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These are the new fish and bugs for May in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

There are new critters to add to your Critterpedia

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An Animal Crossing character holds up a giant trevally Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Julia Lee (she/her) is a guides producer, writing guides for games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Genshin Impact. She helped launch the Rift Herald in 2016.

Now that it’s May, new schools of fish and swarms of bugs are available to catch in Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch.

There’s no rush to catch any of them, as they’ll stick around for much longer than a month, but make sure you donate any new finds to Blathers to complete your Museum. You can tell when you’ve caught a new creature because your character will exclaim “Yes!” before they say the bug or fish’s name.

You can also check in your Critterpedia to see if you’ve donated the bug fish or not. If you have, there will be a little owl icon next to the critter name. (Note that these emblems won’t show up if you’re on someone else’s island.)

We’ve broken up the list of new bugs and fish to catch in May by hemisphere below, so you can check which ones are new in your area.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons new fish and bugs in May (Northern Hemisphere)

Critter type Critter Location Shadow size Time
Critter type Critter Location Shadow size Time
Bug Great Purple Emperor Flying N/A 4 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Bug Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Flying N/A 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Bug Banded Dragonfly Flying N/A 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Bug Pondskater Ponds N/A 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Bug Diving Beetle Ponds and rivers N/A 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Bug Violin Beetle On tree stumps N/A All day
Bug Rosalia Batesi Beetle On tree stumps N/A All day
Bug Scorpion On ground N/A 7 p.m. - 4 a.m.
Fish Frog Pond Small All day
Fish Catfish Pond Large 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Fish Nibble Fish River Smallest 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fish Angelfish River Small 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Fish Betta River Small 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fish Rainbowfish River Smallest 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fish Giant Trevally Pier Large All day
Fish Mahi-mahi Pier Large All day
Sea Creature Sea urchin Ocean (Diving) N/A All day
Sea Creature Slate pencil urchin Ocean (Diving) N/A 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Sea Creature Gigas giant clam Ocean (Diving) N/A All day
Sea Creature Vampire squid Ocean (Diving) N/A 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Sea Creature Spotted garden eel Ocean (Diving) N/A 4 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons new fish and bugs in May (Southern Hemisphere)

Critter type Critter Location Shadow size Time
Critter type Critter Location Shadow size Time
Bug Damselfly Flying N/A All day
Bug Mole Cricket Underground N/A All day
Bug Tarantula On ground N/A 7 p.m. - 4 a.m.
Fish Bitterling River Smallest All day
Fish Blowfish Sea Medium 6 p.m. - 4 a.m.
Fish Tuna Pier Largest All day
Fish Football Fish Sea Large 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Sea Creature Sea cucumber Ocean (Diving) N/A All day
Sea Creature Sea pig Ocean (Diving) N/A 4 p.m. - 9 a .m.
Sea Creature Dungeoness crab Ocean (Diving) N/A All day
Sea Creature Snow crab Ocean (Diving) N/A All day
Sea Creature Red king crab Ocean (Diving) N/A All day

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