Discover the Official New Jersey State Insect

New Jersey has a lot of bugs, but not all of them have the honor of being called the Official State Bug! Today, we are going to find out the official New Jersey state insect, plus a few of the other important things that New Jersey recognizes. Additionally, we are going to see if New Jersey is unique in its buggy selection or if other states share the same state insect. Let’s get started!

The State Insect of New Jersey

The honeybee is the official state insect (or state bug) of New Jersey.

When it comes to choosing a state insect, it’s important to select one that represents your land and your people well. For New Jersey, it seems like they did a pretty good job! The honeybee is the official state insect of New Jersey, although they don’t call it the state insect, they call it the state bug.

The reasoning behind it? New Jersey’s state website seems to appreciate the fact that honeybees make honey and beeswax (both of which are true and wonderful things), while also pollinating flowers. Although not listed officially, the hardworking nature of the honeybee is probably a good analog that represents the hardworking people within the state as well. On top of that, the state website appreciates how the honeybee is one of the most important pollinators of the state flower, the violet.

The History of New Jersey’s State Insect

The story as to how New Jersey selected the honeybee as the state insect is a bit funny! It was chosen as the state insect in 1974, specifically in response to the efforts of a group of students from the Sunnybrae School in Hamilton Township.

The students visited the New Jersey State House and gave a presentation that included a song and a poem about the importance of honeybees. For the state lawmakers (or whoever makes the final decision on these sorts of things), that was all it took to convince them! The State House approved the decision and the honeybee was officially made the state insect.

Honeybees in New Jersey

As much as honeybees have come to be an essential feature of the US as a whole, they actually are not native to New Jersey or America at all! They were brought here by the first European settlers in the 17th century and soon spread across the continent. Today, there are about 300 species of bees in New Jersey, but honeybees are the most common and among the most important ones.

Honeybees live in colonies of up to 80,000 individuals, consisting of one queen, a few hundred drones, and thousands of workers. They produce honey from the nectar of flowers and pollinate many crops and plants that humans depend on for food, but also for beauty.

Honeybees are also known for their complex social behavior and communication skills, such as the famous “waggle dance” that they use to share information about the location and quality of food sources. Without honeybees, our world wouldn’t have a lot of the foods that we love and we would surely lose a lot of the beautiful flora that we have come to appreciate. In New Jersey and the world alike, honeybees are essential and important insects!

Other States with the Honeybee as its State Insect

New Jersey is not the only state that honors the honeybee as its state insect. In fact, the honeybee is the most popular choice for state insect in the United States, with 17 states adopting it as their official symbol. The honeybee can mean different things, but it often represents the importance of agriculture, industry, cooperation, and hard work in these states. Here’s a list that covers all of the other states that include honeybees as their state insect:

• Arkansas
• Georgia
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Vermont
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin

It’s pretty surprising just how common it is!

Other State Plants and Animals

Outside of just insects, New Jersey has a lot of other state… things! Here’s a quick list:

• State Animal: The Horse
• State Bird: The Eastern Goldfinch
• State Dance: Square Dance
• State Dinosaur: Hadrosaurus foulkii
• State Dog: The Seeing Eye Dog
• State Fish: The Brook Trout
• State Flower: The Violet
• State Fruit: The Blueberry
• State Microbe: Streptomyces griseus
• State Reptile: Bog Turtle
• State Shell: The Knobbed Whelk
• State Ship: USS New Jersey
• State Tall Ship: The A.J. Meerwald
• State Tree: The Red Oak