Bugs: when, where, and how to catch them
The bug system explained: nets, season and hour windows, regions, and the species you cannot catch without pheromones.
The short answer
Bugs are caught with a net and spawn by season, hour window, weather and region. There are 93 species across five regions, five of which only appear with pheromones. Clear-weather days are best because rain and storms cut the spawn rate sharply. The insect wing of the museum has 19 sets of five.
The net and the basics
Bugs are caught with a net. The worn net costs 200g, and upgrades from copper at 1,000g to mistril at 5,000g let you charge it to catch multiple bugs at once. Swing over a bug to catch it. Species that fly in a wave pattern take a little more timing.
Each bug spawns under a specific combination of season, hour window, weather and region. The bugs page lists all 93 with their exact windows, and the item database links each bug to its uses.
The five regions
Bugs are grouped by where they spawn:
| Region | Example bugs |
|---|---|
| Standard (56) | most common species, all seasons |
| Mines (30) | mine-specific bugs, tied to mine floors |
| Beach (15) | shore and ocean bugs |
| Deep Woods (9) | rare forest species |
| Water (1) | a single water-surface bug |
Bugs in the mines and Deep Woods take longer to reach. You need access to those areas, and mine species only appear at specific depths (mines guide).
Hours: the window that wraps midnight
Each bug has a spawn window, and some wrap past midnight. An hour range of [20, 26] means 8pm to 2am. The bugs page shows the raw windows, making daytime and late-night species easy to tell apart. If a bug seems to “never appear,” check whether its window includes 1am.
Weather and spawn rates
Weather multiplies spawn rates. Calm days use the full rate, rain or snow lowers it to 80%, and storms or blizzards lower it to 30%. Hunt bugs on clear days and use rainy days for fishing or mining (fishing guide).
The five pheromone-only species
Five bugs are pheromone-only. They spawn only when you use the crafted pheromone item that attracts their species. If a slot in the insect museum stays empty, check whether it belongs to one of these five before changing your hunting hours.
Filling the insect wing
The insect museum wing has 19 sets of five bugs, organised by season and habitat. Hour and weather restrictions make this wing slower to fill than the others. The museum guide places it third in the completion order, after fish and flora, once you understand the spawn conditions.
On clear days, run the standard and beach loops in the morning and evening. The 6am and 8pm windows cover most species. Bad weather leaves only a few mine-bug exceptions, so use calm or special-weather days for most species in the mines.