Guides

Guide to Catching Bugs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

January 8, 2026

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is teeming with a variety of bugs and critters scurrying across your island. While not every one of them may be your favorite, capturing each species will help you build an impressive collection for your museum, effectively completing that aspect of the game.

However, this endeavor can be trickier than it seems. Certain bugs are only available during specific seasons, and some are quite skittish, hiding in particular spots when you approach. But the effort is definitely worthwhile. Your ultimate reward for catching all the bugs is the coveted gold net recipe, a fantastic tool for more efficient bug hunting. Plus, your museum will boast a well-stocked display.

The availability of each bug species varies based on your location in the world, as well as the season and time of day. With that in mind, we’ve been exploring two islands to create the most comprehensive bug guide for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, organized by hemisphere (north and south). Happy hunting!

If you’re curious about how to catch bugs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, all you need is a net and some good timing. Simply equip your net and press A to swing it when you’re close to a bug. Most bugs will be visibly fluttering or scuttling around, but some, like the bagworm and spider, will only appear when you shake a tree, dropping down from the branches.

Keep in mind that some bugs are skittish and may require a careful approach. You can do this by holding A to ready your net and then slowly moving towards the bug, releasing A only when you’re within range to catch it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons categorizes its bugs based on whether you’re in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. We’ll start with the North, but feel free to skip down to the Southern section if that’s where you need to focus.

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Header Cell – Column 0	Name	Seasonality (North Hem)	Availability	Location
1	Common Butterfly	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	4AM – 7PM	Flowers
2	Yellow Butterfly	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sept, Oct	4AM – 7PM	Flying
3	Tiger Butterfly	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	4AM – 7PM	Flying
4	Peacock Butterfly	Mar, Apr, May, Jun	4AM – 7PM	Flowers (Blue, Black, Purple)
5	Common Bluebottle	Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug	4AM – 7PM	Flying
6	Paper Kite Butterfly	All months	9AM – 7PM	Flying
7	Great Purple Emperor	May, Jun, Jul, Aug	4AM – 7PM	Flying
8	Monarch Butterfly	Sept, Oct, Nov	4AM – 5PM	Flying
9	Emperor Butterfly	Jan, Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Dec	5PM – 8AM	Flying
10	Agrias Butterfly	Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	8AM – 5PM	Flying
11	Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing	Jan, Feb, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Dec	8AM – 5PM	Flowers (Blue, Black, Purple)
12	Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	8AM – 4PM	Flying
13	Moth	All months	7PM – 4AM	Around light
14	Atlas Moth	Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	7PM – 4AM	On trees
15	Madagascan Sunset Moth	Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	8AM – 4PM	Flying
16	Long Locust	Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov	8AM – 7PM	In grass
17	Migratory Locust	Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov	8AM – 7PM	In grass
18	Rice Grasshopper	Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov	8AM – 7PM	In grass
19	Grasshopper	Jul, Aug, Sept	8AM – 5PM	In grass
20	Cricket	Sept, Oct, Nov	5PM – 8AM	In grass
21	Bell Cricket	Sept, Oct	5PM – 8AM	In grass
22	Mantis	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov	8AM – 5PM	Flowers
23	Orchid Mantis	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov	8AM – 5PM	Flowers
24	Honeybee	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul	8AM – 5PM	Flowers
25	Wasp	All months	All hours	Shaking trees
26	Brown Cicada	Jul, Aug	8AM – 5PM	On trees
27	Robust Cicada	Jul, Aug	8AM – 5PM	On trees
28	Giant Cicada	Jul, Aug	8AM – 5PM	On trees
29	Walker Cicada	Aug, Sept	8AM – 4PM	On trees
30	Evening Cicada	Jul, Aug	4AM – 8AM, 4PM – 7PM	On trees
31	Cicada Shell	Jul, Aug	All hours	On trees
32	Red Dragonfly	Sept, Oct	8AM – 7PM	Flying
33	Darner Dragonfly	Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct	8AM – 5PM	Flying
34	Banded Dragonfly	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct	8AM – 5PM	Flying
35	Damselfly	Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec	All hours	Flying
36	Firefly	Jun	7PM – 4AM	Above freshwater
37	Mole Cricket	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Nov, Dec	All hours	Underground
38	Pondskater	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	8AM – 7PM	In rivers
39	Diving Beetle	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	8AM – 7PM	In rivers
40	Giant Water Beetle	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	7PM – 8AM	Ponds and rivers
41	Stinkbug	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct	All hours	On trees
42	Man-faced Stink Bug	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct	7PM – 8AM	Flowers
43	Ladybug	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Oct	8AM – 5PM	Flowers
44	Tiger Beetle	Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct	All hours	Flying
45	Jewel Beetle	Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug	All hours	On trees
46	Citrus Long-horned Beetle	All months	All hours	Tree stumps
47	Rosalia Batesi Beetle	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	All hours	Tree stumps
48	Blue Weevil Beetle	Jul, Aug	All hours	On trees
49	Violin Beetle	May, Jun, Sept, Oct, Nov	All hours	On trees
50	Dung Beetle	Jan, Feb, Dec	All hours	Ground
51	Earth-boring Dung Beetle	Jul, Aug, Sept	All hours	Ground
52	Scarab Beetle	Jul, Aug	11PM – 8AM	On trees
53	Drone Beetle	Jun, Jul, Aug	All hours	On trees
54	Goliath Beetle	Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	5PM – 8AM	On trees
55	Saw Stag	Jul, Aug	All hours	On trees
56	Miyama Stag	Jul, Aug	All hours	On trees
57	Giant Stag	Jul, Aug	11PM – 8AM	On trees
58	Rainbow Stag	Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	7PM – 8AM	On trees
59	Cyclommatus Stag	Jul, Aug	5PM – 8AM	On trees
60	Golden Stag	Jul, Aug	5PM – 8AM	On trees
61	Giraffe Stag	Jul, Aug	5PM – 8AM	On trees
62	Horned Dynastid	Jul, Aug	5PM – 8AM	On trees
63	Horned Atlas	Jul, Aug	5PM – 8AM	On trees
64	Horned Elephant	Jul, Aug	5PM – 8AM	On trees
65	Horned Hercules	Jul, Aug	5PM – 8AM	On trees
66	Walking Stick	Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov	4AM – 8AM, 5PM – 7PM	On trees
67	Walking Leaf	Jul, Aug, Sept	All hours	On ground by trees
68	Bagworm	All months	All hours	Shaking trees
69	Ant	All months	All hours	On rotten turnips and fruit
70	Hermit Crab	All months	7PM – 8AM	On beach
71	Wharf Roach	All months	All hours	On beach rocks
72	Fly	All months	All hours	On rotten food and garbage
73	Mosquito	Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept	5PM – 4AM	Flying
74	Flea	Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov	All hours	On flea-infested villagers
75	Snail	All months	All hours	On rocks
76	Pillbug	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	11PM – 4PM	Hitting rocks
77	Centipede	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	4PM – 11PM	Hitting rocks
78	Spider	All months	7PM – 8AM	Shaking trees
79	Tarantula	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov, Dec	7PM – 4AM	Ground
80	Scorpion	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct	7PM – 4AM	Ground

Now, let’s dive into the insect patterns found in the Southern Hemisphere, which generally don’t overlap with those in the North, aside from a few exceptions. If you work through the year, you should be able to complete your collection for the Museum!

Drag and scroll to move left and right.
Header Cell – Column 0	Name	Seasonality (South Hem)	Availability	Location
1	Common Butterfly	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	4AM – 7PM	Flowers
2	Yellow Butterfly	Mar, Apr, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	4AM – 7PM	Flying
3	Tiger Butterfly	Jan, Feb, Mar, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	4AM – 7PM	Flying
4	Peacock Butterfly	Mar, Apr, May, Jun	4AM – 7PM	Flowers (Blue, Black, Purple)
5	Common Bluebottle	Jan, Feb, Oct, Nov, Dec	4AM – 7PM	Flying
6	Paper Kite Butterfly	All months	8AM – 7PM (April)	Flying
7	Great Purple Emperor	May, Jun, Jul, Aug	4AM – 7PM	Flying
8	Monarch Butterfly	Mar, Apr, May	4AM – 5PM	Flying
9	Emperor Butterfly	Jan, Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Dec	5PM – 8AM	Flying
10	Agrias Butterfly	Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec	8AM – 5PM	Flying
11	Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing	Jan, Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Aug, Oct, Nov, Dec	8AM – 5PM	Flowers (Blue, Black, Purple)
12	Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov, Dec	8AM – 4PM	Flying
13	Moth	All year round	7PM – 4AM	Around light
14	Atlas Moth	Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec	7PM – 4AM	On trees
15	Madagascan Sunset Moth	Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec	8AM – 4PM	Flying
16	Long Locust	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec	8AM – 7PM	In grass
17	Migratory Locust	Feb, Mar, Apr, May	8AM – 7PM	In grass
18	Rice Grasshopper	Feb, Mar, Apr, May	8AM – 7PM	In grass
19	Grasshopper	Jan, Feb, Mar	8AM – 5PM	In grass
20	Cricket	Mar, Apr, May	5PM – 8AM	In grass
21	Bell Cricket	Mar, Apr	5PM – 8AM	In grass
22	Mantis	Jan, Mar, Apr, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	8AM – 5PM	Flowers
23	Orchid Mantis	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	8AM – 5PM	Flowers
24	Honeybee	Jan, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	8AM – 5PM	Flowers
25	Wasp	All months	All hours	Shaking trees
26	Brown Cicada	Jan, Feb	8AM – 5PM	On trees
27	Robust Cicada	Jan, Feb	8AM – 5PM	On trees
28	Giant Cicada	Jan, Feb	8AM – 5PM	On trees
29	Walker Cicada	Feb, Mar	8AM – 4PM	On trees
30	Evening Cicada	Jan, Feb	4AM – 8AM, 4PM – 7PM	On trees
31	Cicada Shell	Jan, Feb	All hours	On trees
32	Red Dragonfly	Mar, Apr	8AM – 7PM	Flying
33	Darner Dragonfly	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec	8AM – 5PM	Flying
34	Banded Dragonfly	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov, Dec	8AM – 5PM	Flying
35	Damselfly	May, Jun, Jul, Aug	All hours	Flying
36	Firefly	Dec	7PM – 4AM	Above freshwater
37	Mole Cricket	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov	All hours	Underground
38	Pondskater	Jan, Feb, Mar, Nov, Dec	8AM – 7PM	In rivers
39	Diving Beetle	Jan, Feb, Mar, Nov, Dec	8AM – 7PM	In rivers
40	Giant Water Beetle	Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec	7PM – 8AM	Ponds and rivers
41	Stinkbug	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	All hours	On trees
42	Man-faced Stink Bug	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	7PM – 8AM	Flowers
43	Ladybug	Apr, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	8AM – 5PM	Flowers
44	Tiger Beetle	Jan, Feb, Mar, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	All hours	Flying
45	Jewel Beetle	Jan, Feb, Oct, Nov, Dec	All hours	On trees
46	Citrus Long-horned Beetle	All months	All hours	Tree stumps
47	Rosalia Batesi Beetle	Jan, Feb, Mar, Nov, Dec	All hours	Tree stumps
48	Blue Weevil Beetle	Jan, Feb	All hours	On trees
49	Violin Beetle	Mar, Apr, May, Nov, Dec	All hours	On trees
50	Dung Beetle	Jun, Jul, Aug	All hours	Ground
51	Earth-boring Dung Beetle	Jan, Feb, Mar	All hours	Ground
52	Scarab Beetle	Jan, Feb	11PM – 8AM	On trees
53	Drone Beetle	Jan, Feb, Dec	All hours	On trees
54	Goliath Beetle	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec	5PM – 8AM	On trees
55	Saw Stag	Jan, Feb	All hours	On trees
56	Miyama Stag	Jan, Feb	All hours	On trees
57	Giant Stag	Jan, Feb	11PM – 8AM	On trees
58	Rainbow Stag	Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec	7PM – 8AM	On trees
59	Cyclommatus Stag	Jan, Feb	5PM – 8AM	On trees
60	Golden Stag	Jan, Feb	5PM – 8AM	On trees
61	Giraffe Stag	Jan, Feb	5PM – 8AM	On trees
62	Horned Dynastid	Jan, Feb	5PM – 8AM	On trees
63	Horned Atlas	Jan, Feb	5PM – 8AM	On trees
64	Horned Elephant	Jan, Feb	5PM – 8AM	On trees
65	Horned Hercules	Jan, Feb	5PM – 8AM	On trees
66	Walking Stick	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May	4AM – 8AM, 5PM – 7PM	On trees
67	Walking Leaf	Jan, Feb, Mar	All hours	On ground by trees
68	Bagworm	All months	All hours	Shaking trees
69	Ant	All months	All hours	On rotten turnips and fruit
70	Hermit Crab	All months	7PM – 8AM	On beach
71	Wharf Roach	All months	All hours	On beach rocks
72	Fly	All months	All hours	On rotten food and garbage
73	Mosquito	Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec	5PM – 4AM	Flying
74	Flea	Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec	All hours	On flea-infested villagers
75	Snail	All months	All hours	On rocks
76	Pillbug	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec	11AM – 4PM	Hitting rocks
77	Centipede	Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Nov, Dec	5PM – 11PM	Hitting rocks
78	Spider	All months	7PM – 8AM	Shaking trees
79	Tarantula	May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct	7PM – 4AM	Ground
80	Scorpion	Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec	7PM – 4AM	Ground

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