The Real Life Insects That Inspired Fantastical Harry Potter Creatures

First, are you a fan of the Harry Potter series, and if you’re not, have you been living under a rock?! Did you ever wonder if any of those magical creatures in the novels are actually based on real life creatures? Well, it turns out that they do! There were even some inspired by insects! Here are a few creatures from the series that you might recognize from our regular world. The Bowtruckle is a small tree guardian that looks like a bunch of twigs patched together. They eat insects and are found primarily in western England and southern Germany where they protect trees that grow wand-quality wood. You might have already realized that in the real world we have our own insect that looks like a bunch of twigs, or what we like to call stick insects. While most of them are brown, their nymphs are actually a bright green color. Some Bowtruckles are specifically leaf mimics, which have a rather strong resemblance to true leaf insects. Another fantastical creature from the world of Harry Potter is the tiny Australian bug called a Billywig, and it flies so fast that non-magical humans (sometimes referred to as Muggles) can’t see them despite their brilliant colors. Their sting carries a powerful punch, with venom that causes at first giddiness and euphoria, followed by uncontrollable levitation. The real world orchid bee, also called euglossine bees, was the inspiration for this creature. They are tiny bees that come in all shapes and colors such as blue, green, red, and gold. They only inhabit the Americas and have 200 different species. These are some seriously magical looking bees. Do you know of any other creatures from Harry Potter that were inspired by real life insects?