Top 20 Most Common Insects in Hamburg

The painted lady is a migratory butterfly that spends part of the year in Northern Africa and then migrates to Europe during the warmer months. Although the adults feed on nectar from flowers, the larvae feed on the leaves of nettles and thistles.

Often confused for the ladybug, multicolored asian ladybeetle (Harmonia axyridis) is a separate species that, unlike the ladybug, is a household pest. It is considered particularly annoying for its habit of returning to places from which it is removed. One of the most variable species in the world, there are many different colors and patterns multicolored asian ladybeetle may display, making identification potentially difficult.

Large white (Pieris brassicae) is visually similar but quite larger than its close relative P. rapae. It lays its eggs on food plants such as cabbages – the origin of its common name – leading to many farmers' classifying this species as a pest.

The azure damselfly (Coenagrion puella) is a species of damselfly found in most of Europe. It is notable for its distinctive black and blue colouring. They are commonly found around ponds and lakesides during the summer.

The meadow brown (Maniola jurtina) is similar to the Gatekeeper in the way that it rests with its wings open due to the "eye spots" on either end of its wings that ward off predators. While the color is a deep brown, the caterpillar form is a beautiful bright green with little, white hairs and a dark line leading down its back.

The speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) prefers to live in damp, dark woodlands. Unlike other butterflies, it's more active in shadier habitats rather than sunny ones. Males often fight over a perch, spiraling up to the treetops until they determine a winner. These perches are where the males find passing females.

The ruddy darter can reach a body length of 3.5 - 3.5 cm and attains a wingspan of up to 6 cm. These dragonflies are smaller than the Common Darter. They have black legs and the wings show a brown pterostigma and an orange color at the base of the wings. Two evident black marks are located on segments S8 and S9 of the abdomen. The head, thorax and abdomen of the mature male are vivid red, while the female is slightly smaller, and is a golden-yellow colour with black markings. The blood-red color of the males develop with maturity, together with a red frons and a red-brown thorax. The abdomen widens for the final third of its length and shows a marked pinched section where it joins the thorax.

Interestingly, individuals belonging to orange tip (Anthocharis cardamines) occupy different habitats depending on gender: the males inhabit the edges of forests, whereas the females prefer meadows. When laying eggs, females release pheromones to deter other females from laying eggs on the same flowerhead. They are picky about choosing their host plants, and females will avoid plants not fully exposed to sunlight.

Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) is a hoverfly species that tends to congregate in groups. This sometimes alarms people who mistake them for wasps, although marmalade hoverfly does not sting and is harmless to humans and animals. It feeds on nectar and pollen grains, possesses the rare ability to crush the latter.

Ischnura elegans can reach a body length of 2.5 - 3.5 cm and a wingspan of about 3.5 cm. Hindwings reach alength of 1.4 - 2 cm. Adult male blue-tailed damselflies have a head and thorax patterned with blue and black. There is a bi-coloured pterostigma on the front wings. Eyes are blue. They have a largely black abdomen with very narrow pale markings where each segment joins the next. Segment eight, however, is entirely pale blue. At rest, the wings of most damselfly species are held back together, unlike dragonflies, which rest with their wings out flat. The thorax of juvenile males has a green tinge. Female blue-tailed Damselflies come in a variety of colour forms.Juveniles may be salmon pink, form rufescens; violet, form violacea and a pale green form. The colour darkens as the damselfly ages. Mature females may be blue like the male, form typica; olive green thorax and brown spot, form infuscans or pale brown thorax and brown spot, form infusca-obseleta.