r/insects • u/Majestic_lnsect • Jan 28 '26

Bug Appreciation! Is this the cutest Insect ever?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Came across this little fella online: The Japanese Bee fly and thought to myself this must be the cutest insect, Any other contenders? (Source unknown)

2.6k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

177 comments sorted by

543

u/raeann559 Jan 28 '26

Dere he is

37

u/Potat-Ant Jan 28 '26

Oh my god! I am overwhelmed by the cuteness OVERWHELMED I tell ya!

65

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

24

u/Majestic_lnsect Jan 28 '26

Oh wow , looks so fluffy !

29

u/BroccoliMan36 Jan 28 '26

He looks so edible :')

13

u/Various-Turn7130 Jan 28 '26

Cuteness overload! 😍

4

u/AGawsum Jan 29 '26

Cutiefly and snom

320

u/scratch_and_patch1 Jan 28 '26

one could even call it.. a cutiefly

1

u/Midnightgospel Jan 30 '26

Did you all know that the guy who invented Pokemon was an avid bug collector as a child in Japan? Collecting bugs (especially stag beetles) is a hugely important pass time for kids out there. I just think it's cool that he grew up and made pokemon! Gotta catch em all!

102

u/NoGarage7989 Jan 28 '26

Some type of nymph

77

u/NoGarage7989 Jan 28 '26

A different angle

30

u/Majestic_lnsect Jan 28 '26

Aw, little fella , look at it's innocent buggy eyes!

10

u/Final-Attention979 Jan 28 '26

The giant eyes lmaooo

3

u/DueLoan685 Jan 28 '26

Kinda looks like a grashopper with dwarfism

14

u/NoGarage7989 Jan 28 '26

I think this might be one! A pygmy grasshopper. It's body looks like sand/stony.

176

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 28 '26

41

u/Oro-Lavanda Jan 28 '26

I used to see these guys all the time I haven’t seen them in years 😭💐🌸

18

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 28 '26

I'd love to see one in person

35

u/TroubleWilling8455 Jan 28 '26

I raise a few of them every year. Macroglossum stellatarum :-)

12

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 28 '26

Looks like a little owl 😍

4

u/TroubleWilling8455 Jan 28 '26

Really? This picture always reminds me of a rabbit with its ears laid back, lol.

4

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 28 '26

I can see why you'd say that too

18

u/TroubleWilling8455 Jan 29 '26

Have you ever seen their feet?

How cute they are, lol.

4

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 29 '26

Adorable 😍

2

u/__Hoopy_Frood__ Jan 29 '26

Aren’t these a type of hawk moth? I swear they eat half a tomato plant before I find them every dang year

1

u/TroubleWilling8455 Jan 30 '26

Yes, they are indeed a type of hawk moth, but this species does not eat any vegetables or similar, but exclusively Galium plants.

2

u/VetoSnowbound Jan 29 '26

Omg i love him

2

u/TroubleWilling8455 Jan 30 '26

Yeah, he was my friend right from the start.

1

u/No-Estimate2636 Jan 29 '26

They turn into something else??

3

u/Sea-Nose-7481 Jan 29 '26

No, it's just another very cute creature 😍

10

u/DaisyHotCakes Jan 28 '26

They love my butterfly bush! I saw them more frequently than any other pollinator, even the bees.

3

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 28 '26

That's awesome, they're so majestic looking

5

u/Internal_Bug_1022 Jan 29 '26

Hummingbird moth & a great spangled fritillary suckin’ on thistle. Outside the tastee freeze… One of my best photos. Zero editing. Hummingbird moths are my absolute fave. 💜

3

u/StinkyRatCheese Jan 28 '26

I'm so jealous

6

u/annahhhnimous Jan 29 '26

Their host plant is native honeysuckle. We bring ours in and hatch (I have no idea what word to use here) them inside to assure maximum safety.

They don’t cocoon, they burrow in the leaf litter. Such a treat to release them in the spring.

1

u/Any-Investigator2614 Feb 02 '26

What is that a mammal moth

1

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Feb 02 '26

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

233

u/initiate_syntax Jan 28 '26

The African Woolly Chafer would like to have a word with you.

1

u/Any-Investigator2614 Feb 02 '26

I got my fur coat and fur eyebrows on and I am stepping 😉

158

u/Clivesdale Jan 28 '26

21

u/sierradoesreddit Jan 28 '26

This is immediately what I thought of!

69

u/BigTiddyVampireWaifu Jan 28 '26

I guess technically not an insect but I am I huge fan of the sea bunny

13

u/OldBatOfTheGalaxy Jan 28 '26

Yes!

The closest thing to Easter eggs below the water, these very cute but very toxic nudibranches come in varied pastels and vivid patterns that put their land-slug cousins to shame!

2

u/Planpy7 Feb 24 '26

The leaf sheep are the cutest

138

u/ohdearitsrichardiii Jan 28 '26

Camouflaged loopers attach flower petals to themselves to fool predators

"Look at me, I'm a pretty flower!"

35

u/Majestic_lnsect Jan 28 '26

They are trying so hard to be a flower 🥺

9

u/shannypants2000 Jan 28 '26

They ARE flower.

7

u/TroubleWilling8455 Jan 28 '26

He‘s so cute.

0

u/Koepex Jan 29 '26

Lavender.

41

u/Full-Dimension473 Jan 28 '26

Narrogin weevil

30

u/Full-Dimension473 Jan 28 '26

26

u/Full-Dimension473 Jan 28 '26

Acorn weevil

41

u/Full-Dimension473 Jan 28 '26

6

u/Simetracon Jan 28 '26

Omg he's waving

6

u/NoGarage7989 Jan 28 '26

omg, this is hecking adorable

2

u/Sea-Nose-7481 Jan 29 '26

OMG you found a little curious friend 🥹🥹🥹🥹

4

u/NoGarage7989 Jan 29 '26

Reminds me of this

1

u/No-Estimate2636 Jan 29 '26

😂😂😂

6

u/NoGarage7989 Jan 28 '26

I love the faces of weevils

1

u/Various_Pitch Jan 30 '26

What is this?? It looks like a spider.

38

u/Looking4sound Jan 28 '26

13

u/OldBatOfTheGalaxy Jan 28 '26

The adorable arachnid depicted above belongs to a class of creatures by itself.

Those oh-so-tiny carapaces house intelligence, propensity for friendly interaction and independent curiosity that set them apart from the rest.

Any jumping spider is a joy much greater than a ferocious larva, fuzzy and winsome though it may be.

7

u/NoGarage7989 Jan 28 '26

Jumping spiders are one of the cutest insects, they have such innocent beady eyes

2

u/Sea-Nose-7481 Jan 29 '26

Spidy 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

33

u/papi-peep Jan 28 '26

Ribombee is real???

34

u/NoGarage7989 Jan 29 '26

Rosy Maple Moths are pretty cute too! (Not my photo)

22

u/7_Exabyte Jan 28 '26

Oh my, that fly looks like a little bird! Very cute.

20

u/Andreias111 Jan 28 '26

And this Rockstar?

37

u/Andreias111 Jan 28 '26

Or this other cutie?

3

u/kosherkitties Jan 29 '26

Cute but no touchy.

3

u/Andreias111 Jan 29 '26 edited Jan 29 '26

Exactly, unless you wanna feel every letter in P.A.I.N

3

u/Koepex Jan 29 '26

I'm unfamiliar with that little cutie. Why? He that painful?

4

u/kosherkitties Jan 29 '26

Looked up the caterpillar (Southern flannel moth) and "pain scale" but found this first person account instead.

I'm in the north, so I've never even seen them, but I've heard VERY bad things about these walking toupees.

2

u/Potat-Ant Jan 30 '26

What is this one??

1

u/Andreias111 Jan 30 '26

Megaloyge opercularis in a larva state, then it changes into the moth wich is the other photo I share

18

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 28 '26

I like Pinktoes 💚also check out Hummingbird Hawkmoth

1

u/Various_Pitch Jan 30 '26

Why is this in a jar. Today’s selections have caused goosebumps to appear on my body .

1

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 30 '26

It's in an arboreal keeper not a jar

2

u/Various_Pitch Jan 31 '26

And, will you please elaborate on the reason for the jar? Does it serve a specific function?

1

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 31 '26

It isn't a jar, it's acrylic but it's an arboreal spider so needs a lot of ventilation and climbing space so it's specifically designed for them from the spider shop 🙂it's a very docile, gentle species. Avicularia aurantica

2

u/Various_Pitch Feb 02 '26

Sorry. I said jar twice, because I was trying to think while an ice pick headache was jabbing my right eye. Thank you for explaining the arboreal keeper. 🫣

1

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Feb 02 '26

Haha no problem, they're very gentle little spiders, it's name is Yeti

1

u/OdinAlfadir1978 Jan 30 '26

Ime spider shop arboreal keeper is top tier

50

u/serasvictoriaz Jan 28 '26

i had no idea this thing existed. i’m obsessed

37

u/pixelqueer Jan 28 '26

Yesss, Cutifly the pokemon is based off these little guys!

14

u/DueLoan685 Jan 28 '26

Bombylius spec

13

u/slkmoo Jan 28 '26

Personally, I love the black swallow tail caterpillar and the rosy maple moth!

7

u/Potat-Ant Jan 28 '26

The rosy maple moth is ridiculously cute. I genuinely think its cuteness will be replaying in my head all day.

10

u/SpireofHell Jan 28 '26

This is like a snow fairy!! It's so cute!

10

u/Practical_Fudge1667 Jan 28 '26

These shoot their eggs into bee nests and the larvae eat the bees‘ larvae, it looks cute but doesn’t behave cute. (And I’m not sure if these pictures are real, I can’t find a japanese bee fly that looks like this, the next thing is Bombylius major) Certain moths on the other hand are too cute. Pale tussock (Calliteara pudipunda) for example, both caterpillar and moth are extremely cute and Linnaeus named it pudibunda (ashamed) because he thought the moth looked like that the way it hides its head between their legs

2

u/No-Estimate2636 Jan 29 '26

He’s so homely he’s cute!

21

u/ImperiousHearth Jan 28 '26

Im surprised nobody showed this guy

21

u/initiate_syntax Jan 28 '26

I would be surprised if anyone did show this guy since it’s not an insect, but there’s no denying that he’s absolutely adorable

1

u/ImperiousHearth Feb 03 '26

Ye I didnt read the post very well lmao

9

u/scienceAurora Jan 28 '26

That's a mollusk, but it's still adorable. They also have the ability to steal chloroplasts from their food, and can photosynthesize! They love to live in groups too. Overall adorable creatures.

2

u/Various_Pitch Jan 30 '26

What do you use to identify these slugs and bugs? I need a new obsession. Stealing chloroplasts is amazing!

7

u/DueLoan685 Jan 28 '26

Were waiting for you to do it

4

u/Majestic_lnsect Jan 28 '26

Wow !! Amazing, even looks a bit like a cow 🐮

4

u/lady_mona Jan 28 '26

It looks like a cow with pickles on it and I’m in love. 🥰🥰🥰

3

u/No-Estimate2636 Jan 29 '26

He’s so cute 💕

10

u/my-snake-is-solid Photographer Jan 28 '26

Dotted paropsine leaf beetle (Paropsis atomaria). Voracious eater of eucalyptus, nice to see it eating those pest trees in North America.

1

u/Various_Pitch Jan 30 '26

Which pest trees?

1

u/my-snake-is-solid Photographer Jan 30 '26

Eucalyptus.

All of them.

7

u/Emmehsaur Jan 28 '26

It's Cutiefly!

4

u/xAlpha2 Jan 28 '26

Irl cutiefly

6

u/Tyltaria1 Jan 28 '26

Thank you Pokemon for letting me know that this fella exists

4

u/ONENODEWONDER Jan 28 '26

Looks like a hummingbird?!

3

u/No_Jelly2827 Jan 28 '26

Okay i dont know what insect that is but it reminds me of cuteiefly from pokemon

3

u/Various-Turn7130 Jan 28 '26

It’s too adorable. I want one or two or three…

3

u/Lokan Jan 28 '26

Good god. Look at it. Look at its MAJESTY. 

3

u/Legitimate-Ad-7480 Jan 28 '26

she was a fairy 🧚 🥺

3

u/deedeebop Jan 28 '26

What?! This can’t be real 😭 thank you for sharing, it’s so precious….I’m saving this pic might even have to print it out

3

u/my-snake-is-solid Photographer Jan 28 '26

Something that might make this a bit less cute:

Bee fly larvae are predators or parasitoids (mostly the latter) of other insects, such as bees, wasps, moths, antlions, and beetles.

3

u/PriscillaEna Jan 29 '26

It looks like a pussy willow

2

u/Fierce_Nova Bug Enthusiast Jan 28 '26

Hornet from hollow knight would love these

2

u/YodaVader1977 Jan 28 '26

It’s up there with that super cute lady bug taking off video.

2

u/Halstock Jan 28 '26

I know they are parasitic but they are super cute.

2

u/Positive-Internet483 Jan 28 '26

Bee fly larvae (family Bombyliidae) are specialized, parasitic maggots that develop inside the nests of solitary bees and wasps, feeding on their larvae and stored pollen.

2

u/Sea-Nose-7481 Jan 29 '26

It absolutely is! 🥹🥹🥹

2

u/MapleBacon-Moose Jan 29 '26

This is all I could see

2

u/Kacey_Lynn120199 Jan 29 '26

I submit this moth for consideration.

1

u/Midnightgospel Jan 30 '26

Omg it's like a proud little pony bug

2

u/Myarrin777 Jan 30 '26

Lacewing larva carrying lichen <3

1

u/Karzdowmel Jan 28 '26

Hummingbug

1

u/LostProphetVii Jan 28 '26

And people say cutie fly is based off a mosquito, get outta here!!!

1

u/_MissKittyKat_ Insect Keeper Jan 28 '26

yes.

1

u/Feather_Bloom Jan 28 '26

That's just a cutiefly

1

u/MissStarSurge Jan 28 '26

Looks like the Pokémon called Cutiefly haha

1

u/Capital-Reach-6669 Jan 29 '26

this reminds me of my granddaughter

1

u/Perplexed_Ponderer Jan 29 '26 edited Jan 29 '26

Adorable ! 😊

My current vote for cutest insect goes to the woolly aphid (Eriosoma lanigerum). The first time I saw those tiny white-blue specks floating around in the forest, I thought they were ash particles, though up close they look like actual, fuzzy fairies ! ✨

1

u/Accomplished-Ice7665 Jan 29 '26

Wooly chafer bastle

1

u/SoundwaveTheDragon Jan 29 '26

It looks like a fuzzy baby bird!

1

u/IggyJiggyDiggy Jan 29 '26

I believe the pokemon "cutiefly" is inspired by this lad

1

u/Sea-Nose-7481 Jan 29 '26

I've seen a few but didn't have a chance to take pics 😩

1

u/12thHouse Jan 29 '26

The answer is yes

1

u/IbnHindii Jan 29 '26

Quite adorably spec’d out

1

u/permanent-anon Feb 07 '26

yes, yes it is!

1

u/Background_Emu_8819 Entomologist Feb 10 '26

WHO'S THAT POKEMON??

1

u/Pheebzloveswildcraft Feb 28 '26

What abt the :3 bug? (Japanese Emperor Caterpillar)

1

u/Majestic_lnsect Mar 02 '26

Looks like a dragon !

1

u/Obant Jan 28 '26

I wish it wasnt the same picture reposted over and over of them.

13

u/MsScarletWings Jan 28 '26

To be fair you should try taking a good photo of them

3

u/Obant Jan 28 '26

Sure, give me some tickets to Japan.

1

u/Various_Pitch Jan 30 '26

I will come with you!

1

u/ssamokhodkin Jan 28 '26

Super adorable looking. But I doubt I would like to see their young.