Insect Armies! Terrifying Bug Groups Explained

A bug's life

Bugs! Creepy crawlers! They’re repulsive, and icky, but also strangely fascinating.

Did you know a large group of ladybugs is called a loveliness? For a swarm of winged insects, that’s freaking adorable! It turns out that many other bug species have pretty sweet (and often hilarious) names that are only used when referring to a group. Grab your butterfly nets, and let’s discover some more bugged-out group names.

WATCH: Do You Know The Real Names Of These Doohickeys?

An army of caterpillars

A group of caterpillars is called an army, albeit a very fuzzy, peaceful, squirmy army, mostly living on leafy greens in a rose bush or garden. Ahh, now that’s a cushy deployment.

A kaleidoscope of butterflies

Once freed from their cocoons, a group of butterflies is a kaleidoscope! This colorful term comes from Greek, meaning “observation of beautiful forms.” How pretty and fitting.

An intrusion of cockroaches

A group of cockroaches is called an intrusion. Since they’re always in a group, they’ll always be an unwelcome intrusion.

A scourge of mosquitoes

A group of mosquitoes is a scourge or a swarm. Some are repellent resistant, so choose wisely, don’t be scourged (or punished) with stings.

A business of flies

A group of flies is called a business. They get ready like most of us, with a briefcase and tie, coffee, paper, before buzzing away to their offices within garbage cans and dumpsters.

A swarm of ants

A group of ants is, like mosquitoes, called a swarm if winged. Otherwise, they’re a colony or nest, tunneling in your backyard, in search of food scraps and crumbs. If you see any marching around, looking and walking like carbon copies of each other, they’re an army of soldiers.

A clutter of spiders

What do you call a rampant horde of spiders? According to the experts, they should be referred to as a clutter or cluster. Incidentally, mamma spiders love to hide amongst all the undisturbed clutter in your home. Maybe that’s why they seem to prefer garages and creepy attics.

An eclipse of moths

Moths in a group are called an eclipse. Fun fact: The Luxor hotel in Las Vegas features one of the strongest light sources in the entire world. Shooting out from the top of Luxor’s huge pyramid, this powerful beam of light regularly attracts thousands of moths and other insects.