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. 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

Beetle	Butterfly	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^[1]	Teddy Bear Spider

The Sims 3

Butterflies and beetles are also collectible in The Sims 3.

Butterflies

Butterfly	Rarity	Value	EP	Where?
Moth	Common	§5	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Monarch Butterfly	Common	§10	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Zephyr Metalmark Butterfly	Common	§25	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Red Admiral Butterfly	Common	§35	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Mission Blue Butterfly	Uncommon	§55	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Green Swallowtail Butterfly	Uncommon	§100	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Royal Purple Butterfly	Uncommon	§150	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Silver-Spotted Skipper Butterfly	Rare	§400	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Zebra Butterfly	Rare	§791	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Rainbow Butterfly	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1400	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Crypt Moth	Uncommon	§65	&EP01	Egypt
Cleopatra Butterfly	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1200	&EP01	Egypt
Bamboo Straight Swift Butterfly	Common	§20	&EP01	China
Yellow Band Dart Butterfly	Rare	§430	&EP01	China
Two-Tailed Pasha Butterfly	Uncommon	§110	&EP01	France
Glowy Fly	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1500	&EP01	France
Green Will-O'-The-Wisp	Uncommon	§80	&EP03	Base Neighborhood
Blue Will-O'-The-Wisp	Rare	§250	&EP03	Base Neighborhood
Pink Will-O'-The-Wisp	Extraordinarily Unusual	§820	&EP03	Base Neighborhood
Firefly albus	Common	§8	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
Firefly fulvus	Common	§10	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
Firefly pratinus	Common	§11	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
Firefly luteus	Common	§16	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
Firefly caeruleus	Uncommon	§66	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
Firefly ruber	Uncommon	§139	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
Firefly roseus	Rare	§337	&EP06	Base Neighborhood
Firefly purpureus	Rare	§482	&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.^{[citation needed]}

Beetles

Beetle	Rarity	Max Value	EP	Where?
Cockroach	Common	§1	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Ladybug	Common	§10	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Japanese Beetle	Common	§15	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Water Beetle	Common	§30	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Light Beetle	Uncommon	§50	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Rhinocerous Beetle	Uncommon	§100	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Stag Beetle	Uncommon	§210	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Spotted Beetle	Rare	§500	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Trilobite Beetle	Rare	§750	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Rainbow Beetle	Extraordinarily Unusual	§1400	&BG	Base Neighborhood
Scarab	Uncommon	§180	&EP01	Egypt
Red Assassin Bug	Rare	§800	&EP01	China
Cerambyx	Common	§70	&EP01	France
Termite	Common	§5		Base Neighborhood
Spider	Common	§15		Base Neighborhood