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 may yield empty processors.

Image	Nanite	Rarity	Cost (§)	Value (§)	Catch Chance	EP	Where?
	Neutron Nanite	Common	18	20	90%	&EP11	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Caustic Nanite	Common	18	25	90%	&EP11	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Quantum Nanite	Common	22	30	90%	&EP11	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Scalar Nanite	Common	22	30	90%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Lite Nanite	Common	26	35	90%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Lepton Nanite	Common	30	40	90%	&EP11	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Tribble Nanite	Common	37	50	90%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Heisenberg Nanite	Common	41	55	90%	&EP11	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Tunnelling Nanite	Uncommon	75	100	80%	&EP11	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Torque Nanite	Uncommon	78	105	80%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Induction Nanite	Uncommon	86	115	80%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Polar Nanite	Uncommon	86	115	80%	&EP11	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Thermo Nanite	Uncommon	93	125	80%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Condsensor Nanite	Uncommon	67	90	80%	&EP11	Bot Workshop, Oasis Landing
	Entropic	Rare	206	275	75%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Dispersion	Rare	187	250	75%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Prismatic	Rare	262	350	75%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Damping	Rare	236	315	75%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Optic	Rare	232	310	75%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing
	Uber	Rare	412	550	75%	&EP11	Bot workshop, Oasis Landing