is there an app for identifying bugs?

If you want a person to check the answer

iNaturalist is a free, nonprofit nature app and website. You photograph the bug and get an instant suggestion, and then other people can look at your observation and add their own identifications. The Google Play listing puts that community at over 400,000 scientists and naturalists. It runs on iPhone, Android and the web.

The cost is that your observation is shared with the community, which is how the review works. If you would rather keep your garden finds to yourself, that matters.

If you want it free with no account

Seek by iNaturalist is a free camera app that suggests what a plant, animal or bug is from your camera view. It does not require registration and, according to its UK App Store listing, does not collect any user data by default. It also shows lists of insects and other species commonly recorded in your area, so you can see what is likely to be about.

What you give up is the people. Seek's identifications come from image recognition alone, so nobody reviews your photo unless you sign in with an iNaturalist account.

If you are dealing with pests in the house or garden

Picture Insect, from Next Vision Limited, is a dedicated insect and spider app. Its Google Play listing offers pest detection and control tips, an insect encyclopedia and a bites reference, which helps when the question is whether you need to do something about it as well as what it is.

The catch is money. It is free to download with in-app purchases, and its website says you can try it for free, but the free allowance is not stated. Premium is described as identifying insects without limits.

If you would rather not install anything new

Google Lens is Google's visual search. If you already have the Google app or Chrome, you can point your camera at the bug or use a photo or screenshot, and it also works in Chrome on desktop. Google's Lens page names no price.

It is general visual search, not an insect app. Google's own page gives plants and dogs as examples and does not mention insects, so treat it as a quick look rather than a dedicated identifier.

If you want to record a bug's sound

The new iNaturalist app can record sounds as well as photos as an observation for the community to review. It does not say it identifies sounds automatically, so you are handing the recording to people rather than to a machine. We found no automatic insect sound identifier among the apps we checked.

When paying is worth it

The main tension is people against privacy. iNaturalist relies on review by people, so your photo is shared. Seek is private by default but uses image recognition alone. Choose the one whose trade you can live with.

Picture Insect's coverage figures disagree. The UK App Store description says it identifies 1000+ species of insects, while the same listing's subscription panel and Google Play say 4,000+. The App Store also claims an identification accuracy rate of 95.28%, a figure from the developer that we could not check.

There is also a platform wrinkle. The new iNaturalist app is listed as only for iPhone. The older iNaturalist Classic app, which also runs on iPad, is still listed, though iNaturalist recommends the new one.

Paying only comes up with Picture Insect. On the UK App Store, Month Premium is £4.99 and Yearly Premium is £29.99 with a 7 day trial, and other in-app purchases run from £2.49 to £69.99, including a Quarter Premium at £14.99, a Month Pro at £9.99, eBooks and Nature Education Bundles, with most periods not stated. Premium adds identification without limits and answers from entomologists. If you want an expert's answer on a recurring problem, that is what the money buys. For identification alone, iNaturalist and Seek are free.

Picture Insect subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the period ends, according to the UK App Store. If you start the trial, note when it ends.

An app is no help with a bad reaction. The NHS says to call 999 if lips, mouth, throat or tongue suddenly swell or breathing is hard after a bite or sting, and to use NHS 111 if symptoms get worse. Do not rely on an app to tell you whether a bite is dangerous.

The NHS also says bites and stings are not usually serious and clear in a few days. They can get infected, though, or cause a serious allergic reaction.