Brown Bugs With Wings: 30 Types
These are the 30 most common brown bugs with wings found in North America.
Quick list
- European Hornet
- Honey Bee
- Horse Fly
- Paper Wasp
- Wheel Bug
- American Cockroach
- Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
- Brown-Banded Cockroach
- Cigarette Beetle
- Confused Flour Beetle
- Differential Grasshopper
- Drugstore Beetle
- Drywood Termite
- Earwig
- Fruit Fly
- German Cockroach
- Indian Meal Moth
- Japanese Beetle
- June Bug
- Larder Beetle
- Oriental Cockroach
- Rice Weevil
- Smokybrown Cockroach
- Spongy Moth
- Squash Bug
- Varied Carpet Beetle
- Western Conifer Seed Bug
- Crane Fly
- House Cricket
- Praying Mantis
How to narrow it down
Narrow it down with three quick checks. Count the legs: insects have six, spiders and ticks have eight, and centipedes and millipedes have many more. Check for wings, even folded ones. Then compare size against a coin: a US penny is 19 mm across. Our bug identifier tool does this filtering for you.
The 30 bugs
European Hornet
European HornetVespa crabroThe only true hornet established in North America, a large brown-and-yellow wasp that nests in hollow trees, barns and wall voids. It often flies at night and is attracted to lights.
Tell-tale sign: Large wasp with a reddish-brown head and thorax. Risk: European hornet stings are very painful, and colonies defend their nest, though workers are less aggressive away from it.
Honey Bee
Honey BeeApis melliferaA fuzzy, golden-brown bee with darker bands that pollinates crops and flowers and lives in large colonies. A worker's barbed stinger stays in the skin after it stings.
Tell-tale sign: Golden-brown to amber body with dark abdominal bands. Risk: A honey bee sting is painful and can trigger life-threatening allergic reactions in sensitive people; call a local beekeeper for swarms.
Horse Fly
Horse FlyTabanus spp.A large, stout fly with huge eyes that pursues people, horses and cattle for blood. Females slice skin with blade-like mouthparts, causing a sharp, painful bite.
Tell-tale sign: Large, heavy body with very large, often iridescent eyes. Risk: Horse fly bites are painful and can swell; they rarely transmit disease to people in the US.
Paper Wasp
Paper WaspPolistes spp.A slender wasp with long, dangling legs that builds open, umbrella-shaped paper nests under eaves, railings and grills. It hunts caterpillars to feed its young.
Tell-tale sign: Long, thin body with a narrow waist. Risk: Paper wasps are less aggressive than yellowjackets but will sting to defend their nest.
Wheel Bug
Wheel BugArilus cristatusA large, gray assassin bug with a raised, toothed crest on its back that looks like half a gear wheel. It hunts caterpillars and beetles and is a garden ally.
Tell-tale sign: Semicircular, cog-like crest on the thorax. Risk: Its bite is extremely painful and can take days or weeks to heal, so avoid handling it.
American Cockroach
American CockroachPeriplaneta americanaThe largest common house cockroach, a reddish-brown roach that lives in sewers, basements and steam tunnels. It can fly short distances in warm weather.
Tell-tale sign: Large reddish-brown body up to two inches long. Risk: American cockroaches can spread bacteria to food and trigger allergies and asthma.
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Brown Marmorated Stink BugHalyomorpha halysA shield-shaped, mottled brown bug that invades homes in fall to overwinter and feeds on fruit and vegetables in summer. It releases a sharp odor when disturbed or crushed.
Tell-tale sign: Shield-shaped, marbled brown body. Risk: Stink bugs don't bite or sting people; they are a household and crop nuisance.
Brown-Banded Cockroach
Brown-Banded CockroachSupella longipalpaA small cockroach with two light bands across its back that prefers warm, dry spots high in rooms. It hides behind picture frames, in electronics and inside furniture.
Tell-tale sign: Two pale yellow bands across the wings and abdomen. Risk: They carry bacteria and allergens like other cockroaches but are not known to bite.
Cigarette Beetle
Cigarette BeetleLasioderma serricorneA tiny, humpbacked, reddish-brown beetle that infests tobacco, spices, dried flowers, cereals and pet food. Adults are strong fliers and are often found near windows.
Tell-tale sign: Rounded, humped body with smooth, ungrooved wing covers. Risk: Cigarette beetles do not bite; they contaminate and damage stored products.
Confused Flour Beetle
Confused Flour BeetleTribolium confusumA flat, slender, reddish-brown beetle common in flour, cake mixes, cereals and other milled foods. Heavy infestations leave a grayish tint and a sharp, unpleasant smell.
Tell-tale sign: Flat, elongated reddish-brown body. Risk: They don't bite or sting; infested flour tastes and smells bad.
Differential Grasshopper
Differential GrasshopperMelanoplus differentialisA large, olive-yellow grasshopper with black chevron marks on its hind legs. It feeds on crops, vegetables and weeds across the central US.
Tell-tale sign: Yellowish-olive body. Risk: Grasshoppers can nip if handled but are harmless; large outbreaks damage crops.
Drugstore Beetle
Drugstore BeetleStegobium paniceumA small, reddish-brown pantry beetle with rows of fine grooves along its wing covers. It infests dried foods, spices, pet food, and even books and medicines.
Tell-tale sign: Oval, reddish-brown body with lengthwise grooves. Risk: Drugstore beetles don't bite or spread disease, but they ruin stored food.
Drywood Termite
Drywood TermiteIncisitermes minorA termite that lives entirely inside dry wood such as furniture, attics and window frames, with no soil contact. It is most common in coastal California, the Southwest and Florida.
Tell-tale sign: Small piles of hard, six-sided fecal pellets. Risk: Drywood termites don't bite people; long-term colonies weaken furniture and framing.
Earwig
EarwigForficula auriculariaA slender, reddish-brown insect with a pair of pincers on its tail. Earwigs hide under mulch and pots by day and chew seedlings, flowers and soft fruit at night.
Tell-tale sign: Forceps-like pincers at the end of the abdomen. Risk: Earwigs can pinch but are harmless, and they do not crawl into ears.
Fruit Fly
Fruit FlyDrosophila melanogasterA tiny, tan fly with bright red eyes that hovers over ripe fruit, drains, trash and spilled drinks. It can go from egg to adult in about a week.
Tell-tale sign: Very small tan body with bright red eyes. Risk: Fruit flies don't bite; they can carry bacteria from trash onto food.
German Cockroach
German CockroachBlattella germanicaA small, light-brown cockroach that breeds rapidly in kitchens and bathrooms, especially in apartments and restaurants. Females carry their egg case until it is ready to hatch.
Tell-tale sign: Light tan to brown body about half an inch long. Risk: German cockroaches contaminate food, and their droppings and shed skins are a major asthma trigger.
Indian Meal Moth
Indian Meal MothPlodia interpunctellaThe most common pantry moth, with wings that are pale gray near the body and coppery bronze at the tips. Larvae spin silk webbing in grains, nuts, cereal, birdseed and dried fruit.
Tell-tale sign: Two-toned wings, cream at the base and rusty bronze at the tips. Risk: Pantry moths don't bite and aren't toxic; infested food should be thrown away.
Japanese Beetle
Japanese BeetlePopillia japonicaA metallic green beetle with copper-brown wing covers that skeletonizes the leaves of roses, grapes, linden and hundreds of other plants. Its white grubs feed on grass roots in lawns.
Tell-tale sign: Metallic green head and thorax with coppery wing covers. Risk: Japanese beetles do not bite or sting people; the harm is to plants and turf.
June Bug
June BugPhyllophaga spp.A heavy, reddish-brown beetle that crashes into screens and porch lights on late-spring nights. Its C-shaped white grubs live in soil and chew grass roots.
Tell-tale sign: Chunky, shiny reddish-brown to dark brown body. Risk: June bugs are harmless to people; they do not bite or sting.
Larder Beetle
Larder BeetleDermestes lardariusA dark, oblong beetle with a pale yellowish band across the front half of its back. Its hairy larvae feed on dried meats, pet food, cheese and dead insects.
Tell-tale sign: Dark, oblong body with a light tan band across the wing covers. Risk: Larder beetles don't bite, but larvae can bore into wood and they contaminate food.
Oriental Cockroach
Oriental CockroachBlatta orientalisA shiny, dark brown to black cockroach that prefers cool, damp places such as basements, drains and crawl spaces. Females have tiny wing pads, and neither sex can fly.
Tell-tale sign: Glossy black or very dark brown body. Risk: Oriental cockroaches feed on garbage and sewage and can spread bacteria to surfaces.
Rice Weevil
Rice WeevilSitophilus oryzaeA small, dark weevil with a long snout and four faint reddish spots on its back. Females chew holes in whole grains such as rice, wheat and corn and lay an egg inside each kernel.
Tell-tale sign: Long, narrow snout extending from the head. Risk: Rice weevils cannot bite people and are not harmful if accidentally eaten, but they spoil grain.
Smokybrown Cockroach
Smokybrown CockroachPeriplaneta fuliginosaA large, uniformly dark mahogany cockroach common in the humid Southeast. It lives outdoors in tree holes, mulch and gutters and flies toward lights at night.
Tell-tale sign: Shiny, uniformly dark brown body with no markings. Risk: Smokybrown cockroaches can carry bacteria indoors from mulch and garbage.
Spongy Moth
Spongy MothLymantria disparFormerly called the gypsy moth, an invasive moth whose hairy caterpillars strip the leaves from oaks and other hardwoods. Caterpillars carry paired blue and red dots along the back.
Tell-tale sign: Hairy caterpillars with five pairs of blue dots and six pairs of red dots. Risk: Caterpillar hairs can cause itchy rashes, and heavy outbreaks strip trees of their leaves.
Squash Bug
Squash BugAnasa tristisA flat, grayish-brown bug that sucks sap from squash and pumpkin vines, causing leaves to wilt and turn crispy. Clusters of bronze eggs appear on leaf undersides.
Tell-tale sign: Flattened, dull gray-brown body. Risk: Squash bugs don't harm people; they can wipe out squash and pumpkin plants.
Varied Carpet Beetle
Varied Carpet BeetleAnthrenus verbasciA tiny, round beetle mottled with white, brown and yellow scales. The fuzzy, banded larvae chew holes in wool, silk, feathers, leather and stored animal products.
Tell-tale sign: Very small, round beetle with a mottled scale pattern. Risk: Carpet beetles don't bite, but larval hairs can cause itchy skin rashes in some people.
Western Conifer Seed Bug
Western Conifer Seed BugLeptoglossus occidentalisA long, brown bug with flattened, leaf-like expansions on its hind legs. It feeds on pine cones in summer and wanders indoors in fall, buzzing loudly when it flies.
Tell-tale sign: Leaf-shaped flat widenings on the hind legs. Risk: Western conifer seed bugs don't bite or sting; they may release a pine-like odor.
Crane Fly
Crane FlyTipula spp.A huge, fragile, long-legged fly often mistaken for a giant mosquito. Adults barely feed, and the larvae, called leatherjackets, eat grass roots.
Tell-tale sign: Extremely long, thin legs that detach easily. Risk: Crane flies cannot bite or sting and do not eat mosquitoes, despite the nickname mosquito hawk.
House Cricket
House CricketAcheta domesticusA light yellowish-brown cricket with three dark bands on its head that chirps loudly at night. It wanders indoors in fall and can chew fabric and paper.
Tell-tale sign: Yellowish-brown body with dark crossbands on the head. Risk: House crickets are harmless, though they can damage clothing and keep you awake.
Praying Mantis
Praying MantisTenodera sinensisA large, long-bodied predator that waits motionless with its spiny front legs folded as if praying. It catches insects of all kinds, including beneficial ones.
Tell-tale sign: Triangular head that swivels to look over its shoulder. Risk: Mantises are harmless to people, though a large one may pinch if handled.
Which ones should you worry about?
5 of the 30 bugs in this guide can bite or sting. The ones to take seriously are European hornet. The rest are harmless or simply a nuisance.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common one?
Among the bugs in this guide, the European hornet and honey bee are the ones people ask about most.
Which of these are dangerous?
European Hornet can be medically significant.
How can I identify a bug I found?
Use the free bug identifier tool: choose the number of legs, wings, main color, size and where you found it, and it will list the closest matches.