Insects Crossword Puzzles: Free Printable and Online

Challenge yourself with engaging Insects crossword puzzles on Grid Genius. Test your bug knowledge with our daily creepy-crawly word games.

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7 puzzles, click Print on any puzzle below

Insects

Hard · 11×11 · 14 words
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Across

  1. 1. Simple light-detecting organs on a bug's forehead often called little eyes
  2. 4. Social worker that sounds exactly like a parent's sister
  3. 5. Cannibalistic bride with a famously devout foreleg stance
  4. 9. Heavy earthmoving machinery brand, or a voracious fuzzy crawler
  5. 10. Armored scarab that sounds remarkably like a classic British rock legend
  6. 11. Botanical vampire farmed and milked by colonies for sweet honeydew
  7. 12. Tiny jumping acrobat famously responsible for carrying the bubonic plague
  8. 13. Hexagon builder known for a complex waggle dance

Down

  1. 2. Developmental phase between shedding skins that sounds like a social media prefix
  2. 3. Voracious grubby youngster waiting to undergo a miraculous makeover
  3. 6. Blind architectural carpenter capable of literally eating you out of house and home
  4. 7. Luciferin-fueled romantic flashing bioluminescent Morse code in the dark
  5. 8. Hard forewing covers that lift like gull-wing doors to allow for flight
  6. 9. Noisy summer screamer with a seventeen-year prime-number snooze button

Insects

Medium · 11×11 · 13 words
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Printing for a class?

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Across

  1. 1. Plump, pale beetle larva that damages lawns
  2. 4. Stinging insect with a famously pinched waist
  3. 6. Hard-shelled crawler making up the largest order of insects
  4. 8. Voracious leaf muncher destined for a chrysalis
  5. 9. Four-winged aerial predator that darts over ponds
  6. 11. Aquatic insect famous for its incredibly brief adult lifespan

Down

  1. 2. Apis mellifera, for one
  2. 3. Lepidopteran often drawn to porch lights
  3. 4. Snouted pest that infests pantries and cotton crops
  4. 5. Resilient scavenger that scatters when the kitchen light flips on
  5. 6. Nectar sipper celebrated for its colorful, scaly wings
  6. 7. Spotted garden ally highly prized for devouring aphids
  7. 10. Jumping parasite that might make a dog scratch

Insects

Easy · 11×11 · 15 words
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Printing for a class?

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Across

  1. 1. Small outdoor pest that forms swarms
  2. 5. Plant-eating green pest known as a plant louse
  3. 6. Colorful pollinator that emerges from a chrysalis
  4. 9. Yellow and black pollinator that makes honey
  5. 10. Tiny egg of a parasitic insect
  6. 11. Resting developmental stage inside a cocoon
  7. 12. Tiny jumping parasite that bites dogs
  8. 13. Small colony builder that lives in hills

Down

  1. 1. Soft wormlike beetle larva found in dirt
  2. 2. Destructive wood-eating colony dweller
  3. 3. Nocturnal flier attracted to lamps
  4. 4. Delicate green insect with transparent veined wings
  5. 6. Six-legged creature with a hard outer shell
  6. 7. Crop-destroying swarming grasshopper
  7. 8. Resilient flat brown household pest

Insects

Easy · 11×11 · 16 words
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Printing for a class?

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Across

  1. 1. Nocturnal flying insect drawn to bright lights
  2. 5. Large aggressive stinging insect related to wasps
  3. 6. Large dense group of flying insects
  4. 8. Beautiful flying insect with large colorful wings
  5. 12. Flying insect that collects nectar and makes honey
  6. 13. Life stage of an insect inside a cocoon
  7. 14. Tiny jumping insect that bites cats and dogs
  8. 15. Small flying insect that hovers in swarms

Down

  1. 2. Pale soft-bodied insect that eats and destroys wood
  2. 3. Sterile female insect that maintains the colony
  3. 4. Small burrowing insect that lives in colonies
  4. 7. Common winged insect that buzzes around food
  5. 8. Insect characterized by hard protective front wings
  6. 9. Long dark insect with pincers on its rear end
  7. 10. Type of grasshopper that travels in destructive swarms
  8. 11. Fast-moving brown insect found in dark places

Insects

Hard · 15×15 · 19 words
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Printing for a class?

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Across

  1. 1. The cotton industry's greatest nightmare
  2. 2. The smallest of annoyances in a cloud
  3. 5. Royal traveler on a multi-generational migration
  4. 6. The biting truth of a mouthpart
  5. 9. The stage before the change
  6. 10. A leap-year athlete in the meadow
  7. 13. Paper makers with a painful point
  8. 14. The study of those with six legs and multiple eyes
  9. 15. The insect that constantly insists she performed the act
  10. 16. A cloud of collective intelligence

Down

  1. 1. Nighttime traveler that hitches a ride on luggage
  2. 3. A water-dwelling youth or a Greek spirit
  3. 4. The central engine room of an insect body
  4. 5. Kafkaesque change of state
  5. 7. A hungry hungry walking stomach
  6. 8. An architectural marvel underground
  7. 11. Red-coated soldier against the aphid army
  8. 12. Sacred roller of the Egyptian sun
  9. 13. The lesser of two in a grain bin

Insects

Medium · 11×11 · 12 words
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Printing for a class?

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Across

  1. 2. The active immature form between egg and pupa
  2. 4. Tiny sap-sucker often farmed by ants
  3. 5. Narrow-waisted stinger that builds paper nests
  4. 7. Unwelcome summer guest that leaves an itchy welt
  5. 10. Large stinging social wasp with a painful reputation

Down

  1. 1. Tiny biting fly that often travels in swarms
  2. 2. Spotted gardener's friend that eats aphids
  3. 3. Protective home for a developing monarch
  4. 6. The third and final segment of the body
  5. 7. Ephemeral creature with a very short adult life
  6. 8. Insect with hardened forewings called elytra
  7. 9. Nighttime traveler often drawn to artificial light

Insects

Easy · 7×7 · 7 words
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Printing for a class?

Print 2 or 4 versions of this puzzle with different grid layouts, so desk neighbors cannot copy answers. Same words and clues, and each version has its own answer key. Class sets are a Plus feature in the Grid Genius app.

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1
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Across

  1. 4. Common household pest with two wings
  2. 5. Large insect known for its loud buzzing summer noise
  3. 7. Wood eating insect that can damage houses

Down

  1. 1. Leaping insect known for its chirping sound
  2. 2. Common nocturnal pest found in kitchens
  3. 3. Small wingless jumping insect that feeds on pets
  4. 6. Yellow and black insect that makes honey

Make your own Insects crossword

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Related Printable Crossword Topics

Insects Crossword FAQ

Is this Insects crossword puzzle free?

Yes. Every Insects crossword on this page is free. You can print it, download it as a PDF, or play it online without paying anything or creating an account.

Can I print the Insects crossword?

Yes. Click Print on any puzzle for a print-ready page with the grid, the clues, and a name and date line, or use Download to save it as a PDF, PNG, or JPEG for photocopying. The PDF download includes a filled answer key on the last page for grading.

Can students play these crosswords online?

Yes. Every puzzle has a Play online link that opens in the browser on any device. No app install and no signup is needed to play, which makes it easy to share with a class.

Can I make my own Insects crossword?

Yes. The free Grid Genius crossword maker builds a puzzle from your own words and clues, with a printable grid and answer key. The Grid Genius app can also generate a complete crossword from any topic you type.