Pest ID - Flying, Jumping, Crawling (indoors or outdoors)

Did you find your critter indoors or outdoors, and how was it moving?

NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list, but contains those that are most commonly found by homeowners in Maine (especially those critters that are considered household pests and/or a nuisance).

FLYING (Indoors):

• Aphids (winged forms) (probably near plants / windows)
• Bald-faced Hornets
• Bark Beetles
• Blow Flies and Flesh Flies
• Carpenter Ant Queen (or smaller, male drone) — See also ‘Flying Ants‘ 
• Clothes Moths
• Cluster Flies – People often mistake cluster flies for house flies.
• Crane Flies — sometimes a household nuisance; attracted to lights at night
• Dobsonflies (attracted to bright lights on summer nights, and sometimes they come in through an open door or window)
  
• Drain Flies (also called Moth Flies)
• Flesh Flies (and Blow Flies)
• Flying Ants (Colorado State – includes photos)
• Fruit Flies
• Fungus Gnats
• House Flies (Univ. of Florida) – See also Cluster Flies, as they are often mistaken for House Flies.
• Indian Mealmoth (Penn State); Photo Link
• Western Conifer Seed Bug (resembles a wasp in both appearance and in sound while buzzing/flying around a room)
• Yellowjackets / Hornets / Wasps (University of Kentucky) En Español; Bald-faced Hornets
• Whiteflies (University of Missouri) — see also html (Univ. of Guelph — Ontario, Canada)
• WOOD BORERS: (can hitch a ride on firewood that is brought indoors) [Maine Forest Service reminder: Don't transport firewood!]
  • Longhorned Beetles (and Roundheaded Borers) (Iowa State Univ.) — see also listing for Asian Longhorned Beetle
  • Metallic Wood-Boring Beetles (Univ. of Minnesota Extension); Photo Link
  • Horntails (wasp-like) (Cornell)

JUMPING (Indoors):

• Fleas
• Camel Crickets
• House Crickets (most often in basements)
• Jumping Spiders
• Springtails (University of Arizona)

WALKING or CRAWLING (Indoors) (some in this list can fly as well as crawl, such as ladybugs):

• Ants (especially Pavement Ants)
• Aphids (probably on plants or near plants)
• Bed Bugs
• Booklice
• Brown-banded Cockroach
• Carpet Beetles (adults and larvae)
  
• Centipedes
• Cockroaches
• Earwigs
• Flour Beetles
• Grain Beetles (in kitchen, garage, or any room where grain, dried fruit or bird seed is stored)
• Ladybugs (Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle) (USDA) and Lady Beetles in Homes (Cornell)
• Larder Beetles and Larder Beetle larvae (Found in or near a pet’s food or food dishes)
• Masked Hunter (Univ. of Minnesota)
• Mealworms (Found in areas with dry dog or cat food) – see also html (Univ. of Guelph)
• Millipedes – see also pdf (Univ. of Maryland / UMD Cooperative Extension)
• Silverfish and Firebrats
• Spider Mites / Two-spotted Spider Mites – see also html (ME Forest Service)
• TICKS (can hitch a ride on you or a family pet)
• SPIDERS
• Western Conifer Seed Bug

FLYING (Outdoors):

Maine Forest Service reminder: Don’t transport firewood!

• Asian Longhorned Beetle (invasive) (no confirmed sightings in Maine as yet)
• Asparagus Beetles (Common and Spotted)
• Bald-faced Hornets
• Bark Beetles
• Black Flies
• Blister beetles
• Blow Flies and Flesh Flies
• Blueberry Maggot Fly
• Cabbage Maggot fly (adult)
• Cabbageworm Moth (Imported Cabbageworm Moth)
• Carpenter Ant Queen (or smaller, male drone) – See also ‘Flying Ants‘
• Cecropia Moth
• Chinch Bugs
• Cicadas
• Cluster Flies – People often mistake cluster flies for house flies.
• Codling Moth (apple pest)
• Corn Earworm moth
• Crane Flies — sometimes a household nuisance; attracted to lights at night
• Cucumber Beetle (Striped Cucumber Beetle)
• Deer Flies
• Diamondback Moth
• Dobsonflies (near bodies of water or bright lights in the summer)
• Dragonflies
• Fishflies
• Flesh Flies and Blow Flies
• Flying Ants (Colorado State – includes photos)
• Fruit Flies
• Geometer moths (inchworm adults) (Wikipedia)
• Gypsy Moth (males)
• Horntails
• Horse Flies
• House Flies (Univ. of Florida) – see also listing for Cluster Flies.
• Japanese Beetles
• Longhorned Beetles (and Roundheaded Borers) (Iowa State Univ.) — see also Asian Longhorned Beetle || Plus ID Help: ALB or Not ALB? (Cornell)
• Luna Moth (USGS)
• Metallic Wood-Boring Beetles (Univ. of Minnesota Extension); Photo Link
• Mosquitoes(Maine Forest Service)
  • Mosquito Biology (UMaine Extension)
  • Mosquito Management (UMaine Extension)
• Powderpost Beetles
• Rose Chafer (Univ. of Minnesota Extension)
• Sawflies: European Apple Sawfly (Cornell) and European Pine Sawfly (Ohio State); Photo Link
• Syrphid Flies (also called Hover Flies or Flower Flies) (eduwebs.org)
• Tarnished Plant Bug [pdf] [Cornell: pdf] — see also Canada (Government of Ontario) Fact Sheet: English or Français
• Whitespotted Sawyer Beetle / Pine Sawyer Beetle / Spotted Pine Sawyer Beetle (Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project) (People often mistake these for the Asian Longhorned Beetle)
• Wood Roach (University of Iowa) (generally found outdoors in moist, woodland areas but often they enter homes as “accidental invaders”)
• Yellowjackets / Hornets / Wasps (Univ. of Kentucky) En Español; Baldfaced Hornets (Iowa State Univ)

JUMPING (Outdoors):

• Camel Crickets
• Crickets
• Flea Beetles (the adults can jump)
• Froghoppers (also called ‘Spittlebug’ adults) (Oregon State Univ.) || Photo Link
• Grasshoppers, Crickets and Katydids (BugGuide.net) (includes photos)
• Jumping Spiders
• Leafhoppers (additional photos)
• Springtails (University of Arizona)

WALKING or CRAWLING (Outdoors) (some in this list can fly as well as crawl, such as, for example, lady bugs and cicadas) :

• American Dog Tick — see ‘TICKS‘
  
• Ants
• Aphids
• Armyworms
• Asian Longhorned Beetle (invasive) (no confirmed sightings in Maine as yet)
• Asparagus Beetles (Common and Spotted)
• Black-legged Tick – see ‘TICKS‘
• Blister Beetles
• Cabbage Looper
• Cabbage Maggot
• Cabbageworm / Imported Cabbageworm
• Cecropia Caterpillars
• Centipedes
• Chinch Bugs
• Cicadas
• Click Beetles
• Colorado Potato Beetle
• Corn Earworm
• Corn Rootworm (Northern, Western & Southern)
• Cucumber Beetle (Striped Cucumber Beetle)
• Cutworms
• Deer Tick — see ‘TICKS‘
• Diamondback Moth larvae (pest on cruciferous plants)
• Earwigs
• Fall Armyworm (corn pest)
• Fall Webworm
• Flea Beetles (the adults can jump)
• Forest Tent Caterpillars – see also html (Univ. of Missouri)
• Gypsy Moth females and caterpillars
• Hornworms
• Inchworms (also called Loopers or Geometers) (USGS)
• Ladybugs / Ladybird Beetles (Univ. of Kentucky) Ladybugs are beneficial but they are sometimes a household nuisance. (Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle) (USDA) and Lady Beetles in Homes (Cornell)
• Leaf Beetles(Wikipedia)
  • Flea Beetles
  • Lily Leaf Beetles — see also html (UMass) [pdf] and html (Univ. of Rhode Island)
  • Viburnum Leaf Beetle (larvae and adults) (Cornell)

• Longhorned Beetles (and Roundheaded Borers) (Iowa State Univ.) — see also Asian Longhorned Beetle || Plus ID Help: ALB or Not ALB? (Cornell)
• Mexican Bean Beetles (larvae and adults) (Univ. of Florida) (includes photos) (rare in Maine except perhaps in southern Maine)
• Millipedes
• Sowbugs and Pillbugs [pdf] (Univ. of Maryland / UMD Cooperative Extension)
• SPIDERS
• Spider Mites – see also html (ME Forest Service)
• Spittlebugs (larvae) (Oregon State Univ.) || Photo Link
• Squash Bug
• Stink Bugs (NCSU) || Photo Link (Iowa State)
• Tarnished Plant Bug [Cornell: pdf] — see also Canada (Government of Ontario) Fact Sheet: English or Français
• Tent Caterpillars — see also html (Univ. of Missouri)
• TICKS
• Tobacco Hornworm
• Tomato Hornworm
• Water Scorpions (Texas A&M)
• Water Striders (Texas A&M)
• Western Conifer Seed Bug
• Wireworms — see also pdf (UMaine’s Potato IPM Program)
• Woodchuck Tick
• Wood Roach (University of Iowa) (generally found outdoors in moist, woodland areas but often they enter homes as “accidental invaders”)
• Woollybear Caterpillars (University of Missouri Extension): Banded Woollybear and Yellow Woollybear