Top 20 Most Common Insects in Natchitoches

The scientific name of the species was first validly published in 1861 by Hagen.

Libellula flavida is a dragonfly species of the genus Libellula from the subfamily Libellulinae. Its distribution area extends in the east of the USA from New York to Florida and Texas.

Adults are 5 cm long. Mature males are dark blue with black heads. Females and juveniles have brown abdomens with a darker stripe down their backs.

Hermeuptychia sosybius, the Carolina satyr, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the United States from southern New Jersey south along the coast to southern Florida, west to south-eastern Kansas, central Oklahoma and central Texas. It is also found in Mexico. The wingspan is 32–38 mm. The upperside is brown without markings. The underside is also brown, but with small eyespots rimmed with yellow on both wings. They feed on sap and rotting fruit. Its larvae can feed upon the highly-invasive Japanese stilt grass Microstegium vimineum, so populations of this butterfly are potentially at risk from efforts to remove stilt grass. The endangered Mitchell's Satyr Neonympha mitchellii is also able to feed upon stilt grass. The larvae also feed on various Poaceae species, including Axonopus compressus, Eremochloa ophiuroides, Stenotaphrum secundatum and Poa pratensis.

The luna Moth (Actias luna) is a beautiful moth with lime-green wings and a white body. It warns away those who approach with clicking noises. If this fails, it will expel the contents of its intestines, which will deter most predators. Its long tail is also thought to confuse bats by messing with their echolocation.

The eastern Lubber Grasshopper ( Romalea microptera) is the most distinctive grasshopper within the south-eastern United States. This large and brightly colored insect can emit a noxious dark-colored foamy secretion from the thorax when it is disturbed. A bird would feel very regretful after ate this insect by mistake.

The spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) is a butterfly with an extreme love for plants in the Lauraceae family, such as spicebushes. Their preference is so strong that an experiment proved they would rather die than choose another host. Their two subspecies, *T. troilus *troilus and *T. troilus *ilioneus, differ based on location. The *T. troilus *ilioneus has more bluish spots and prefers redbay and swampbay plants.

The halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina) isn't considered spooky. The only thing that relates it to Halloween is the orange color that these tend to come with. Females lay their eggs in open water with the males still attached to them. They are also strong fliers that can sustain themselves in many storms.

The widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) is a large insect that grows to be incredibly large with a bulbous head and body. As they age, they are known to grow whitish, much like our grandparents' hair. They live in the water until their final molt, where they reveal their wings, it is at this point it reveals why it has part of a group called the king skimmers.

The black Carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) is given that name from their tendency to chew wood to build their tunnels. They are considered a major pest who can chew through building support beams in the worst-case scenario. Black Carpenter ants produce "aphid farms." The ant cooperates with aphids by protecting them while the aphid produces sweet dew that the ant uses to survive.