Official State Insects (insects, butterflies, bugs)

State	Name	Designated as	Year
Official insects, butterflies, and bugs listed by state. (List by state or year)
Alabama	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Official mascot and butterfly	1989
Alabama	Monarch Butterfly	Official insect	1989
Alaska	Four Spot Skimmer Dragonfly	Official State insect	1995
Arizona	Two-tailed Swallowtail	Official State butterfly	2001
Arkansas	Honeybee	Official State insect	1973
Arkansas	Diana fritillary butterfly	Official butterfly	2007
California	California Dogface Butterfly	Official State insect	1972
Colorado	Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly	State insect	1996
Connecticut	European or "Praying" Mantis	State insect	1997
Delaware	Tiger Swallowtail	Official butterfly	1974
Delaware	Ladybug	Official State bug	1974
Florida	Zebra Longwing	Official State butterfly	1996
Georgia	Honeybee	Official Georgia State insect	1975
Georgia	Tiger Swallowtail	Official Georgia State butterfly	1988
Hawaii	Pulelehua (Kamehameha butterfly)	Official insect	2009
Idaho	Monarch Butterfly	State insect	1992
Illinois	Monarch Butterfly	Official State insect	1975
Indiana	[ None ]
Iowa	[ None ]
Kansas	Honeybee	Official insect	1976
Kentucky	Viceroy Butterfly	State butterfly	1990
Kentucky	Honeybee	State agricultural insect	2010
Louisiana	Honeybee	Official State insect	1977
Maine	Honeybee	Official insect	1975
Maryland	Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly	State insect	1973
Massachusetts	Ladybug	Insect or insect emblem	1990
Michigan	[ None ]
Minnesota	Monarch Butterfly	Official butterfly	2000
Mississippi	Honeybee	State insect	1980
Mississippi	Spicebush Swallowtail	State butterfly	1991
Missouri	Honey bee	Official insect	1985
Montana	Mourning Cloak	Official Montana State butterfly	2001
Nebraska	Honeybee	Official State insect	1975
Nevada	Vivid Dancer Damselfly	Official state insect	2009
New Hampshire	Ladybug	Official State insect	1977
New Hampshire	Karner Blue Butterfly	Official State butterfly	1992
New Jersey	Honey bee	New Jersey State bug	1974
New Mexico	Tarantula Hawk Wasp	Official insect	1989
New Mexico	Sandia hairstreak	Official butterfly	2003
New York	Lady bug	Official insect	1989
North Carolina	Honeybee	Official State insect	1973
North Carolina	Eastern tiger swallowtail	Official State butterfly	2012
North Dakota	Convergent lady beetle (ladybug) Hippodamia convergens	Official insect	2011
Ohio	Ladybug	State insect	1975
Oklahoma	Honeybee	Official insect	1992
Oklahoma	Black Swallowtail	State butterfly	1996
Oregon	Oregon Swallowtail Butterfly	Official insect	1979
Pennsylvania	Firefly	Official insect	1974
Rhode Island	[ None ]
South Carolina	Carolina Mantid	Official insect	1988
South Carolina	Tiger Swallowtail	Official butterfly	1994
South Dakota	Honeybee	Official insect	1978
Tennessee	Firefly	Official insect	1975
Tennessee	Ladybug	Official insect	1975
Tennessee	Honeybee	Official agricultural insect	1990
Tennessee	Zebra Swallowtail	Official State butterfly	1994
Texas	Monarch Butterfly	Official State insect	1995
Utah	Honeybee	State insect	1983
Vermont	Honeybee	State insect	1977
Vermont	Monarch Butterfly	State butterfly	1987
Virginia	Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly	Official insect	1991
Washington	Green Darner Dragonfly	Official insect	1997
West Virginia	Monarch Butterfly	Official State butterfly	1995
West Virginia	Honey bee	Official state insect	2002
Wisconsin	Honeybee	State insect	1977
Wyoming	Sheridan's Green Hairstreak	Official State butterfly	2009
What "insect" or "butterfly" holds top honors as the most popular among the 50 states? If you guessed that it was California's Dogface Butterfly you would be wrong. If you found that it was the Honeybee, you would be right. Seventeen states have adopted the Honeybee as their official state insect. Can you guess why?
A distant second, the Monarch Butterfly makes a strong showing with seven states designating this beautiful insect as either an official state "insect" or an official state "butterfly."
The friendly Ladybug makes a showing as official in six states.
Children's Guide to Insects and Spiders Jinny Johnson Simon & Schuster Children's Guide to Insects and Spiders , by Jinny Johnson. 64 pages. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (May 1, 1997) Reading level: Ages 4-8. A detailed introduction to spiders and insects contains information about every major group of arachnids and insects, hundreds of thought-provoking facts, and full-color pictures and photographs."
Insect Laurence Mound Insect, by Laurence Mound. 72 pages. Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc. (June 25, 2007) Reading level: Ages 8+. Full-color photos. "Sure to attract browsers and students researching assignments, Insect explores the anatomy, behavior, and ecology of those creatures, with a heavy emphasis on popular species. Each double-page spread consists of concise, yet lively and readable text and numerous excellent-quality captioned photos, drawings, and diagrams." --School Library Journal
For love of Insects Thomas Eisner For Love of Insects, by Thomas Eisner. 464 pages. Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (October 31, 2005) Imagine beetles ejecting defensive sprays as hot as boiling water; female moths holding their mates for ransom; caterpillars disguising themselves as flowers by fastening petals to their bodies; termites emitting a viscous glue to rally fellow soldiers--and you will have entered an insect world once beyond imagining, a world observed and described down to its tiniest astonishing detail by Thomas Eisner. The story of a lifetime of such minute explorations, For Love of Insects celebrates the small creatures that have emerged triumphant on the planet, the beneficiaries of extraordinary evolutionary inventiveness and unparalleled reproductive capacity.
Insects Stephen A. Marshall Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity, by Stephen A. Marshall. 736 pages. Publisher: Firefly Books; Updated edition (June 2006) With a Photographic Guide to Insects of Eastern North America Meticulously researched and illustrated with color photographs, Insects is a landmark reference book that is ideal for any naturalist or entomologist. To enhance exact identification of insects, the photographs in this encyclopedic reference were taken in the field -- and are not pinned specimens. Insects enables readers to identify most insects quickly and accurately. The more than 50 pages of picture keys lead to the appropriate chapter and specific photos to confirm identification. The keys are surprisingly comprehensive and easy for non-specialists to use.
Garden Insects of North America by Whitney Cranshaw Garden Insects of North America: The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs, by Whitney Cranshaw. 672 pages. Princeton University Press (March 8, 2004) Garden Insects of North America is the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the common insects and mites affecting yard and garden plants in North America. In a manner no previous book has come close to achieving, through full-color photos and concise, clear, scientifically accurate text, it describes the vast majority of species associated with shade trees and shrubs, turfgrass, flowers and ornamental plants, vegetables, and fruits--1,420 of them, including crickets, katydids, fruit flies, mealybugs, moths, maggots, borers, aphids, ants, bees, and many, many more.