Identify Butterflies and other Insects in North Central Florida
Butterfly and Insect Identification for Marion, Putnam and, Alachua Counties, Florida
While far from an exhaustive list, this list is growing and specific to the region and I hope provides a strong start in helping you identify butterflies and other bugs in the region near Ocala National Forest. Hiking Florida, I found myself taking picture of butterflies I could not identify. I depended on google and other searches to identify them, using very basic terminology of coloration. I have provided those very basic descriptions thinking others may search similarly. After arriving here to discover the name of the butterfly or other insect in question, with insect name in hand, I hope I have made searching for further information much easier!
Butterfly Identification

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (male) is a large Florida butterfly, yellow body, and yellow and black wings with little blue spots

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (female) is a large Florida butterfly with yellow and black striped wings and more blue on the wings than the male

Gulf Fritallary butterfly in Florida with orange body, and orange wings with black stripes and spots

Eastern Black Swallowtail – a butterfly with darks wings, black and blue with white spots on edge of wings

Zebra Longwing Butterfly – large black and yellow striped butterfly with light yellow spots on its wings and body

Monarch Butterfly – large orange and black butterfly with white spots on the wings with dark edges in Florida

Horace’s Duskywing – tiny brown butterfly with white spots and black spots on its wings and body in Central Florida

Pearl Crescent – tiny butterfly, only the size of a quarter with orange and black wings and a gray edge in North Florida

Pipevine Swallowtail is a dark butterfly with gray or black forewings and darky dusky blue hindwings with white spots

White Peacock Anartia-jatrophae is a small, dusty white butterfly with orange fringe appearing in autumn
Identify Dragonflies, Spiders, and Other Insects and Bugs in North Central Florida

Blue Dasher Dragonfly – blue dragonfly in Florida with long wings, and its face or head may be bright green

Needham’s Skimmer Dragonfly near water in Florida is a dragonfly with orange wings, orange abdomen, and a brown thorax

Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly (female) has a dark blue body and midnight blue or black wings with a white spot at the tip

Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly (male) has a dark blue body and midnight blue or black wings but no white spot as the female has

Zipper Orb Weaver – a black and white spider in Florida with long legs and a web that looks like a zipper

Arrowhead Orb Weaver is a tiny brown spider with a yellow triangle on its abdomen, shaped like an arrowhead

Golden Silk Orb Weaver spider (top male vs female bottom) has a patterned, gold-yellow abdomen and long, spindly legs in Florida

Spiny Orb Weaver spider has a white and black or yellow and black body with red spiny points around its abdomen

Florida Scrub Millipede is a fat, shiny brown slow-moving millipede about 4-6 inches long with black antennae

Elephant Beetle or ox beetle is a black, lumbering beetle with three horns, two short horns and a long middle horn
Hiking Trails
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