Timeline

Hyalophora cecropia, the cecropia moth, is North America's largest native moth. It is a member of the family Saturniidae, or giant silk moths. Females have been documented with a wingspan of five to seven inches or more. These moths can be found predominantly across eastern North America, with occurrences as far west as Washington and north into the majority of Canadian provinces. Cecropia moth larvae are most commonly found on maple trees, but they have also been found on cherry and birch trees, among many others. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Vanessa atalanta, the red admiral or, previously, the red admirable, is a well-characterized, medium-sized butterfly with black wings, red bands, and white spots. It has a wingspan of about 2 inches (5 cm). It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The red admiral is widely distributed across temperate regions of North Africa, North America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. It resides in warmer areas, but migrates north in spring and sometimes again in autumn. Typically found in moist woodlands, the red admiral caterpillar's primary host plant is the stinging nettle ; it can also be found on the false nettle. The adult butterfly drinks from flowering plants like Buddleja and overripe fruit. Red admirals are territorial; females will only mate with males that hold territory. Males with superior flight abilities are more likely to successfully court females. It is known as an unusually calm butterfly, often allowing observation at a very close distance before flying away, also landing on and using humans as perches.

Attacus atlas, the Atlas moth, is a large saturniid moth endemic to the forests of Asia. The species was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Acherontia atropos, the African death's-head hawkmoth, is the most widely recognized of three species within the genus Acherontia. It is most commonly identified by the vaguely skull-shaped pattern adorning the thorax, the characteristic from which its common and scientific names are derived. The species was first given its scientific name by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

The devil's coach-horse beetle is a species of beetle belonging to the large family of the rove beetles (Staphylinidae). It was originally included in the genus Staphylinus in 1764, and some authors and biologists still use this classification.

Eacles imperialis, the imperial moth, is a member of the family Saturniidae and subfamily Ceratocampinae. It is found mainly in the East of South America and North America, from the center of Argentina to south Canada. The species was first described by Dru Drury in 1773.

Antheraea polyphemus, the Polyphemus moth, is a North American member of the family Saturniidae, the giant silk moths. It is a tan-colored moth, with an average wingspan of 15 cm (6 in). The most noticeable feature of the moth is the large, purplish eyespot on each hindwing; its name is from the Greek myth of the cyclops Polyphemus. The species, first described by Pieter Cramer in 1776, is widespread in continental North America, with local populations found throughout subarctic Canada and in all of the United States except Arizona and Nevada.

Pyrrharctia isabella, the Isabella tiger moth, whose larval form is called the banded woolly bear, woolly bear, or woolly worm, occurs in the United States and throughout Canada. It was first formally named by James Edward Smith in 1797.

Pantala flavescens, the globe skimmer, globe wanderer or wandering glider, is a wide-ranging dragonfly of the family Libellulidae. This species and Pantala hymenaea, the "spot-winged glider", are the only members of the genus Pantala. It was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798. It is considered to be the most widespread dragonfly on the planet, with good populations on every continent except Antarctica, although rare in Europe. Globe skimmers make an annual multigenerational journey of some 18,000 km ; to complete the migration, individual globe skimmers fly more than 6,000 km ; one of the farthest known migrations of all insect species.

Phyllium is a genus of stick insects belonging to the Phylliidae described in 1798, and is their type genus. Despite numerous generic splits, it remains the most species-rich genus of the leaf insects. Phyllium species are found ranging from Malaysia through Indonesia and the Philippines as far as New Britain.

The European hornet is the largest eusocial wasp native to Europe. It is also the only true hornet found in North America, having been introduced to the United States and Canada from Europe as early as 1840. Vespines, such as V. crabro, are known for making intricate paper-like nests out of surrounding plant materials and other fibers. Unlike most other vespines, reproductive suppression involves worker policing instead of queen pheromone control, as was previously thought.

The Colorado potato beetle is a beetle known for being a major pest of potato crops. It is about 10 mm long, with a bright yellow/orange body and five bold brown stripes along the length of each of its wings. Native to the Rocky Mountains, it spread rapidly in potato crops across the United States and then Europe from 1859 onwards.

Honeypot ants, also called honey ants, are ants which have specialized workers—repletes, plerergates or rotunds—that consume large amounts of food to the point that their abdomens swell enormously. This phenomenon of extreme inflation of the trunk is called physogastry. Other ants then extract nourishment from them, through the process of trophallaxis. They function as living larders. Honeypot ants belong to any of several genera, including Myrmecocystus and Camponotus. They were first documented in 1881 by Henry C. McCook, and described further in 1908 by William Morton Wheeler.

The Chinese mantis is a species of mantis native to Asia and the nearby islands. In 1896, this species was accidentally introduced by a nursery tender at Mt. Airy, a neighborhood of Philadelphia, United States. T. sinensis often is erroneously referred to as Tenodera aridifolia sinensis because it was at first described as a subspecies of Tenodera aridifolia, but T. sinensis is now established as a full species.

Solenopsis invicta, the fire ant, or red imported fire ant (RIFA), is a species of ant native to South America. A member of the genus Solenopsis in the subfamily Myrmicinae, it was described by Swiss entomologist Felix Santschi as a variant of S. saevissima in 1916. Its current specific name invicta was given to the ant in 1972 as a separate species. However, the variant and species were the same ant, and the name was preserved due to its wide use. Though South American in origin, the red imported fire ant has been accidentally introduced in Australia, New Zealand, several Asian and Caribbean countries, Europe and the United States. The red imported fire ant is polymorphic, as workers appear in different shapes and sizes. The ant's colours are red and somewhat yellowish with a brown or black gaster, but males are completely black. Red imported fire ants are dominant in altered areas and live in a wide variety of habitats. They can be found in rainforests, disturbed areas, deserts, grasslands, alongside roads and buildings, and in electrical equipment. Colonies form large mounds constructed from soil with no visible entrances because foraging tunnels are built and workers emerge far away from the nest.

Aquarius remigis, known as the common water strider or North American common water strider, is a species of aquatic bug. It was formerly known as Gerris remigis, but the subgenus Aquarius was elevated to generic rank in 1990 on the basis of phylogenetic analysis. Aquarius remigis is found throughout North America, but is most prevalent in the mid-west of the United States.

The brown marmorated stink bug is an insect in the family Pentatomidae, native to China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian regions. In September 1998, it was collected in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where it is believed to have been accidentally introduced. The nymphs and adults of the brown marmorated stink bug feed on over 100 species of plants, including many agricultural crops, and by 2010–11 had become a season-long pest in orchards in the Eastern United States. In 2010, in the Mid-Atlantic United States, $37 million in apple crops were lost, and some stone fruit growers lost more than 90% of their crops. Since the 2010s, the bug has spread to countries such as Georgia and Turkey and caused extensive damage to hazelnut production. It is now established in many parts of North America and has recently become established in Europe and South America.

The Hemerobiiformia are a suborder of insects in the order Neuroptera that include most of the lacewings, antlions and their allies. The phylogeny of the Neuroptera was explored in 2014 using mitochondrial DNA sequences. The results indicate that the traditional Hemerobiiformia are paraphyletic, meaning that not all the members of the clade are considered to belong to it, in particular since it would include all the Myrmeleontiformia, with which the Hemerobiiformia were traditionally contrasted. The Osmyloidea, usually included in Hemerobiiformia, actually seem to represent a more ancient lineage basal to Hemerobiiformia as well as Myrmeleontiformia. The broken-up group is shown in the cladogram:

The Asian giant hornet, also known as the northern giant hornet, is the world's largest hornet. It is native to temperate and tropical East Asia, South Asia, mainland Southeast Asia, and parts of the Russian Far East. It was also briefly found in the Pacific Northwest of North America from late 2019 but was eradicated by December 2024.

The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 35,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change. Several groups formerly treated as subfamilies have been elevated to family rank, and some reduced to lower ranks. The subfamilies listed in this article are in accordance with those in Catalogue of Life (2023).