Bug collecting

Releasing Butterflies

A Sim releasing caught Butterflies

Releasing Fireflies

A Sim releasing caught Fireflies

Not to be confused with Glitches.

Bug Catching was first introduced in The Sims 2: Seasons, allowing Sims to catch butterflies and fireflies. The Sims 2: FreeTime allows the catching of bugs and adding them to a collection. The Sims Castaway Stories and the DS version allow the player to gather bugs, to either eat, trade and keep and collect. The Sims 3 also features collecting butterflies and beetles.

Bug Catching

This section describes features that are only available in Seasons and The Sims Castaway Stories.

Butterflies appear during the day and fireflies in the evening. A Sim can try to catch a butterfly or firefly in a jar by clicking on the tile where they appear. It may take several tries before they catch one. Once one is caught Sims can view them inside the jar or release them. If they are left in the jar they will die.

With FreeTime, Sims who catch butterflies might occasionally put them in their bug collection.

Enter cheat mode:
type: ^ Ctrl+⇧ Shift+C
Turn the cheat on: bugJarTimeDecay on
Turn the cheat off: bugJarTimeDecay off
Notes: Enabling this cheat will make caught butterflies and fireflies live forever.

Bug Hunting

This section describes features that are only available in The Sims 2: FreeTime.

There are three types of bugs a Sim can catch: Beetles, Butterflies and Spiders. To catch bugs, click on an area outside and select "Hunt Bugs". Sims will continue this action indefinitely but will not always catch anything. Once a Sim catches a bug it will be placed in their collection box, which can be found in their inventory. Players can view the collection by placing it on the lot and selecting "View". When Sims go hiking, they might catch a bug. If they already have that bug in the collection, they'll release it. A Sim must have at least level 8 enthusiasm in the Nature hobby to be able to collect all of the bugs.

A Sim with Nature enthusiasm may have a want to hunt bugs, but the want will not be fulfilled until the Sim actually catches a bug.

If a Sim hunts bugs for very long, it will have a strong effect on his or her hygiene. Occasionally, a Sim who is hunting bugs will be chased by bees.

Collections

Image	Beetle	Image	Butterfly	Image	Spider
	Dapper Pinstripe Beetle		Jelly Butterfly		Striped Spindler Spider
	Polka Beetle		Peanut Butterfly		Grey Widow Spider
	Couch Potato Beetle		Empress Butterfly		Paratrooper Spider
	Gentleman Beetle		Blue Featherwing Butterfly		Mock Spider
	Jack Beetle		Margarina Butterfly		Itsius Bitsius Spider
	Prancer Beetle		Madame Butterfly		Hot Dog Spider
	Tri-Horn Greeves Beetle		Vampire Butterfly		Queen Charlotte Spider
	Ringo Beetle		Pygmalion Butterfly		Huntsperson Spider
	Mock Ladybug Beetle		Copper Pot Butterfly		Single-Fanged Betsy Spider
	Green Bottle Beetle		Socialus Butterfly		Teddy Bear Spider

The Sims 3

Butterflies and beetles are also collectible in The Sims 3.

Butterflies

Image	Butterfly	Rarity	Value	EP	Where?
	Moth	Common	§5		Base Neighborhood
	Monarch Butterfly	Common	§10		Base Neighborhood
	Zephyr Metalmark Butterfly	Common	§25		Base Neighborhood
	Red Admiral Butterfly	Common	§35		Base Neighborhood
	Mission Blue Butterfly	Uncommon	§55		Base Neighborhood
	Green Swallowtail Butterfly	Uncommon	§100		Base Neighborhood
	Royal Purple Butterfly	Uncommon	§150		Base Neighborhood
	Silver-Spotted Skipper Butterfly	Rare	§400		Base Neighborhood
	Zebra Butterfly	Rare	§791		Base Neighborhood
	Rainbow Butterfly	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1400		Base Neighborhood
	Crypt Moth	Uncommon	§65		Egypt
	Cleopatra Butterfly	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1200		Egypt
	Bamboo Straight Swift Butterfly	Common	§20		China
	Yellow Band Dart Butterfly	Rare	§430		China
	Two-Tailed Pasha Butterfly	Uncommon	§110		France
	Glowy Fly	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1500		France
	Green Will-O'-The-Wisp	Uncommon	§80		Base Neighborhood
	Blue Will-O'-The-Wisp	Rare	§250		Base Neighborhood
	Pink Will-O'-The-Wisp	Extraordinarily Unusual	§820		Base Neighborhood
	Firefly albus	Common	§8		Base Neighborhood
	Firefly fulvus	Common	§10		Base Neighborhood
	Firefly pratinus	Common	§11		Base Neighborhood
	Firefly luteus	Common	§16		Base Neighborhood
	Firefly caeruleus	Uncommon	§66		Base Neighborhood
	Firefly ruber	Uncommon	§139		Base Neighborhood
	Firefly roseus	Rare	§337		Base Neighborhood
	Firefly purpureus	Rare	§482		Base Neighborhood

• 

  A Sim with the Red Admiral butterfly.

• 

  Ten types of butterflies in terrariums

Notes

• Since Patch 31, butterflies will no longer spawn at night, and they will be replaced with fireflies.
• There is a glitch with the Firefly Collector challenge, in which the challenge could not be completed even if a Sim has caught all 8 types of fireflies. This is due to the fact that the Firefly Collector challenge is a duplicate of the Butterfly Collector challenge, which requires 10 types of butterflies to complete.

Beetles

Img	Beetle	Rarity	Max Value	EP	Where?
	Cockroach	Common	§1		Base Neighborhood
	Ladybug	Common	§10		Base Neighborhood
	Japanese Beetle	Common	§15		Base Neighborhood
	Water Beetle	Common	§30		Base Neighborhood
	Light Beetle	Uncommon	§50		Base Neighborhood
	Rhinocerous Beetle	Uncommon	§100		Base Neighborhood
	Stag Beetle	Uncommon	§210		Base Neighborhood
	Spotted Beetle	Rare	§500		Base Neighborhood
	Trilobite Beetle	Rare	§750		Base Neighborhood
	Rainbow Beetle	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1400		Base Neighborhood
	Scarab	Uncommon	§180		Egypt
	Red Assassin Bug	Rare	§800		China
	Cerambyx	Common	§70		France
	Termite	Common	§5		Base Neighborhood
	Spider	Common	§15		Base Neighborhood