bug Brief counts, and what it refuses to claimBug Brief turns the map into a monthly report built on iNaturalist observations. Here is exactly what the numbers mean, where they come from, and the three things we decided not to show.Sep 8, 2026 · 6 min read
SpeciesGuideSeven-spot Ladybird: the aphid colony's worst nightmareBright red, seven black spots, and a lifetime appetite for aphids. How to spot card #001 and why every garden wants one.Jul 12, 2026 · 3 min read