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These bugs and fish are leaving Animal Crossing: New Horizons at the end of May

Goodbye, Oarfish

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An Animal Crossing character holds up an Oarfish 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.

June is approaching, which means a bunch of the critters in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are saying goodbye until next year.

We’ve put together a list of fish and bugs leaving in May, to make it easier to hunt them down. Make sure to grab these to fill in your Critterpedia before they leave!

For fish, we recommend using bait, crafted using the manila clams that you can dig up on the beach. This will quickly spawn fish in a desired location. Simply make the bait at your crafting table and toss it into the water from your inventory.

Lots of bugs and small fish are leaving the Southern Hemisphere as the region prepares for winter, but not much is leaving the Northern Hemisphere as we move to the warmer months.

We’ve broken up the hemispheres into two separate tables, as Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere players will have different critters leaving their islands.

Fish and bugs leaving Animal Crossing: New Horizons after May (Northern Hemisphere)

Critter type Critter Location Size Time
Critter type Critter Location Size Time
Bug Mole Cricket Underground N/A All day
Fish Loach River Small All day
Fish Oarfish Sea Largest All day
Fish Golden Trout River (Clifftop) Medium 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Sea Creature Turban shell Ocean (diving) N/A All day
Sea Creature Umbrella octopus Ocean (diving) N/A All day
Sea Creature Dungeoness crab Ocean (diving) N/A All day

Fish and bugs leaving Animal Crossing: New Horizons after May (Southern Hemisphere)

Critter type Critter Location Size Time
Critter type Critter Location Size Time
Bug Monach Butterfly Flying N/A 4 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Bug Long Locust On ground N/A 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Bug Migratory Locust On ground N/A 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Bug Rice Grasshopper On ground N/A 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Bug Cricket On ground N/A 5 p.m. - 8 a.m.
Bug Mantis On flowers N/A 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Bug Orchid Mantis On white flowers N/A 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Bug Stinkbug On flowers N/A All day
Bug Man-faced Stink Bug On flowers N/A 7 p.m. - 8 a.m.
Bug Tiger Beetle On ground N/A All day
Bug Violin Beetle On tree stumps N/A All day
Bug Walking Stick On trees N/A 4 a.m. - 8 a.m., 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Bug Flea On villagers N/A All day
Fish Cherry Salmon River (Clifftop) Medium 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Fish Char River (Clifftop) Medium 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Fish Golden Trout River (Clifftop) Medium 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Fish Mitten Crab River Small 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Fish Guppy River Smallest 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fish Neon Tetra River Smallest 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fish Sea Horse Sea Smallest All day
Fish Zebra Turkeyfish Sea Medium All day
Fish Barred Knifejaw Sea Medium All day
Fish Ray Sea X Large 4 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sea Creature Chambered nautilus Ocean (Diving) N/A 4 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Sea Creature Umbrella octopus Ocean (Diving) N/A All day
Sea Creature Gazami crab Ocean (Diving) N/A All day

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