Origami Insects
Realistic origami insects are hard to make because insects have so many legs. Not to mention, some bugs have prominent antennae, pincers, and appendages. A square sheet of paper, has 4 corners, so it is easy to make things with 4 segments. Making things with more than 4 segments is harder.
Ants, beetles, spiders, flies, and other multi-limbed creatures are more challenging to make. Some designers go to great lengths to fold a sheet of square paper into a realistic origami insects. However, some people bypass the problem by allowing the paper to be cut at designated places to achieve similar results with half the pain.
Below is a list of origami insects and bugs. You can infer how challenging the model is by the number of folding steps involved. If possible, use thin paper and fold precisely so the layers stack and compress flat.
Origami Insect Diagrams
| Difficulty | Number Steps | Model Name |
| ★★★ | 55 | Ant (P Pluta) |
| ★★★ | 78 | Spined Ant (H Birkeland) |
| ★ | 9 | Easy Bee (ORC) or here |
| ★ | 14 | Bee (origami-club.com) |
| ★★★ | 102 | Bee (M Kirschenbaum) |
| ★★ | 28 | Beetle (MV Anglada) |
| ★★ | 32 | Beetle (H Birkeland) |
| ★★ | 40 | Beetle (S O’Hanlon) |
| ★★ | 24 | Kiel Beetle/Kieler Käfer (KD Ennen) |
| ★★★ | 87 | Flying Atlas Beetle (S O Hanlon) |
| ★★★ | 104 | Goliath Beetle (M Sirgo) |
| ★ | 7 | Easy Bug (ORC) or here |
| ★★ | 26 | Bug (H Pereira) |
| var | var | Butterflies |
| ★★★ | 58 | Cankerworm (M Kirschenbaum) |
| ★ | 10 | Catepillar (N Robinson) |
| ★★ | 22 | Caterpillar (M van Gelder) |
| ★★ | 11 | Caterpillar or Larvae (A Urrutia) |
| ★★ | 26 | Caterpillar on a Leaf (E Fridrikh) |
| ★ | 6 | Cicada Traditional (ORC) |
| ★ | 7 | Cicada with Eyes (?) |
| ★ | 12 | Origami Dragonfly (make-origami.com) |
| ★ | 13 | Dragonfly (A Barbour) |
| ★ | 20 | Traditional Dragonfly (make-origami.com) |
| ★★ | 41 | $Dragonfly 1 (S Hecht) |
| ★ | 56 | $Dragonfly 2 (S Hecht) |
| ★ | 8 | Easy Fly (ORC) or here |
| ★★ | 12 | Fly 1/Fliege 1 (DK Ennen) |
| ★★ | 19 | Fly 2/Fliege2 (DK Ennen) |
| ★★ | 36 | Fly: pg 1 , 2 (M Leonard) |
| ★★★ | 70 | Fly pg 22 (M Kirschenbaum) |
| ★ | 8 | Grasshopper (A Anselmo) |
| ★★ | 19 | Grasshopper/Grashüpfer (KD Ennen) |
| ★★ | 19 | Grasshopper (origami-club.com) |
| ★★ | 23 | Grasshopper (S O’Hanlon) |
| ★★ | 29 | Grasshopper pg 41; (R Lang) |
| ★★ | 38 | Grasshopper/Saltamontes (A Voyer) |
| ★ | ? | Palm Leaf Grasshopper |
| ★ | 11 | Easy Ladybug (ORC) or here |
| ★★ | 15 | Simple Ladybug (M Kirschenbaum) |
| ★★★ | 72 | Spotted Lady Bug pg 14 (R Lang) |
| ★ | 21 | Mantis (origami-club.com) |
| ★★★ | 100 | Praying mantis (R Lang) |
| var | var | Spiders |
| ★★★ | 49 | Tree Hopper pg 10 (R Lang) |
| ★★ | 69 | WaspAvispa (JA Voyer)< |
| ★ | 21 | Giant Water bug (origami-club.com) |
| ★ | 12 | Worm (J Langeveld) |
| ★ | 23 | Wood Louse (J Langeveld) or here |
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(sushi by Kukiyu; origami by M van Gelder)
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