Many animals commonly considered bugs or creepy-crawlies are not insects, and can be identified by having more or less than six legs.
- 8 legs: Spiders, daddy longlegs, scorpions, whipscorpions, wind spiders, pseudoscorpions, mites, and ticks.
- More than 8: Centipedes, millipedes, sowbugs (commonly referred to as pillbugs)
- No legs: Earthworms, snails, slugs.
Another good rule: If it has wings and is not a bat or a bird, it is an insect.
Larvae of some insect orders, like caterpillars or maggots, sometimes do not look much like insects, but they are.