Bug collecting

Releasing Butterflies

A Sim releasing caught Butterflies

Releasing Fireflies

A Sim releasing caught Fireflies

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. The Sims 3: Into the Future features robotic bugs called nanites.

The Sims 2

Bug Catching

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

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. If a PlantSim hunts bugs, it will affect his or her water motive. 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

Notes

• There is a bug that prevents Sims from finishing the bug collection. This was fixed in the FreeTime patch, but broken again in Apartment Life. This mod fixes the bug.

The Sims 3

Butterflies, beetles, and nanites are also collectible in The Sims 3.

Butterflies

Image	Butterfly	Rarity	Value	Catch Chance	EP	Where?
	Moth	Common	§5	90%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Monarch Butterfly	Common	§10	80%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Zephyr Metalmark Butterfly	Common	§25	80%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Red Admiral Butterfly	Common	§35	80%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Mission Blue Butterfly	Uncommon	§50	80%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Green Swallowtail Butterfly	Uncommon	§90	80%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Royal Purple Butterfly	Uncommon	§150	80%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Silver-Spotted Skipper Butterfly	Rare	§325	70%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Zebra Butterfly	Rare	§650	85%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Rainbow Butterfly	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1,080	90%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Bamboo Straight Swift Butterfly	Common	§20	90%	&EP01	China
	Crypt Moth	Uncommon	§65	90%	&EP01	Egypt
	Two-Tailed Pasha Butterfly	Uncommon	§110	90%	&EP01	France
	Yellow Band Dart Butterfly	Rare	§430	90%	&EP01	China
	Cleopatra Butterfly	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1,200	90%	&EP01	Egypt
	Glowy Fly	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1,500	90%	&EP01	France
	Green Will-O'-The-Wisp	Uncommon	§80	90%	&EP03	Base Neighborhood
	Blue Will-O'-The-Wisp	Rare	§250	90%	&EP03	Base Neighborhood
	Pink Will-O'-The-Wisp	Extraordinarily Unusual	§820	90%	&EP03	Base Neighborhood
	Firefly albus	Common	§10	90%	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
	Firefly fulvus	Common	§10	90%	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
	Firefly pratinus	Common	§15	90%	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
	Firefly luteus	Common	§20	90%	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
	Firefly caeruleus	Uncommon	§80	90%	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
	Firefly ruber	Uncommon	§120	90%	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
	Firefly roseus	Rare	§300	90%	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
	Firefly purpureus	Rare	§450	90%	&EP06	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

Image	Beetle	Rarity	Value	Catch Chance	EP	Where?
	Cockroach	Common	§1	70%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Ladybug	Common	§10	80%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Japanese Beetle	Common	§15	90%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Water Beetle	Common	§30	80%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Light Beetle	Uncommon	§40	95%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Rhinoceros Beetle	Uncommon	§90	70%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Stag Beetle	Uncommon	§175	75%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Spotted Beetle	Rare	§400	80%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Trilobite Beetle	Rare	§750	90%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Rainbow Beetle	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1,400	70%	&BG	Base Neighborhood
	Cerambyx	Common	§70	90%	&EP01	France
	Scarab	Uncommon	§180	50%	&EP01	Egypt
	Red Assassin Bug	Rare	§800	65%	&EP01	China
	Termite	Common	§5	80%	&EP03	Base Neighborhood
	Spider	Common	§15	70%	&EP03	Base Neighborhood
	Plasma Bug	Extraordinarily Unusual	§3,400	70%	&EP09
	Pill Bug	Common	§5	80%	&EP11	Dystopian Oasis Landing
	Honeypot Ant	Uncommon	§50	70%	&EP11	Dystopian Oasis Landing

Nanites

Nanites are robotic bugs featured in The Sims 3: Into the Future. They can be found in Oasis Landing. Unlike butterflies and beetles, Sims can design and create them; doing this requires Reventlov's Bot Workshop. Designing and creating a nanite increases the Bot Building skill. Nanites can also be reverse engineered. Reverse engineering a nanite lets a Sim learn how to design it, and yields empty processors.

Image	Nanite	Rarity	Cost	Value	Where?
	Quantum Nanite	Common	§22	§30	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Consensor Nanite	Uncommon	§67	§90	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Polar Nanite	Uncommon	§86	§115	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Caustic Nanite	Common	§18	§25	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Neutron Nanite	Common	§18	§20	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Tunnelling Nanite	Uncommon	§75	§100	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Lepton Nanite	Common	§30	§40	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Heisenberg Nanite	Common	§41	§55	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Induction Nanite	Uncommon	§86	§115	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Tribble Nanite	Common	§37	§50	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Lite Nanite	Common	§26	§35	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Scalar Nanite	Common	§22	§30	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Thermo Nanite	Uncommon	§93	§125	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Torque Nanite	Uncommon	§78	§105	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Dispersion	Rare	§187	§250	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Entropic	Rare	§206	§275	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Optic	Rare	§232	§310	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Damping	Rare	§236	§315	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Prismatic	Rare	§262	§350	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Uber	Rare	§412	§550	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing