The Best Bug Pokémon of All Time Ranked

The weakest and often most disliked typing in all of the Pokémon series remains the Bug-type. After all, these creatures often look similar to bugs and insects, which many people despise. That said, collecting bugs as a child inspired the series’ creator, Satoshi Tajiri, to create Pokémon in the first place. 

As such, the best Bug Pokémon of all time gives insight into one of the most essential typings in the series. From adorable butterflies to menacing insects, the Bug type has a bad reputation. However, these best Bug Pokémon of all time have the chance to fix that based on their designs, moves, stats, popularity, secondary typings, and more. 

1. Volcarona

Volcarona has it all when it comes to its design, moves, power, and more. Almost worthy of the legendary status, Volcarona feels fantastic to use in competition with its Fire secondary typing. It shows the beauty of the Bug typing in a unique way and proves that even this typing can be majestic. 

2. Butterfree

The iconic Butterfree has so much more going for it beyond the already detailed and beautiful butterfly design. Ash Ketchum’s Butterfree in the anime series represents one of the most heartbreaking and unforgettable scenes in the series. It stands tall as the pseudo-mascot for the best Bug Pokémon.

3. Scizor

Scizor feels like one of the most annoying Bug Pokémon to face off against. With Steel as its secondary typing, it stands as one of the rare Bugs only to have a single weakness. It has immense power and great stats, too, showing the potential of this group. 

4. Heracross

Heracross, much like its Gen 1 pal Pinsir, feels in sore need of an evolution at some point. Its Mega Evolution helps, but Heracross at least makes up for its singular stage with immense power, a great design, and the solid Fighting secondary typing–one of the best Bug Pokémon.

5. Snom

Snom and its wonderful evolution Frosmoth provide the odd but excellent Bug and Ice-type combo. When it comes to the cutest Bug Pokémon of all time, Snom tops the list. Its evolution line has such an elegance to it not seen elsewhere. 

6. Orbeetle

Though Orbeetle has some of the strongest moves and stats out of any Pokémon in its type group, it also has some of the most weaknesses. That said, its strange UFO design and Psychic secondary typing help it stand out. 

7. Vikavolt

Vikavolt has a striking and sleek design, unlike most of the other Bug Pokémon on this list. This gives it a cool aesthetic, which pairs well with its Electric secondary typing. It could use some improvements in its power, but it works great otherwise. 

8. Genesect

This bizarre man-made Pokémon stands out as one of the only legendary Bug Pokémon in the entire series. The Bug and Steel type combo works so well, as seen in a particular entry above. The series needs more legendary Bug Pokémon like Gen 5’s Genesect. 

9. Ribombee

The Bug and Fairy type combo goes so well together and Ribombee captures it in such a magnificent way. It looks like one of the smallest Pokémon of all time, but it has some surprising flexibility and power at its disposal. 

10. Wurmple

Wurmple teaches players the importance of branched evolutions in the series. It has the chance to become Cascoon or Silcoon, which further evolve into Dustox and Beautifly, respectively. This unique feature needs to come back for a regional Bug at some point. 

11. Shedinja

Shedinja embodies the gimmick nature of many Pokémon in the series more than most. With its single health point and Wonder Guard ability, Shedinja feels like a nuisance to face in battle. This works well, though, for the Bug and Ghost Pokémon. 

12. Dwebble

The adorable little Dwebble has a cutesy orange hermit crab appearance. With the rock as its shell, this gives it the Rock secondary typing. Its evolution line has some of the better utility in this typing group, but Dwebble looks the best of the bunch. 

13. Vivillon

This gorgeous butterfly Pokémon has so much more going for it than its Butterfree copycat style might seem. It has many different designs and patterns for players to find in the wild, which gives it a lot of value for collectors in the series. 

14. Centiskorch

The Fire and Bug-type combo always impresses with its flexibility, and Centiskorch represents the typing well. Its design looks great with its fiery centipede appearance, which stands out among the other Bugs on this list. 

15. Lokix

The arrival of the Bug and Dark type combo happened in Gen 9 with Lokix. It has a striking design with its darker, edgier style, which feels different from the rest of Bug Pokémon. While it has a lot of weaknesses, it still has some solid utility. 

16. Buzzwole

Buzzwole took the meme idea of Pokémon to a new level. Taking its name from the swole meme, it features a muscular fly design, which looks ridiculous and hilarious at the same time. This makes it more memorable than other Pokémon in the process. 

17. Pheromosa

This cockroach Pokémon from Gen 7 falls into the Ultra Beast category from space. It also has one of the weirdest design inspirations in the series, with a mix of a white cockroach, a supermodel aesthetic, and some Lady Gaga vibes. 

18. Pinsir

For some reason, Pinsir stands alone with only a Mega Evolution to its name. If players ignore the disappointing design of its Mega, Pinsir, on its own, has one of the most striking Gen 1 appearances. It also stands out as one of the best pure Bug types. 

19. Ledian

Ledian has a bizarre mix of a ladybug from the real world and a Power Ranger-like appearance. Its mask-like face gives it a superhero vibe, which falls short with its lackluster power. It could use a third-stage evolution in the future. 

20. Joltik

The Electric and Bug-type combo sounds great and works well for Joltik’s line. Joltik looks adorable and cute, even if its evolution feels disappointing in its design. It remains one of the most memorable Bugs from Gen 5. 

21. Venomoth

As a Gen 1 Pokémon, Venomoth showed what a Bug type could be. Its gorgeous purple design feels simple but appealing at the same time. Plus, it has one of the better shiny forms from its generation. 

22. Scolipede

The Bug and Poison combo Scolipede has feels like one of this group's most common and classic combinations. Though it lacks originality in that regard, Scolipede has a menacing design, which some Bug Pokémon lack. 

23. Leavanny

The Bug and Grass type combination remains one of the worst in the entire series for Leavanny. Despite its immense weakness to multiple types and even some double weaknesses, Leavanny has a memorable design and remains one of this group's best three-stage evolution lines. 

24. Yanmega

Yanmega feels like one of the most deserving Pokémon of the long-awaited Bug and Dragon type combo, which doesn’t exist. Instead, it has the Flying type as its secondary typing, which knocks the dragonfly Pokémon further down than its potential. 

25. Kricketune

Though its design, moves, and stats feel a bit lackluster, Kricketune nails the idea of what makes a Pokémon meme. With its hilarious battle cry when it goes into battle, fans adore this Pokémon, and it remains a staple in the series.