Critter Catching
You'll find all sorts of buzzing and hopping creatures while exploring the area outside the village. The insects and frogs that you can catch (collectively called "critters" in the game) can be placed into your shipping bin for profit or given to villagers as a gift. There is an abundance of these little guys in the game, so if you're looking for some quick cash then head out to the Forest, River, and Mountain to catch the critters.
To catch a critter all you have to do is run up to it and press the A button. You don't have to jump and catch them or slowly walk up to an insect so it doesn't fly away, as you needed to do in Tale of Two Towns. The bugs are not as flighty in this version of Harvest Moon, so there's no need to be careful or stealthy. Just press the A button.
There are nine types of of critters you can catch. Each member of the species will be colored based on its rank (i.e., how rare it is). When you catch a critter a cage will appear in your rucksack; the color of the cage will indicate how uncommon the critter is. Green cage critters are pretty common, copper cages are uncommon, silver cages are rare, and gold caged critters are very rare. The more rare the critter is, the more money you'll earn when you ship it. Critters don't have Star Rank.
The bookshelf inside your farm house will keep a tally of the critters you've caught. To view your list, go to your bookshelf and select the Picture Book, then Crops (even though critters aren't crops), and then press the right-shoulder button on your Nintendo 3DS until you reach the list of gathered critters. There are 96 critters you can catch, but you won't receive anything for completing the list.
The only critters you may want to keep are the Honey Bees. The bees you use for seeding your Beehives will expire at the beginning of Winter, so you will need to repopulate your Beehives when the season becomes Spring. You can store spare honey bees in your farm house Storage Box and they will survive there forever until you use them. The rest of the critters you catch can be shipped; they aren't used for anything other than profit or gifts.
The Forest, River, and Mountain areas aren't the only place you'll find critters. If you take a trip from Charles' Travel Agency, you can visit remote location and catch new types of critters. The trickiest of these foreign critters are the Southern Firefly and the Winter Firefly. These two insects can only be found in the Land of the East if you are there after 9:00 pm; but, there's a two hour travel time to the eastern land, and Charles closes his shop at 6:00 pm. If you took the flight at 5:59 pm, you would still only arrive at 7:59 pm and not after 9:00 pm....
So... how are you suppose to catch these bugs?!
Unfortunately, you will have to abuse the game's save/load system to make the fireflies appear. Critters will appear at the top of the hour when they're scheduled to appear. In this case, 9:00 pm. You will need to wait in the Land of the East until after 9:00 pm, save your game, and then exit the game to the Title Screen. When you reload your saved game, you will have "arrived" at the Land of the East after 9:00 pm, and you can now catch the two fireflies.
Critter List
The bugs will be listed as they appear in the Critter list in your farm house bookshelf.
Cicadas
| Critter Name | Cage Color | Weather | Location | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown Cicada | Green | Any | Summer: River (6am-6pm), Forest, and Honey Tree Fall: Forest and Honey Tree | 20 G |
| Kaempfer Cicada | Green | Any | Spring, : Mountain (6am-6pm) Summer: Mountain (6am-6pm), Forest, and Honey Tree | 20 G |
| Spring Cicada | Green | Any | Spring: Forest and Honey Tree Summer: Forest and Honey Tree | 40 G |
| Grass Cicada | Copper | Any | Spring: Forest and Honey Tree Summer: Forest and Honey Tree | 30 G |
| Opal Cicada | Copper | Any | Spring: Mountain (6am-6pm) Summer: River (6am-6pm), Mountain (6am-6pm), and Forest (6am-6pm) Fall: River (6am-6pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) | 100 G |
| Screeching Cicada | Copper | Any | Summer: Forest and Honey Tree | 100 G |
| Chattering Cicada | Silver | Any | Summer: Forest and Honey Tree Fall: Forest and Honey Tree | 250 G |
| Emperor Cicada | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Ancient Ruins | 500 G |
| Singing Cicada | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (12pm-9pm) | 350 G |
| Evening Cicada | Silver | Any | Summer: Forest and Honey Tree Fall: Forest and Honey Tree | 150 G |
| Bear Cicada | Silver | Sunny | Summer: Honey Tree | 400 G |
Beetles
| Critter Name | Cage Color | Weather | Location | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhinoceros Beetle | Green | Any | Summer: River (6pm-5am), Forest, or Honey Tree | 40 G |
| Caucasus Beetle | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Ancient Ruins (3pm-8pm) | 320 G |
| Anubis Beetle | Silver | Sunny | Summer: Honey Tree | 250 G |
| Elephant Beetle | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (12pm-9pm) and Ancient Ruins | 300 G |
| Hercules Beetle | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Ancient Ruins | 440 G |
| White Morn Beetle | Copper | Any | Summer: Forest and Honey Tree | 50 G |
| White Hill Beetle | Copper | Any | Spring: Mountain (6pm-5am) Summer: Mountain (6pm-5am) | 180 G |
| White Giant Beetle | Silver | Sunny | Summer: Honey Tree | 600 G |
| Pincer Beetle | Green | Any | Summer: River (6pm-5am), Forest, and Honey Tree | 40 G |
| Big Pincer Beetle | Green | Any | Summer: Forest or Honey Tree | 60 G |
| Stag Beetle | Copper | Sunny | Summer: Honey Tree | 50 G |
| Rainbow Beetle | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (12pm-9pm) and Ancient Ruins | 400 G |
| Giraffe Stag Beetle | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Ancient Ruins | 1000 G |
Dragonflies, Darters, Damselflies, and Skimmers
| Critter Name | Cage Color | Weather | Location | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Dragonfly | Green | Not Stormy | Fall: River (6am-6pm) and Forest (6am-6pm) Winter: River (7am-5pm) and Forest (7am-5pm) | 20 G |
| Common Darter | Green | Any | Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) | 30 G |
| Scarlet Skimmer | Green | Any | Fall: River (6am-5pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) | 50 G |
| Common Skimmer | Copper | Not Stormy | Summer: River (6am-6pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) Fall: River (6am-6pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) | 40 G |
| Azure Dragonfly | Copper | Not Stormy | Summer: River (6am-6pm) Fall: River (6am-5pm) and Forest (6am-6pm) | 60 G |
| Cobalt Dragonfly | Silver | Sunny | Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) | 100 G |
| Yellow Damselfly | Copper | Any | Fall: River (6am-6pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) | 60 G |
| Golden Dragonfly | Silver | Sunny | Fall: River (6am-6pm) | 100 G |
| Pacific Dragonfly | Copper | Not Stormy | Summer: Mountain (6am-6pm) Fall: River (6am-6pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) Winter: River (6am-5pm) and Mountain (6am-5pm) | 200 G |
| Aegis Dragonfly | Silver | Not Stormy | Spring: Ancient Ruins Summer: River (6am-6pm), Mountain (6am-6pm), and Ancient Ruins Fall: River (6am-5pm), Mountain (6am-6pm), Forest (6am-6pm), and Ancient Ruins Winter: Ancient Ruins | 400 G |
| Emperor Dragonfly Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (12pm-6pm) Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) | 1000 G |
| Giant Petaltail Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Southern Island | 2000 G |
Fireflies
| Critter Name | Cage Color | Weather | Location | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genji Firefly | Green | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (6pm-10pm) Summer: River (7pm-4am) | 20 G |
| Pacific Firefly | Green | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (6pm-10pm Summer: Mountain (7pm-4am) | 30 G |
| Black Firefly | Green | Sunny | Summer: Forest (7pm-4am) | 20 G |
| Candle Firefly | Green | Sunny | Summer: Mountain (7pm-4am | 30 G |
| Luciola Firefly | Silver | Sunny | Summer: River (7pm-4am) and Mountain (7pm-4am) | 100 G |
| Cabbage Firefly | Green | Sunny | Summer: River (7pm-4am) and Forest (7pm-4am) | 30 G |
| Yellow Firefly | Copper | Sunny | Summer: River (7pm-4am) | 40 G |
| Mustache Firefly Year 2 or later | Silver | Sunny | Summer: Mountain (7pm-4am) | 300 G |
| Winter Firefly Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (9pm-10pm) | 400 G |
| Southern Firefly Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (9pm-10pm) | 350 G |
| Purple Firefly Year 2 or later | Silver | Sunny | Summer: River (7pm-4am) and Mountain (7pm-4am) | 330 G |
| Spotted Firefly | Copper | Sunny | Summer: River (7pm-4am) and Mountain (7pm-4am) | 40 G |
| Summer Firefly | Copper | Sunny | Summer: River (7pm-4am) and Mountain (7pm-4am) | 80 G |
Frogs
There are no Copper caged frogs.
| Critter Name | Cage Color | Weather | Location | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tree Frog | Green | Rainy | Spring: River (6am-8pm) Summer: River (6am-8pm) Fall: River (6am-6pm) | 20 G |
| Common Frog | Silver | Rainy | Spring: River (10am-8pm) and Mountain (4pm-12am) Summer: River (6am-8pm) and Mountain (6am-8pm) Fall: River (6am-6pm) | 50 G |
| Montane Brown Frog | Silver | Rainy | Summer: Mountain Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) | 30 G |
| Red-Eyed Tree Frog | Silver | Rainy | Summer: Mountain (6am-3am) and Forest (6am-4am) Fall: Mountain (6am-4am) and Forest (6am-3am) | 30 G |
| White's Tree Frog | Green | Rainy | Summer: River (6am-8pm) Fall: River (6am-6pm) | 20 G |
| Spotted Pond Frog Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (12pm-7pm) | 100 G |
| Goliath Frog Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Ancient Ruins (6pm-8pm) | 550 G |
Butterflies
| Critter Name | Cage Color | Weather | Location | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pale Cloud Yellow | Green | Not Stormy | Spring: River (6am-6pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) Summer: River (6am-6pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) Fall: River (6am-5pm) and Mountain (6am-5pm) | 30 G |
| Oki Butterfly | Copper | Not Stormy | Spring: River (6am-6pm) and Forest (6am-6pm) Summer: River (6am-6pm) and Forest (6am-6pm) Fall: River (6am-5pm) and Forest (6am-5pm) | 50 G |
| Bushbrown | Copper | Not Stormy | Spring: River (6am-6pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) Summer: Mountain (6am-6pm) Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) | 50 G |
| Comma Butterfly | Copper | Not Stormy | Spring: River (6am-6pm) Summer: River (6am-6pm) and Forest Forest (6am-6pm) Fall: Forest (6am-6pm) | 40 G |
| Purple Brush-Foot Year 2 or later | Silver | Sunny | Spring: Mountain (6am-6pm) Summer: Mountain (6am-6pm) Fall: Mountain (Yr 1 OK, 10am-6pm) | 60 G |
| Velvet Brush-Foot | Silver | Sunny | Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) | 100 G |
| Small White | Green | Not Stormy | Spring: Forest (6am-6pm) Summer: Forest (6am-6pm) Fall: Forest (6am-5pm) | 20 G |
| Nymph Butterfly | Green | Not Stormy | Spring: River (6am-6pm) Summer: River (6am-6pm) Fall: River (6am-5pm) | 30 G |
| Long-Tailed Blue | Green | Sunny | Summer: Mountain (6am-6pm) and Forest (6am-6pm) Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) and Forest (6am-5pm) | 50 G |
| Great Orange Tip | Copper | Not Stormy | Summer: River (6am-6pm), Mountain (6am-6pm), and Forest (6am-6pm) | 60 G |
| White Morpho | Copper | Sunny | Spring: River (10am-6pm) and Forest (10am-6pm) Summer: Mountain (10am-6pm) | 100 G |
| Purple Emperor | Silver | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (12pm-6pm) Spring: River (Yr 2 or later, 6am-6pm) Summer: River (6am-6pm) | 40 G |
| Swallowtail | Silver | Not Stormy | Spring: River (6am-6pm) and Forest (6am-6pm) Summer: River (6am-6pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) Fall: River (6am-5pm) and Mountain (6am-6pm) | 30 G |
| Miyama Swallowtail Year 2 or later | Silver | Not Stormy | All Year: Southern Island Spring: Forest (6am-6pm) Summer: Forest (6am-6pm) Fall: Forest (6am-5pm) | 50 G |
| Helena Morpho | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Ancient Ruins | 400 G |
| Birdwing | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Southern Island | 380 G |
| Southern Butterfly Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Ancient Ruins | 500 G |
Locust, Crickets, and Grasshoppers
| Critter Name | Cage Color | Weather | Location | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longhead Locust | Green | Not Stormy | Spring: Forest (6am-6pm) Summer: River (6am-6pm) Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) | 20 G |
| Piggyback Locust | Copper | Not Stormy | All Year: Forest (6am-6pm) | 20 G |
| Migratory Locust Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (12pm-6pm) | 200 G |
| Spotted Locust | Copper | Not Stormy | All Year: River (6am-6pm SP/SU, 6am-5pm FA/WI) | 30 G |
| Kutsuwa Katydid | Green | Not Stormy | Spring: River (6pm-3am) Summer: Mountain (6pm-3am) Winter: Forest (6pm-4pm) | 40 G |
| Emma Field Cricket | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Ancient Ruins (6pm-8pm) | 200 G |
| Cornered Cricket | Silver | Sunny | Summer: Forest (6pm-3am) Fall: Forest (6pm-3am) Winter: Forest (6pm-4am) | 60 G |
| Mole Cricket Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Land of the East (12pm-6pm) and Ancient Ruins (3pm-7pm) LotE OK in Fall Year 1 Spring: River (6am-12pm) and Mountain (6am-12pm) Summer: River (6am-12pm) and Mountain (6am-12pm) | 160 G |
| Bell Cricket | Green | Not Stormy | Summer: River (7pm-4am), Mountain (6pm-4am), and Forest (6pm-4am) | 40 G |
| Kobane Grasshopper | Green | Not Stormy | Spring: Mountain (6am-6pm) Fall: Forest (6am-6pm) Winter: River (6am-5pm) | 20 G |
| Dirt Grasshopper | Copper | Not Stormy | Spring: River and Forest Summer: River and Forest Fall: Mountain Winter: Mountain | 30 G |
| Brown Cricket | Silver | Sunny | Spring: Mountain (6pm-4am, Yr2 or later) Fall: Mountain (6pm-4am) Winter: Mountain (6pm-4am) | 100 G |
| Bush Cricket Year 2 or later | Copper | Not Stormy | Summer: Mountain (6am-6pm) Fall: Forest (6am-6pm) Winter: Forest (6am-5pm) | 150 G |
Honey Bees
| Critter Name | Cage Color | Weather | Location | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honey Bee | Green | Sunny | Spring: River (6am-6pm), Mountain (6am-12pm), and Forest (6am-6pm) Summer: River (6am-6pm) and Forest (6am-6pm) Fall: River and Forest | 20 G |
| Western Honey Bee | Copper | Sunny | Summer: Mountain (6am-6pm) and Forest (6am-6pm) Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) and Forest (6am-6pm) | 50 G |
| Eastern Honey Bee Year 2 or later | Silver | Sunny | Summer: Forest (6am-6pm) Fall: Mountain (6am-6pm) | 120 G |
| Mountain Honey Bee Year 2 or later | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Ancient Ruins (3pm-7pm) | 230 G |
Ladybugs
| Critter Name | Cage Color | Weather | Location | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotted Ladybug | Green | Sunny or Rainy | Spring: Mountain (6am-6pm), Forest, and Honey Tree Fall: Forest and Honey Tree | 20 G |
| Harlequin Ladybug | Green | Sunny or Rainy | Spring: Mountain (6am-6pm) Fall: River (6am-6pm), Forest, and Honey Tree | 30 G |
| White Ladybug | Copper | Sunny or Rainy | Spring: Forest and Honey Tree Fall: Forest and Honey Tree | 60 G |
| Yellow Ladybug | Copper | Sunny or Rainy | Spring: Forest and Honey Tree Fall: Forest and Honey Tree | 50 G |
| Orange Ladybug | Silver | Sunny | Spring: Honey Tree Fall: Honey Tree | 100 G |
| Large Ladybug | Gold | Sunny | All Year: Southern Island | 180 G |