Insect sound library

185 WAV sounds of bees, flies, mosquitoes, cicadas and designed insect sounds

Single insect sounds & swarms

Seamless loops & long recordings

Varied activity levels

Descriptive filenames

96 kHz / 24 bit WAV files

2+ hours of audio

3.6 GB Zip / Fast download

Description

From massive swarms in different densities and activity levels to individual passby sounds and landings, this insect sound library covers pretty much all variants of insect wing buzz sounds.

Bee sounds

14 long takes (up to 9 minutes in length) of bee swarm sounds, recorded beehives containing more than 10.000 bees. Close sounds were captured by placing the tiny DPA 4060 microphones inside the wooden containers housing the beehives. For other takes the Sennheiser MKH microphones were positioned at the entrance and between containers, creating detailed passes of worker bees entering and leaving the hive, taking off and landing.

A few recordings were made a bit further away from the swarm, resulting in a more distant “garden” perspective. We also made a very close recording of bees aggressively defending the hive, while a honeycomb was removed by the beekeeper and replaced with liquid sugar for feeding purposes.

Fly sounds

The collection includes 19 fly swarm sounds featuring different species, and varied swarm densities and activity levels. These swarm sound recordings range from 1 to 6 minutes in length.

Cricket & Cicada sounds

The isolated sounds of cicadas were captured outdoors in remote pine forests in Greece, while the cricket sounds were recorded in a studio environment. You’ll find various chirping sounds of individuals and small groups in this insect sound library.

Mosquito sounds

I got access to a laboratory and recorded mosquito swarms in an insectary, covering different sized groups and single insects in isolation. In addition, this insect sound collection includes seamless loops of continuous, designed mosquito wing buzz sounds.

Individual insects

In addition, there are 51 other sounds of flies (single insects, different species) flying and landing, recorded in a controlled environment.

Designed insect sounds (universal)

In order to complement the insect recordings we synthesized continuous sounds for different species from scratch where recording them did not make sense. The advantage of creating a very constant buzz sound is that it allows the sound designer to precisely adapt the source audio to the flight path of an insect in a given scene,  – however complex the movement might be  – or  use it as a loop in a game engine and attach it to a moving sound source.

The designed sounds will be useful to mimic the sound of many flying insects such as bees, flies, mosquitoes, bugs, moths, wasps and “fantasy” creatures. We also designed a wide variety of insect flybys in different speeds and flavors to complement the “real” recordings making “Insects & Swarms” the most comprehensive sound collection of flying insects in existence today.

Gear used

Recorder: Sound Devices 633, Sonosax SX-R4+
Mics: 2 x Neumann TLM 103 cardoids, 2 x DPA 4060 omnis, 2 x Sennheiser MKH 8040 cardoids.

Your purchase helps wildlife

20% of all yearly profits from this sound collection will be donated to NABU and WWF, to help save bees and other endangered species.

More impressions

The buzzing sound produced by winged insects like flies, mosquitoes, and bees is the result of the rapid movement of their wings as they fly, which creates vibrations in the air. As these insects beat their wings, the frequency of the wingbeats generates the distinctive buzzing we hear. The faster the wings move, the higher the pitch of the buzz.

For instance, mosquitoes are known for their high-pitched buzzing because they flap their wings extremely fast, typically between 300 and 600 times per second. This rapid wing movement creates high-frequency vibrations, leading to the characteristic whine that is often associated with them. In contrast, flies, such as houseflies, have a slightly lower wingbeat frequency, around 200 beats per second, which produces a deeper, more subdued buzz.

Bees, especially honeybees, fall somewhere in between, flapping their wings at around 230 beats per second. Their buzzing has a more steady, droning hum compared to the sharp whine of a mosquito or the softer hum of a fly. The pitch and tone of an insect’s buzz are influenced not only by the speed of the wingbeats but also by the size and shape of the wings and the insect’s body.

Larger insects with broader wings tend to produce lower-pitched sounds, while smaller, lighter insects generate higher-pitched buzzing. Additionally, the type of movement plays a role; when a bee hovers, for example, the buzz might sound more intense because of the constant wing activity in a fixed position.

Insects’ buzzing is essentially a byproduct of their flight mechanics. As their wings beat, they displace air, causing pressure waves to form, which we perceive as sound. The air vibrations created by the wings travel to our ears as sound waves, and the frequency of these waves depends on how quickly the wings are moving. This combination of fast wing movement, air displacement, and insect anatomy creates the wide variety of buzzing sounds we hear from different species of winged insects.