Insects and bugs in Persian for kids: butterfly, bee, ant, ladybug

The Persian bug words a small child meets first are parvâne (butterfly), zanbur (bee), murche (ant) and kafshduzak (ladybug). The word for insect is hashare, and an insect always has six legs. Two creatures on this list, the spider and the worm, are not insects, and the table says so. Below are fourteen words with the written and spoken forms, a short line a child might say, one simple fact for each, and a bug hunt for the garden. Azizan (azizan.app), founded by Aida Fard, is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves on video reading illustrated Persian children's stories page by page. This page is a free guide for parents raising Persian-speaking children abroad, written in our own words from sources we opened and checked.

Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app for immigrant and diaspora families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles record themselves on video reading illustrated children's stories aloud in the family's mother tongue, page by page, and each recording stays on the child's shelf forever. Real family voices — never AI narration. Persian (Farsi) first.

Fourteen bug words

Most of these words are said the way they are written. The second column shows the spoken form where it is different. The last column is a short line a child might say while looking at the bug.

Written	Spoken	Say it like	Meaning	A short line
پروانه	پروانه	par-VÂ-ne	butterfly	پروانه نشست رو گل. parvâne neshast ru gol. The butterfly sat on the flower.
زنبور	زنبور	zan-BUR	bee (also wasp)	زنبور داره وزوز می‌کنه. zanbur dâre vez-vez mikone. The bee is buzzing.
مورچه	مورچه	mur-CHE	ant	مورچه‌ها دارن یه خرده نون می‌برن. murche-hâ dâran ye khorde nun mibaran. The ants are carrying a crumb of bread.
مگس	مگس	ma-GAS	fly	یه مگس اومد تو آشپزخونه. ye magas umad tu âshpazkhune. A fly came into the kitchen.
پشه	پشه	pa-SHE	mosquito	پشه پامو نیش زد. pashe pâmo nish zad. A mosquito bit my leg.
کفشدوزک	کفشدوزک	kafsh-du-ZAK	ladybug	کفشدوزک قرمزه و خال‌خالیه. kafshduzak ghermeze va khâl-khâliye. The ladybug is red and spotty.
سوسک	سوسک	SUSK	beetle; at home also cockroach	یه سوسکِ سیاه زیرِ سنگه. ye susk-e siâh zir-e sange. There's a black beetle under the stone.
عنکبوت	عنکبوت	an-ka-BUT	spider (not an insect)	عنکبوت داره تار درست می‌کنه. ankabut dâre târ dorost mikone. The spider is making a web.
کرم	کرم	KERM	worm (not an insect)	کرمه از تو خاک اومد بیرون. kerme az tu khâk umad birun. The worm came out of the soil.
ملخ	ملخ	ma-LAKH	grasshopper	ملخ پرید رو علفا. malakh parid ru alafâ. The grasshopper jumped onto the grass.
سنجاقک	سنجاقک	san-jâ-GHAK	dragonfly	سنجاقک بالای آب پرواز می‌کنه. sanjâghak bâlâ-ye âb parvâz mikone. The dragonfly is flying over the water.
کرمِ ابریشم	کرمِ ابریشم	ker-me ab-ri-SHAM	silkworm	کرم ابریشم برگِ توت می‌خوره. kerm-e abrisham barg-e tut mikhore. The silkworm eats mulberry leaves.
کرمِ شب‌تاب	کرمِ شب‌تاب	ker-me shab-TÂB	firefly	کرم شب‌تاب تو تاریکی روشن می‌شه. kerm-e shabtâb tu târiki roshan mishe. The firefly lights up in the dark.
جیرجیرک	جیرجیرک	jir-ji-RAK	cricket	جیرجیرک داره جیرجیر می‌کنه. jirjirak dâre jir-jir mikone. The cricket is chirping.

A few names hide small pictures. Kafshduzak is "little shoemaker", from kafshduz, a shoemaker. Sanjâghak is "little pin", from sanjâgh, a pin. Shabtâb means "shining at night". Zanbur covers both bees and wasps; a honey bee is zanbur-e asal. And in many homes susk means the cockroach in the kitchen, while in a book it is any beetle. Children also know the old folktale of Khâle Suske, Auntie Susk.

For bigger animals, like the cat, the wolf and the crow, see animals in Persian for kids.

One fact for each

The basic rule first: an insect, hashare, has six legs and three body parts, the head, the chest and the belly (sar, sine, shekam). Counting legs is the easiest way for a child to tell an insect from a spider.

Butterfly, parvâne: tastes with its feet. When it lands on a leaf, its feet tell it what the plant is.
Bee, zanbur: carries pollen from flower to flower, and honey bees make honey from the sweet juice of flowers.
Ant, murche: lives in a big family called a colony. The queen lays the eggs, and the other ants find food and look after the young.
Fly, magas: has only two wings. Most insects that fly have four.
Mosquito, pashe: only the mother mosquito bites. The others drink sweet juice from plants.
Ladybug, kafshduzak: eats aphids, tiny bugs that hurt plants, so gardeners are glad to see it.
Beetle, susk: its front wings are hard, like a shell, and cover the thin wings it flies with.
Spider, ankabut: has eight legs and two body parts, so it is not an insect. It belongs to a different group, with scorpions and ticks.
Worm, kerm: has no legs at all and breathes through its skin, so it is not an insect either.
Grasshopper, malakh: jumps with its long, strong back legs.
Dragonfly, sanjâghak: has four wings, and its babies live in the water before they learn to fly.
Silkworm, kerm-e abrisham: is not a worm. It is the caterpillar of a moth, it eats mulberry leaves and it spins a cocoon of silk.
Firefly, kerm-e shabtâb: is not a worm either. It is a beetle, and its light comes from the underside of its belly.
Cricket, jirjirak: sings by rubbing its wings together, and its ears are on its front legs.

So the two "worms" on this page with kerm in their names, the silkworm and the firefly, are real insects, while the spider and the plain worm are not.

Look, don't touch. Bees and wasps can sting when they are squeezed or scared, and some other bugs bite. The rule for a bug hunt is simple: we look closely, and we leave the bug where it is. If a sting swells a lot or a child feels unwell after one, see a doctor.

A bug hunt in the garden

What you need: an adult, a magnifying glass, and a garden, a park or even a balcony with a few pots.
Where to look: under leaves, on flowers, along the edge of a path, and under a stone. Lift the stone gently together, look, and put it back the way it was, so whoever lives there keeps their home.
Say where it is. Each find gets a position word: murche zir-e barge, the ant is under the leaf; parvâne ru-ye gole, the butterfly is on the flower. The full set is on the position words page.
Count the legs. Look through the glass and count together in Persian. Six, shish, means an insect. Eight, hasht, means a spider. None means a worm.
Name the plant too. The ladybug is on a barg, the bee is on a gol. The plant words are on the garden and plant words page.
Tell a grandparent. On the next video call the child can show what they found, or draw it, and say the name: emruz ye kafshduzak didam, today I saw a ladybug.

A grandparent who hears about the ladybug on a call will often ask about it next time, and that is how the word sticks. Many families also keep a grandparent's voice close between calls with recorded stories, which is what Azizan is for. For tips on keeping a call going with a small child, see video calls with grandparents for toddlers.

Related guides

Questions

How do you say butterfly in Persian?

Butterfly is parvâne (پروانه). A child might say parvâne neshast ru gol, the butterfly sat on the flower.

What is the Persian word for insect?

Insect is hashare (حشره). An insect has six legs and three body parts: head, chest and belly.

Is a spider an insect?

No. A spider, ankabut (عنکبوت) in Persian, has eight legs and two body parts, so it belongs to a different group. A worm, kerm (کرم), is not an insect either, because it has no legs.

Why does ladybug in Persian mean little shoemaker?

Kafshduzak (کفشدوزک) is kafshduz, a shoemaker, plus -ak, which makes a word small. It is the everyday word for the ladybug.

Are the silkworm and the firefly worms?

No. Both have kerm, worm, in their Persian names, kerm-e abrisham and kerm-e shabtâb, but both are insects. The silkworm is a moth caterpillar and the firefly is a beetle.

Open Azizan — record a story for your child

Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

Hear when azizan is ready

azizan works now in your browser. If you like, leave your email and we will tell you when the full app and the app-store version are ready. Giving your email is optional. Privacy