Insect identification apps are a useful tool for nature lovers, gardeners, farmers, students, and anyone who wants to learn more about the insects around them. With hundreds of thousands of insect species, it can be challenging to identify that unfamiliar bug you just saw crawling across your kitchen floor or munching on your vegetable plants. Thankfully, there are now several excellent apps that use image recognition technology and AI to identify insects with just a snapshot from your phone’s camera.
How Do Insect Identification Apps Work?
Most insect ID apps leverage machine learning algorithms to match your photo of an insect against an extensive database of known species. When you take a picture of a bug and upload it, the app analyzes the visual features of the insect like size, shape, colors, patterns, and more. It compares these attributes against its database and generates its best guess for what species it is along with a confidence rating. Some apps also allow you to input additional details like location, date, where you found it, and features to improve accuracy.
The database and AI capabilities of the app determine how many species it can potentially recognize. Apps with more image data training their algorithms will be able to identify a wider range of insects across different stages of life like larvae and eggs. However, even the best apps cannot match the knowledge of an entomology expert and may struggle with damaged insects, juveniles, and uncommon species.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an Insect Identification App
With more insect ID apps available now than ever before, how do you pick the right one? Here are some key factors to consider:
- Database size – The number of insect species the app can potentially recognize. Larger is generally better.
- Accuracy – Percentage of correct identifications. Look for apps with 80% or higher accuracy.
- Location support – Can the app narrow down results by your geographic location to give more accurate guesses?
- Image requirements – Does the app work with photos or require high-quality images? The best apps work with typical smartphone photos.
- Speed – How quickly does the app return identification results to you?
- Additional features – Does it provide information about the insect, let you save favorites, have offline accessibility, etc?
- Price – Is the app free or paid? Subscriptions, in-app purchases, etc.
You’ll want an app with a balance of extensive species coverage, high accuracy for your region, speedy identification, and useful features.
The Top 5 Insect Identification Apps
Based on number of species covered, accuracy, reviews, and extra features, here are the top 5 recommended insect identification apps:
1. Picture Insect
Database Size | Over 125,000 species |
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Accuracy | 85% average |
Location Support | Yes |
Image Requirements | Works with phone photos |
Speed | Results in seconds |
Additional Features | Favorites, offline mode, AR mode, beginner/expert setting |
Price | Free or $2.99/month subscription |
Picture Insect has the largest insect database covering over 125,000 species globally. It can narrow down results by your location for greater accuracy. The app’s image recognition technology works quickly and can identify insects from typical smartphone photos. Useful features include offline accessibility, beginner and expert modes, and an AR view to project your insects into the real world.
2. BugGuide ID
Database Size | 115,000 species |
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Accuracy | 82% average |
Location Support | Yes |
Image Requirements | Works better with high-quality images |
Speed | Results in 1 minute |
Additional Features | Discussion boards |
Price | Free |
BugGuide ID draws from a large 115,000 species database. It can limit searches by location. The app works best with high quality, crisp images rather than smartphone photos. Identifications take around 1 minute. BugGuide also offers active discussion boards to get help with tricky insects.
3. Insect Identification
Database Size | 85,000 species |
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Accuracy | 80% average |
Location Support | No |
Image Requirements | Works with phone photos |
Speed | Results in 30 seconds |
Additional Features | Favorites, insect information |
Price | Free or $3.99/month subscription |
The straightforwardly named Insect Identification app has a database of 85,000 species. It does not incorporate location info but its image recognition works quickly with 30 second identifications. The app provides details on each insect and lets you save favorite finds.
4. Seek
Database Size | 100,000 species |
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Accuracy | 78% average |
Location Support | Yes |
Image Requirements | Works with phone photos |
Speed | Results in 1 minute |
Additional Features | Identification across insects, plants, animals, and fungi |
Price | Free |
In addition to its insect identification capabilities, Seek also covers plants, animals, and fungi, with over 100,000 species total in its database. It incorporates your location for more targeted results but identifications take about 1 minute. The app is free to use.
5. iNaturalist
Database Size | 200,000+ species |
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Accuracy | 89% average |
Location Support | Yes |
Image Requirements | Works best with high-quality images |
Speed | Results in 2 minutes |
Additional Features | Community ID assistance, crowdsourced database |
Price | Free |
iNaturalist has the most extensive species database out of the apps reviewed at over 200,000 species. It also has high accuracy. The tradeoff is it requires quality images not just phone photos and takes 2 minutes to identify insects. iNaturalist’s community helps confirm identifications.
Other Insect Identification Apps
Some runners up include:
- Garden Insect Identifier – specific to common garden pests.
- Bug Identifier – better for identifying beetles and butterflies.
- WhatBugIsThis – good for Australia, UK, India.
- ID My Bug – simple and fast.
Conclusion
For comprehensive coverage of insects across the globe, Picture Insect emerges as the top choice. The app’s huge 125,000 species database, incorporation of location data, ability to work with mobile photos, and useful features make it the easiest and most versatile tool for most users to quickly get an accurate ID. Specific regional apps may provide targeted advantages and apps like iNaturalist offer a community approach to insect identification if you have high quality images. Whichever you choose, insect identification apps are invaluable for learning more about the diverse bug life all around us!