# Insect
An insect is any monster represented by the character a.

Ants:
a&nbsp;Soldier ant
a&nbsp;Giant ant
a&nbsp;Fire ant
Bees:
a&nbsp;Killer bee
a&nbsp;Queen bee
Other insects:
a&nbsp;Giant beetle
Insect-like creatures that are generally not considered to be insects include the s monster class, containing arachnids and other arthropods that aren't classified as insects in real life. The x monster class arguably also constitutes insects, because the class description is "xan or other mystical/fantastic insect", but these are not treated as insects in, for example, the summon insects monster spell.

Strategy
Hostile priests can cast summon insects, particularly in Moloch's Sanctum and the Astral Plane. If all insects have been genocided, they will instead summon snakes.
It is not a good idea to genocide any species of insect, as they provide a valuable barrier between you and the tougher monsters in the Sanctum and Astral Plane. Some players make an exception to genocide soldier ants, as they pose a particular hazard in the early game.

Variants
UnNetHack and SporkHack add a&nbsp;snow ants.
SporkHack also adds a&nbsp;locusts.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, there are 14 new insects:

a assassin bug
a black wasp
a giant flea
a giant louse
a giant tick
a giant wasp
a killer beetle
a migo drone
a migo queen
a migo warrior
a&nbsp;snow ant
a spitting beetle
a tsetse fly
a yellow jacket

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It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.1. Information on this page may be out of date.
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