Insects

Bumble bees are small, black and yellow fuzzy insects found throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. They are important pollinators and are threatened by pesticides, herbicides, habitat loss, disease and climate change.

The emerald ash borer is a green, shiny beetle that lives on ash trees in certain parts of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. It is an invasive species.

The European gypsy moth is one of the most destructive pests that has ever been introduced to North America. Moth larvae gorge themselves on the foliage of shrubs and trees, leaving the plants bare and susceptible to disease and damage from other pests.

The European honey bee, found worldwide, is known for its delicious honey and painful sting.

The monarch butterfly is known for its bright orange and black wings, which signal to potential predators that the species is poisonous.

The northeastern beach tiger beetle is a tiny, sand-colored beetle that lives on sandy beaches throughout the middle and lower Chesapeake Bay.

The spotted lanternfly is an invasive insect with distinctive spotted wings. It damages plants by feeding on the sap which weakens the plant and attracts mold and other insects.

The zebra swallowtail is a butterfly with thick, black stripes on its white wings. It lives in moist, low woodlands where its host plant, the paw paw tree, grows.