Verifying against the live site and live WHOIS/DNS…
Common questions
Is bugguide.net legit or a scam?
AboutUs doesn't label sites "legit" or "a scam": this page lists the dated registration, DNS, HTTPS, mail-authentication and safety checks we could verify, each with its source, so you can decide for yourself.
Who owns bugguide.net?
Nobody has completed AboutUs's owner verification for bugguide.net. That's true of most sites here — it isn't itself a warning sign.
Correct a description, link or other detail. Submissions are reviewed before publication.
The site's bot protection blocked AboutUs's HTTPS check; all 1 of the other checks passed (Oct 17, 2026).
Registered 2003 · AboutUs's live check was blocked by the site's bot protection
BugGuide.net is a North American insecdts online resource
BugGuide.net is an online resource for identifying and learning about North American insects, spiders, and related arthropods, offering images, identification guides, and information. Operated by Iowa State University's Department of Entomology, it serves naturalists, educators, and the general public interested in insect identification and biology.
AboutUs has not vetted this site. Everything below is what we could measure automatically. Anything you do on the site — paying, sharing personal details, downloading — is between you and the site, not AboutUs.
Current facts
Latest available measurements; dated entries retain their dates. These are measurements, not an endorsement of the site.
latest result
Iowa State University — company name on record since 2006; still matches the live site.
latest result
Domain registered Mar 10, 2003 — 23 years old.
latest result
Registrar on record: DNC Holdings, Inc. — unchanged since AboutUs began tracking (Aug 31, 2026).
We withhold an authority number until independent evidence (global rank, link-graph presence) has accrued. The facts we do have about this site are shown below — we'd rather say “not enough signals yet” than invent a low score.
Safety evidence
No unexpired threat-feed result; name-similarity check available (recorded about 57 days ago); 3/3 transport and email checks available (oldest recorded about 57 days ago). This is evidence coverage, not a probability that a website is safe.
Missing DMARC (mild)
Site history
Dated record — historical facts always carry their date; self-description below is the 2013 record.
2003
Domain registered (Mar 10, 2003).
2006
First tracked by AboutUs (Jun 19, 2006); profile edited 5 times through 2013.
2013
Self-description at the time:
“BugGuide.net is a North American insecdts online resource”
2026
Checked today — The site's bot protection blocked AboutUs's HTTPS check; all 1 of the other checks passed (Oct 17, 2026).
✓ name continuity same company name for 20 years✓ domain continuity 23 years registered– live check blocked the site's bot protection turned the check away Oct 17, 2026