Part of the addictive fun of the recent nerfing of some of the more coveted bugs' spawn rates, players may still enjoy catching bugs to trade for bells at Nook's Cranny, especially the ones that require more finessing.
Though they spawn commonly, ants and flies tend to be two of the rarest and most difficult bugs to catch in the game. While they don't sell for as much as a tarantula or butterfly, catching multiples can ensure a player's bells begin to stack up and can help players complete their museum and Critterpedia. Here are the best tips and tricks for catching ants and flies, and what to do with them.
How to Catch Ants in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Ants are often drawn to rotting produce in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, just like they are in real life. Specifically, ants tend to appear around rotting turnips, so players who want to catch some need to purchase turnips from Daisy Mae. They can purchase as many bunches of 10 as they want when Daisy Mae visits the island Sunday morning. Players should plan to sacrifice 10 turnips (one bushel) to allow them to spoil. However, if a player wants to play the Stalk Market, they need to be careful not to let all their bushels spoil!
After purchasing several bushels of turnips from Daisy Mae, players should enter their pocket and click on the turnips. They need to choose Grab 10. This will set aside a bundle of 10 turnips to another item slot and prevent players from spoiling too many of their turnips.
Players can either leave the turnips in their inventory for one week, or they can leave them on the ground indoors or outdoors to have them spoil. After a week, ants should spawn nearby, ready for the player to catch. They will continue to respawn near the spoiled turnips for a while, so players can catch multiples with one bushel of spoiled turnips.
What to Do with Caught Ants in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Players can donate an ant to Blathers' museum to add to the entomology collection. They can also sell ants for bells. The going rate at Nook's Cranny is 80 bells per ant. However, if players find Flick, they can sell ants to him for 150% of the market rate. That means each ant will sell for 120 bells. If players want a bug sculpture from Flick, they should reserve three ants to pay the commission.
Players can also find an Ant Farm decoration. The Ant Farm is not a craftable item and must be purchased from Nook's Cranny when it is available. Even without an Ant Farm, players can choose to keep an ant as a decoration, as it will appear in a player's home under a cup rather than inside a tank.
How to Catch Flies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Flies are slightly easier to catch than ants because there are several ways to trigger them to spawn. Flies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are drawn to trash and rot. To catch one, players must find and place trash somewhere outside.
Many objects that can be considered trash (cans, tires, boots, etc.) come from fishing, so players should start by casting their nets until they retrieve some. They should then drop the garbage somewhere outside on the island and walk around until a fly spawns.
There is a chance, however, that a fly does not spawn right away, and it may take hours or days to find and catch one. To speed through this process, the player can set the garbage down somewhere near their home or another building and enter and leave that building repeatedly. They can also go between two buildings near the garbage. This should generate a fly more quickly, and it also has the potential to spawn more than one fly for a single piece of garbage.
Some players may use spoiled turnips rather than waiting to catch garbage. While flies do sometimes spawn around spoiled turnips, they are rarer than ants. Because of this, the turnip method is more likely to generate ants than flies. This method also costs bells and turnips, where fishing for garbage does not. Flies can also sometimes spawn randomly after the fruit has been left on the ground for a while.
Once a player has caught all the flies they want using their net, they will need to pick up their garbage. Littering has a negative effect on an island and its rating, so players should be sure not to skip this step!
What to Do with Caught Flies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Like with ants, a fly can be donated to Blathers to grow the museum's entomology collection. Flies can also be sold for bells. Flies are some of the rarest bugs in the game, but they are also one of the least valuable. They go for 60 bells each at Nook's Cranny and 90 bells each when sold to Flick.
Players can also save three flies to commission Flick to make a sculpture. Unlike ants, flies do not have any special furniture or features for decoration, but players can still place them in their home inside a tank.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on the Nintendo Switch.
