Spanish Phrases: Names of animals in Spanish: insects and rodents

This page looks at the Spanish words for some of your favourite creepy crawly friends, as well as the little furry creatures that eat your cheese and gnaw through your telephone wires.

Insects

Here are the names of various common insects (insectos in Spanish) and arachnids (arácnidos, such as spiders and scorpions, which have jointed legs and no wings):

una abeja	-	a bee
un alacrán	-	a scorpion
una araña	-	a spider
una avispa	-	a wasp
un avispón	-	a hornet
una catarina	-	a ladybird, ladybug
un chapulín	-	a grasshopper (Mexico)
un escarabajo	-	a beetle
un escorpión	-	a scorpion
un grillo	-	a cricket
una hormiga	-	an ant
una libélula	-	a dragonfly
una mariposa	-	a butterfly
una mariquita	-	a ladybird, ladybug
una mosca	-	a fly
un mosquito	-	a mosquito
una oruga	-	a caterpillar
un piojo	-	a louse
una pulga	-	a flea
una termita	-	a termite

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Rodents

Here are the names of some common rodents, in Spanish roedores (from the verb roer, meaning to gnaw). (Note: strictly, hares and rabbits are nowadays classed by specialists as lagomorphs (lagomorfos), not rodents.)

una ardilla	-	a squirrel
una ardilla listada	-	a chipmunk
un castor	-	a beaver
una cobaya	-	a guinea pig
un conejo	-	a rabbit
un cuyo	-	a guinea pig (Mexico)
un hámster	-	a hamster
una liebre	-	a hare
un puerco espín	-	a porcupine
una rata	-	a rat
un ratón	-	a mouse
un ratón de campo	-	a fieldmouse

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See also

 animals (mammals) in Spanish
 fish and reptiles in Spanish
 birds in Spanish