Top 20 Most Common Insects in Saudi Arabia
Insects, heralded as nature's most successful organisms, thrive remarkably within the divergent habitats found across Saudi Arabia. The diverse climates from Saudi Arabia's scorching deserts to lush coasts influence insect biodiversity. The most ubiquitous 20 insects relay Saudi Arabia's unique geographical narrative; a tale co-authored by human impact, ecosystem variances, and its distinctive climate. It's crucial to appreciate not just the irritation of pests but also the integral roles beneficial insects play in Saudi Arabia's environmental tapestry.
Most Common Insects
1. Red-veined dropwing
The face of the mature male is deep red, the vertex and top of the frons having a purple sheen. The eyes are deep red and the labium deep yellow with a dark brown stripe in the centre. The synthorax is red with black stripes; mature males often have a purple bloom on the upper thorax.The wings have bright red veins and orange makings at their bases. The pterostigmas are 2.5 - 2.5 mm long and dark brown. The slender abdomen is bright red; S6-S8 have black wedges on each side; S9 and S10 are black. Females have similar markings, but the abdomen and face are yellow to yellowish brown. The sides of the synthorax are pale yellow-brown, as are the lower sides of S1-S3. 
2. Scarlet dragonfly
Crocothemis erythraea can reach a length of 3.5 - 4.5 cm. These dragonflies haves a flattened and rather broad abdomen. The adult male scarlet dragonfly has a bright scarlet red, widened abdomen, with small amber patches at the bases of the hindwings. Also the veins on the leading edges of the wings are red. Females and immatures are yellow-brown and have a conspicuous pale stripe along the top of the thorax.
3. Epaulet skimmer
The bodies of adult males are blue, and those of young and females are yellow and brown.
4. Vagrant Emperor
It is a large dragonfly with greenish-yellow eyes. Its thorax is olivaceous-brown, paler on sides. Wings are transparent with an amber-yellow patch. Abdomen is ochreous, marked with azure-blue and reddish-brown. Segment 2 is blue on dorsum and pale green on the sides. Segments 3 to 7 are olivaceous-yellow with irregular reddish-brown stripes on mid-dorsum and narrow black apical annules. There is a broad mid-dorsal blackish-brown stripe on segments 8 and 9, enclosing a pair of triangular yellow apical spots. Segment 10 is bright yellow, with its base and mid-dorsum broadly black. Female is similar to the male. Its natural habitats are shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs. It breeds in shallow tanks and marshes. A rare long-distance migrant to the British Isles, occasionally seen even in winter.
5. Slender skimmer
The species is on the IUCN Red List as not endangered, year of assessment 2009. The slender bank dragonfly occurs from Southeastern Europe and North Africa to Japan and Australia
6. Kirby's dropwing
The spotted sun pointer (Trithemis kirbyi) is a dragonfly species from the family of the dragonflies (Libellulidae). Two subspecies are described. The nominate subspecies occurs in India and Sri Lanka, while the insufficiently defined taxon Trithemis kirbyi ardens occurs in the rest of the distribution area, which mainly includes Africa.
7. Dwarf honey bee
A. florea is called the dwarf honey bee due to its small size compared to other honeybees. A worker is typically 7–10 mm in body length and its overall coloration is red-brown. A colony builds a single, exposed comb usually on tree branches or shrubs. A. florea produce honey that is harvested and eaten in Thailand and Cambodia. They are excellent pollinators, which gives them an important ecological role in the places they inhabit. Drones carry a thumb-like bifurcation called the basitarsus, which is located two-thirds along the length of the tibia. The fimbriate lobe of A. florea has three protrusions and they sting using two stylet barbs. Apis florea and its sister species together comprise the subgenus Micrapis, and are the most primitive of the living species of Apis, reflected in their small colony size, and simple nest construction. The exposed single combs are built on branches of shrubs and small trees. The forager bees do not perform a gravity-oriented waggle dance on the vertical face of the comb to recruit nestmates as in the domesticated Apis mellifera and other species. Instead, they perform the dance on the horizontal upper surface where the comb wraps around the supporting branch. The dance is a straight run pointing directly to the source of pollen or nectar the forager has been visiting. The distinctiveness of the two species A. florea and A. andreniformis was established unequivocally in the 1990s. A. florea is redder and old workers always have a red first abdomen (younger workers are paler in colour, as is the case in giant honey bees); A. andreniformis is generally darker and the first abdomen segment is completely black in old bees. Distinguishing characteristics of the dwarf honey bees are outlined below:
8. Red-veined darter
The Early Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) is a species of dragonfly in the family of the leaflets (Libellulidae), which belongs to the great dragonfly (Anisoptera).
9. Painted lady
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.
10. Wandering glider
The wandering glider (Pantala flavescens) is a yellow dragonfly that migrates long distances. It's easily recognized by its elegant flight pattern, where it seems to glide across the sky effortlessly, even when it's windy outside. It often lands near still water, which includes ponds and puddles.
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