Top 17 Most Common Insects in El Salvador
Step right into the fascinating world of insects! These diverse creatures, unique in their structures and abilities, find diverse habitats across El Salvador. Drastically varied landscapes across El Salvador are home to a remarkable range of insects, thus creating a spectrum of biodiversity. Not just pests, these critters are vital to our ecosystem's balance, with roles ranging from pollinators to predators. Stay tuned as we unveil '17 most common insects in El Salvador' and understand their extensive roles.
Most Common Insects
1. Green skimmer
Orthetrum serapia is a medium-sized dragonfly with a wingspan of 60-85mm. Its wings are clear except for a small dark spot at the base of the hindwing. The thorax is greenish to greyish yellow with black markings. The abdomen is black with pale yellow or pale green markings. Orthetrum serapia appears very similar to Orthetrum sabina and can be confused where the range of the two overlap in north-eastern Australia. 
2. Black-and-white spiny spider
Female black-and-white spiny spider are 6 - 9 mm wide and possess a hard, shiny abdomen armed with six black conical spines. The upper surface of the abdomen is white to yellowish with variable black or dark brown markings and sigilla. Males are much smaller at 3 - 4 mm and in place of spines have small bumps on their abdomens.
3. Theridion zonulatum
4. Psyche
Upperside is white,base of wings are very slightly powdered with minute black scales.The costa of forewing is speckled obscurely with black; apex black, the inner margin of this inwardly angulate; a very large somewhat pear-shaped post-discal spot also black. Hindwing is white,in most specimens an obscure, extremely slender, terminal black line. Underside is white; costal margin and apex of forewing broadly, and the whole surface of the hindwing irrorated (speckled) with transverse, very slender, greenish strigae and minute dots; these on the hindwing have a tendency to form sub-basal, medial and discal obliquely transverse obscure bands; the postdiscal of forewing is black,spot as on the upperside; terminal margins of both forewings and hindwings with minute black, short, transverse slender lines at the apices of the veins, that have a tendency to coalesce and form a terminal continuous line as on the upperside. Antennae dark brown spotted with white, head slightly brownish, thorax and abdomen white. Female is similar as male, the black markings on the upperside of the forewing on the whole slightly broader, but not invariably so. Wingspan is 2.5 - 5 cm. Larva is green with a pale glaucous tinge about the bases of the legs and slightly hairy. Pupa sometimes green, but more often of a delicate pink shade.
5. Triangles
The wingspan is about 3 - 4.5 cm. Antennae of male ciliated. Mid and hind tibia hairy. Body pale ochreous brown, slightly suffused with fuscous or dark grey brown. Forewings with a large black white-edged triangular patch easily distinguished below the cell from near base to towards outer angle. A similar smaller patch found beyond the cell on vein 5, with some pale fulvous behind it. A slightly sinuous submarginal pale line with patches of black suffusion found inside it and a series of black specks beyond it. A dark marginal line can be seen as well. Hindwings with indistinct medial line and fuscous suffused outer area. Larva has yellow upper half and brown ventral part. The yellow part is broken by longitudinal brown bands, which faints towards posterior and becomes intensive again in prolegs. Eggs olive green and speckled rusty red. First few instars are green with three lateral purple brown lines. Late instars are yellowish. Pupa within a slight cocoon of white silk, which spun amongst leaves.
6. Gray glassy tiger
This butterfly is dark gray or black with two rows of circular white dots along the margins of its wings and elongated white patches closer to the body. The elongated white patches appear to radiate from the thorax.
7. Lean lynx spider
Oxyopes macilentus, sometimes known as the lean lynx spider, is a species of lynx spiders from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. They are active predators, hunting invertebrates (including other spiders) among vegetation. They are especially common in grassy areas and rice fields. Their bodies are characteristically long and thin, about four times as long as it is wide. Their body color ranges from pale white to yellow, orange, or green; with a pattern of black, orange, and white longitudinal lines. Females have a maximum body length of 10 mm (0.39 in), while males grow to 9 mm (0.35 in). The species was first described in 1878 by the German arachnologist Ludwig Carl Christian Koch. The specific name is from Latin macilentus ("lean" or "thin"), in reference to the spider's body. It is classified under the genus Oxyopes.
8. Emerald-banded skimmer
It is a medium-sized dragonfly with metallic-blue frons and brown-capped grey eyes. Its thorax is bronze-black, marked with yellow. There is a mid-dorsal carina, and an anterior and a posterior stripes narrowly separated and very irregular in shapes. There are four stripes on each sidel the first and third rather broad, the others narrow. Abdomen is black, marked with bright ochreous-yellow. Segments 1 and 2 have moderately broad lateral and mid-dorsal stripes. Segments 3 to 8 have fine stripes bordering the ventral borders of segments and mid-dorsal carina. Arial appendages are black. Female is similar to the male. It is commonly found in forested areas in lowland and montane regions. Prefers to breed in shaded muddy pools and marshes in forest.
9. Giant Crab Spider
The giant Crab Spider is a large spider native to the tropics; the largest reported individual had a leg span of 30 cm. This cosmopolitan spider is highly valued in some areas, as it's able to catch cockroaches and other indoor pests. Reportedly, it hunts even scorpions and bats. This spider is venomous and sometimes bites humans, but it's considered harmless.
10. Marbled white moth
The male has a large tuft of hair arising from the base of the tibia of the foreleg. It differs from Nyctemera tripunctaria in the lower three spots of the post-medial band of forewing being separated and having another spot below them towards outer angle. Cilia white below the apex and at outer angle. Hindwing with the cilia white below the apex, and in most specimens at anal angle. The Sri Lankan subspecies has black veins 3 and 4 of hindwing and the spots of the postmedial band of forewing are smaller than other subspecies. The larva are purplish and hairy. Anterior somites yellowish. Each somite is black and marked with short dorsal and lateral white streaks. Pupa yellowish and spotted with black.
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