Dinkum Bugs Guide | Where to Find Each Bug

In our Dinkum bugs guide, we'll explain bug catching strategies, our best tips and tricks, and where to find bugs in game.

The Basics of Bug Catching

Bug catching is one of the first skills you can acquire in Dinkum and is an okay way to make some money early in the game. Once John comes to the island you’ll need to buy a net from him, which you can do when he’s set up in the tent or once he opens his store.

Armed with your net, you can now catch any bug you come across! You’ll just need to get to the square behind your chosen bug and swing your net. The game’s aiming for many things, including this, is a bit finicky, so you may have to try a couple of times. However, bugs won’t disappear if unsuccessfully caught, so no worries.

Bug Catching Tips and Tricks

While bug catching might seem like a daunting task at first, we’ve got some tips and tricks to make things easier, as well as general helpful information.

• Keep your sound on while catching bugs. Some, like flies, are easier to hear than to see. If a bee’s nest falls from a tree you just cut down, the bees are also easier to hear than to see.
• Nets wear down, but not as quickly as pickaxes. Always keep a spare on you, especially when John’s shop is closed on Sundays.
• Bugs take up individual slots in your inventory and don’t stack, keep that in mind when you’re planning bug expeditions. However, if you take a bug and place it on the ground, you’ll see it stays inside a small container rather than flies or crawls away. This does not apply if you swap bugs with your inventory full or if you drop a bug with Q.
• Keep a few extra bugs around in case of characters requesting them. Bugs don’t go into storage, you’ll need to keep them in their individual containers, so it’s most feasible to keep the most common requests as spares.

Bug List

Here's a list of Dinkum Bugs. For times, Morning lasts until 11AM. Night is dependent on Season, starting as early as 6PM in Winter, and 9PM in Summer.

If you want an easier time finding specific bugs, the Bug Book can be bought from the Museum after donating enough animals. When used, this will show the name and selling price of nearby Bugs — ones you haven't already caught are marked as "????"

What You Can Do With Bugs

Now that you’ve caught some bugs in Dinkum, what next? There’s three main options you can choose from. Once John has a permanent store, visitors will start rotating in and out of the island, including Theodore who opens up a museum. Either at the tent or the museum, you can choose to donate one of each specimen to him and he’ll pay you 100 Permit Points for each.

Bugs can also be sold to John at his store or at the tent, for varying amounts of money.

Occasionally, characters will have requests for bugs that they will either leave on the Bulletin board or tell you if you go to them daily and ask if you can help with anything. This is why it’s a good idea to keep some spare bugs on hand, if you have the space on your island, and you’ll usually get much better rewards in terms of money or items from completing a request than you would from selling the bugs to the store.

That's it for our Dinkum Bugs guide! If this helped you, check out more below!