This is a list of songs inspired by insects.
Insects in music are known from everything from classical music and opera to ragtime and pop.
Rimsky-Korsakov imitates the quick buzzing vibrato of the bumblebee in his famous "The Flight of the Bumblebee". Popular songs with an insect theme include "glow-worm", "Poor Butterfly", "La Cucaracha", "The Boll Weevil", and "The Blue-Tailed Fly". Operas like Puccini's Pop groups named after insects include Buddy Holly and the Crickets, The Beatles, Adam and the Ants and many others.[2] Songs named after or inspired by the sounds of insects are listed below.
Insect-inspired songs| Name of song | Insect order | Composer | Performing artist | Date | Type of music | Notes | | Ants Marching | Hymenoptera | Dave Matthews | The Dave Matthews Band | 1994 | Pop / Rock |
| Bee in the Bottle | Hymenoptera | Sinead Lohan | Sinead Lohan | 1995 | Folk rock |
| Dance of the Honeybees | Hymenoptera | Charlie Lennon | De Dannan
Frankie Gavin
Sharon Shannon
Altan | 1986 | Irish folk | Said to be based on the honeybee's waggle dance.[3] |
| Mosquito | Diptera | Yeah Yeah Yeahs | Yeah Yeah Yeahs | 2013 | Indie rock |
| The Mosquito | Diptera | John Densmore / Robby Krieger / Ray Manzarek | The Doors | 1972 | Rock |
| Flight of the Bumblebee | Hymenoptera | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | many artists | 1899-1900 | Classical |
| One Note Samba/Spanish Flea | Siphonaptera | Antônio Carlos Jobim | Sergio Mendes-Brasil '66 | 1966 | Bossa nova |
| Fireflies | Coleoptera | Adam Young | Owl City | 2009 | Electronica |
| Lady Bug | Coleoptera | Randy Rogers / Wade Bowen | Randy Rogers | 2015 | Country |
| Mariposa traicionera | Lepidoptera | Fher Olvera | Mana | 2003 | Rock |
| Butterfly | Lepidoptera | John FruscianteB/ret Mazur, M / chael "Flea" Balzary / Seth "Shifty Shellshock" Binzer | Crazy Town | 2000 | Rap rock |
| Caterpillar | Lepidoptera | Peter Albin | Big Brother and the Holding Company | 1967 | Rock | This album was the studio debut for the band's lead singer, Janis Joplin. |
| The Caterpillar | Lepidoptera | The Cure | 1984 | Post-punk |
| Grasshopper | Orthoptera | Soul Delavants | Soul |
| Grasshopper | Orthoptera | John Phillips | The Mamas and the Papas | 1971 | Folk rock |
| The Grasshopper Unit (Keep Movin') | Orthoptera | Beastie Boys | 2000 | Rap rock |
| Grasshoppers | Orthoptera | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto | 1978 | Jazz fusion |
| Moth | Lepidoptera | Chad Gray / Kevin Churko / Tom Maxwell / Vinnie Paul | Hellyeah | 2014 | Heavy metal |
| Moth's Wings | Lepidoptera | Michael Angelako | Passion Pit | 2009 | Indietronica |
| That's the way love goes | Lepidoptera | Janet Jackson / Jam & Lewis | Janet Jackson | 1993 | R & B |
| Mayfly | Ephemeroptera | Stuart Murdoch | Belle and Sebastian | 1996 | Indie pop |
| Doin' the Cockroach | Blattodea | Modest Mouse | Modest Mouse | 1997 | Indie rock |
| Lady bug | Coleoptera | Bumblebee Umlimited | 1978 | Disco |
| Butterfly | Lepidoptera | Jason Mraz | Jason Mraz | 2008 | Pop / Rock |
| Bugs | Insects-general | Eddie Vedder | Pearl Jam | 1994 | Rock |
| All My Friends Are Insects | Insects-general | Adam Deibert | Weezer | 2010[4] | Rock |
| Georgia Warhorse | Orthoptera | JJ Grey & Mofro | 2010 | Funk rock | Named after the Southern Lubber Grasshopper |
| The Blackfly Song | Diptera | Wade Hemsworth | many artists | 1949 | Folk | Inspired a short animated film, Blackfly. |
| Mosquito Moan | Diptera | Blind Lemon Jefferson | 1927 | Blues |
| Termite | Blattodea | Young Thug | 2015 | Hip hop |
| Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me | Diptera | Thomas Brigham Bishop* | many artists | 1869 | Folk | The writer of the song is somewhat contentious (see Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me) |
| Killa Beez | Hymenoptera | Killa Beez | 2002 | Hip hop |
| Wu Killa Beez: The Reemergence | Hymenoptera | Remedy | 1998 | Hip hop |
| Dragonfly | Odonata | Ziggy Marley | Ziggy Marley | 2003 | Reggae |
| The King Beetle on the Coconut Estate | Coleoptera | mewithoutyou / Aaron Weiss | mewithoutyou | 2009 | Indie rock |
| Fireflies | Coleoptera | Harmony SamuelsD/awn Richard, d/rew Scott | Zendaya | 2013 | Electronica |
| The Cricket Song | Orthoptera | Rich O'Toole | 2011 | Country |
| Frass | Insects-general | Renaldo and the Loaf | 1981 | Experimental | The whole album, Songs for Swining Larvae, is inspired by insects.[5] |
| There Ain't No Bugs On Me | Insects-general | (Traditional folk song) | (Traditional folk song) | Unknown | Folk | There is a popular recording of this song by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman on the album, Not for Kids Only. |
| Dog and Butterfly | Lepidoptera | Ann WilsonN/ancy Wilson, / e Ennis | Heart | 1978 | Folk rock |
| Hive | Hymenoptera | Sexton / Nick Hexum / Martinez | 311 | 1995 | Rap rock |
| Red Mosquito | Diptera | Jeff AmentS/tone Gossard, c/k Irons, Mi /McCready, Eddi /Vedder | Pearl Jam | 1996 | Rock |
| The Bug | Insects-general | Mark Knopfler | Dire Straits | 1991 | Rock |
| I am the Fly | Diptera | Graham Lewis / Colin Newman | Wire | 1978 | Punk rock |
| Human Fly | Diptera | Lux Interior, Ivy Rorschach | The Cramps | 1979 | Punk rock |
| Fly on the Wall | Diptera | Miley CyrusA/ntonina Armato, T /m James, v/rim Karaoglu | Miley Cyrus | 2009 | Pop rock |
| Fly on the Wall | Diptera | Malcolm YoungA/ngus Young /Brian Johnson | ACDC | 1983 | Rock |
| Fly on the Wall | Diptera | The Jesus Lizard | The Jesus Lizard | 1994 | Rock |
| Insect Hospital | Insects-general | They Might Be Giants | 2013 | Rock |
| March of the Fire Ants | Hymenoptera | Mastodon | Mastodon | 2002 | Heavy metal |
| Beetle | Coleoptera | Mooi Wark | Rock |
| Beetle in the Box | Coleoptera | Louis Abbott | Admiral Fallow | 2012 | Indie pop |
| Black Beetle Pies | Coleoptera | Trad / arr Flood | Bellowhead | 2012 | Folk |
| Dragonfly Keeper | Odonata | Phildel | Phildel | 2010 | Neoclassical | Instrumental |
| Durability | Insects-general | Tribes of Neurot | 2002 | Experimental | The entire album Adaptation and Survival, on which this track is found, is composed entirely of manipulated insect sounds. |
| Silverfish | Thysanura | Sounds of System Breakdown[6] | 2013 | Electronic music | Instrumental |
| Pediculosis (Mommy, I Have Lice) | Phthiraptera | Fumigation | 2015 | Metal |
| The Dreaded Sea Lice Have Come Aboard | Phthiraptera | Guttermouth | 1999 | Rock |
| Rats and Mice and Swarms of Lice | Phthiraptera | Thou | 2014 | Sludge Metal |
| Love Lice | Phthiraptera | Fake Shark - Real Zombie! | 2009 | Rock |
| Earwigs To Eternity | Dermaptera | Alice Cooper | 2009 | Rock |
| Catfood On The Earwig | Dermaptera | Guided by Voices | 1994 | Rock |
| Earwig Town Lyric | Dermaptera | Chairlift | 2008 | Rock |
| Earwig | Dermaptera | The Dead Milkmen | 1986 | Rock |
| The Louse House of Kilkenny | Phthiraptera | The Dubliners | 1978 | Irish folk |
| Earwig | Dermaptera | Public Memory | 2016 | Electronic, Music |
| Lacewing | Neuroptera | Lacewing | 1970 | Rock |
| Lacewings | Neuroptera | Alasdair MacLean and The Clientele | The Clientele | 2014 | Indie Pop |
| Head Lice | Phthiraptera | 18 | Razor Jane | 2008 | Pop |
| Locust | Orthoptera | Robb Flynn/ Philip Demmel | Machine Head | 2011 | Thrash |
| Cricket Orchestra | Orthoptera | Smallpeople | Smallpeople | techno |
| Crickets | Orthoptera | Damon Thomas Santo/ Allan Craig Iida/ Christopher Daniel Goodman/ Jonathan Rotem/ Anthony Vincent Cozzo/ Christian Scott Condo | Drop City Yacht Club | 2013 | Hip hop |
| Crickets | Orthoptera | Jaron Boyer/ Colt Ford/ Jeffery Don Hyde | Colt Ford | 2014 | Country |
| Cricketz | Orthoptera | Earl Benjamin/ Keith Brown/ Dominic Thomas/ Michael Stevenson | New Boyz | 2009 | Hip hop |
| Cricket On A Line | Orthoptera | Christopher Wongwon/ Jared Sciullo Riley/ Luther Roderick Campbell/ Justin N. Spillner/ Rhett Akins/ Colt Ford | Colt Ford | 2010 | Country |
| Crickets | Orthoptera | Brent Baxter/ Lisa Shaffer/ Bill Whyte | Joe Nichols | 2013 | Country |
| Bug Rain | Insects-general | Looper | Hip Hop / Rap |
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z28q4c6OCUk Cicada] | Hemiptera | Liam Titcomb | 2012 | Rock |
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvJrEPEx27A Sicka Cicadas] | Hemiptera | Kathy Ashworth | 2011 | Country |
| Sassy Cicada | Hemiptera | Kristin Jerger | Kristin Jerger | Kids | English & Spanish language |
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPTOUcrQ1jw Stick Insect Song] | Phasmatodea | The Stick Insects | 2009 | Electronica | Instrumental, stick insect animation |
| Song to the Cicadas | Hemiptera | The Greenhouse Culture Band, CS Luxem | 2015 | Collaboration to celebrate the cicada |
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7XYMs5R9vc Aphids] | Hemiptera | Hum | 2010 | lyrics |
| Night of the Cicada | Hemiptera | The People's Republic of Europe | 2014 | Electronic | Netherlands |
| Mayfly | Ephemeroptera | Belle & Sebastian | 2003 | Indie pop |
| Mayfly | Ephemeroptera | Rasputina | 1998 | Rock |
| Mayfly | Ephemeroptera | Ben Winship & David Thompson | 2009 | Acoustic Folk |
| Mayfly | Ephemeroptera | Andrew Chalk & Tom James Scott | 2013 | Electronic |
| Mayfly Waltz (for Dilly) | Ephemeroptera | Michael Hoppe | various artists | 2013 | New Age |
| Flea | Siphonaptera | Clazziquai | 2008 | Pop |
| Flea Brain | Siphonaptera | Vincent Gene | 2005 | Country |
| Flea Fly | Siphonaptera | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Red Hot Chili Peppers | 1994 | Rock |
| Flea Versus MIte | Siphonaptera | The Presidents of the United States of America | The Presidents of the United States of America | 2014 | Alternative Rock |
| Sabrina Sabrina, Flea Ballerina | Siphonaptera | Mr. Billy | Mr. Billy | 2008 | Children's Music |
| Fifi the Flea | Siphonaptera | Mary Black | Mary Black | 2011 | New Age |
| Fifi the Flea | Siphonaptera | The Hollies | The Hollies | 1998 | Rock |
| Spanish Flea | Siphonaptera | Allan Sherman | 2005 | Miscellaneous |
| Spanish Flea | Siphonaptera | Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass | 1965 | Jazz |
| Flea in Your Ear | Siphonaptera | Simian Mobile Disco | 2008 | Electronic |
| Madama Butterfly | Lepidoptera | Giacomo Puccini | 1903 | Opera |
| Butterflies and Hurricanes | Lepidoptera | Muse | Muse | 2004 | Alternative Rock |
| Butterfly Kisses | Lepidoptera | Bob Carlisle | Bob Carlisle | 1997 | Contemporary |
| Cockroaches | Blattodea | Necro | Necro | 2000 | hip-hop |
| I Hate Cockroaches | Blattodea | Bananas at Large | Bananas at Large | 1993 | Parody |
| Butterfly | Lepidoptera | Bassnectar | Bassnectar | 2012 | Electronic |
| Termite | Blattodea | Jungle by Night | Jungle by Night | 2011 | instrumental |
| The termite song | Blattodea | The Woodbox Gang | The Woodbox Gang | 2001 | Bluegrass |
| Odonata | Odonata | Stuart Masters[7] | 2013 | Folk | Instrumental |
| Oh, Odonata | Odonata | The Brave Optimistic | 2015 | Indie rock | Title track of album |
| The Wasps | Hymenoptera | Ralph Vaughan Williams | | 1909 | Incidental music | For Aristophanes' play The Wasps[8] |
| Mosquito | Diptera | Ingrid Michaelson | Ingrid Michaelson | 2005 | Pop |
| Mosquito | Diptera | Bomfunk MC | Bomfunk MC | 2004 | Electronic |
| Mosquito | Diptera | Franck Langolff | Vanessa Paradis | 1988 | French Pop |
| Butterfly Bleu | Lepidoptera | Iron Butterfly | Iron Butterfly | 1970 | Rock |
| Iron Butterfly Theme | Lepidoptera | Iron Butterfly | Iron Butterfly | 1968 | Rock |
| Springtail Boogie | Collembola | Kenneth Johnston | Instrumental Music from the Horsehead Point Community | 2007 | Rock |
| Thrips | Thysanoptera | Egret Sylvie | Carpe Diem | 2016 | Electronic |
| Airplane Mode | Collembola | Flobots | Survival Story | 2010 | Rock |
| Intro with Cicadas | Hemiptera | The Firefly Choir | The Insect Songbook Vol. 1 | 2016 | Electronic | [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D43Q8PU/ref=sr_1_2_rd?ie=UTF8&child=B01D43QLP2&qid=1459967305&sr=1-2%3C/a%3E Entire album is inspired by various orders of insects.] |
| Flea Bitten Annie | Siphonaptera | The A-Bones | 1993 | Garage rock |
| Dropping Like Flies | Diptera | The Accüsed | 1990 | Thrash metal |
| Scream of the Butterfly | Lepidoptera | Acid Bath | 1994 | Sludge metal |
| Cassie Eats Cockroaches[9] | Blattodea | Acid Bath | 1994 | Sludge metal |
| Ants Invasion | Hymenoptera | Adam Ant/Marco Pirroni | Adam and the Ants | 1980 | New wave |
| Antmusic | Hymenoptera | Adam Ant/Marco Pirroni | Adam and the Ants | 1980 | New wave |
| Ant Rap | Hymenoptera | Adam Ant/Marco Pirroni | Adam and the Ants | 1981 | New wave |
| King Wasp | Hymenoptera | Add N to (X) | 1998 | Electroclash |
| Butterfly | Lepidoptera | Admiral Bailey | 1992 | Dancehall |
| Joanie's Butterfly | Lepidoptera | Steven Tyler/Jimmy Crespo/Jack Douglas | Aerosmith | 1982 | Hard rock |
{{Insects in culture}}1. ^{{cite journal |last1= Hogue |first1= Charles |title= Cultural Entomology |journal= Annual Review of Entomology |date= 1987 |volume=32 |url= http://www.insects.org/ced1/cult_ent.html |accessdate=4 April 2016 |publisher=Insects.org |doi= 10.1146/annurev.en.32.010187.001145}}
2. ^{{cite web|title=Insects in Music, Art and Poetry|url=http://horticulture.oregonstate.edu/system/files/u1473/ent300-8.ppt.|publisher=Oregon State University|accessdate=4 April 2016}}
3. ^{{cite web|title=Dance of the Honeybees|url=http://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Dance_of_the_Honeybees|publisher=Tune Archive|accessdate=6 April 2016}}
4. ^{{cite web |last1=Krupa |first1=Jessy |title=Weezer's Best New Track Is About Bugs? |url=https://www.popmatters.com/131092-weezers-best-new-track-is-about-bugs-2496137730.html |website=PopMatters |accessdate=30 September 2018}}
5. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.renaldoloaf.com/albums/SFSL.htm|title=Renaldo and the Loaf - Songs for Swinging Larvae|website=www.renaldoloaf.com|access-date=2016-04-05}}
6. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/SOSBmusic/|title=Sounds of System Breakdown|website=www.facebook.com|access-date=2016-04-06}}
7. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/stuartmastersmusic|title=Stuart Masters|website=www.facebook.com|access-date=2016-04-06}}
8. ^Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) - Overture: The Wasps MusicWeb International
9. ^{{Cite web|url=http://www.acid-bath.com/|title=ACID BATH|website=www.acid-bath.com|access-date=2016-04-22}}