These Valuable Bugs Had Their Spawn Rates Reduced In Version 1.2 Of Animal Crossing: New Horizons

5 years ago Justin 24 Comments

New changes to the appearance rates and chances of bugs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons have been discovered in the latest Version 1.2 April Update!

If you’ve been noticing some of your favorite bugs aren’t showing up as frequently on your island anymore, and particularly the more valuable ones for bringing in the stacks of cash, you’re definitely not alone as some data-mined information backs that speculation up.

According to spawn rate data recovered by Ninji, a variety of bugs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons have had their rates of appearance throughout islands changed.

While the exact changes vary by each creature of course, we’d say the major takeaway here is that the more valuable bugs have seen their frequency reduced and replaced by higher appearance rates for less valuable bugs worth fewer bells.

These spawn rate changes have taken place across the board targeting Animal Crossing: New Horizons bugs found in all seasons, but we’ll start by focusing on the most relevant insects currently available for real-time players during April.

By far the hardest hitting change during April is the Peacock Butterfly receiving a -80% reduction in spawn rate, with the other less valuable butterflies becoming more common in its place. Selling for 2,500 Bells each, you were  definitely able to make some good money with this butterfly.

Another decent money maker for players in the spring and summer months is the Man-Faced Stink Bug, a more valuable variation of the Stinkbug selling for 1000 Bells. That’s not a ton of money, but it’s far more than the regular Stinkbug that sells for only 100 Bells.

How did the Man-Faced Stink Bug and Stinkbug get adjusted in the Version 1.2 update? For the month of April, the Man-Faced Stink Bug’s spawn rate has been reduced by -44% while the regular Stinkbug increased by +122%!

This duo of stink bugs makes for a great example of how Nintendo has chosen to systemically reduce the rate of the more valuable bugs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, while increasing the rate of their less worthy siblings.

Speaking of valuable bugs, you can’t forget the dangerous duo of the Tarantula and Scorpion! These creatures share the same sell price of 8000 Bells, operate in a similar manner, and are available in opposite months of each other.

The Scorpion has seen a straight -50% reduction in appearance rate across all six months that it’s available, whereas the Tarantula has dropped between -66% and -33% depending on the month. You’ve probably noticed that Tarantulas became rarer when April began compared to March and the data here backs that assumption up.

We’re seeing a reduction for the Atlas Moth in Animal Crossing: New Horizons as well, a bug that recently became available to players when April began and sells for 3,000 Bells. You can find this creature resting on your island’s trees and it’s not exactly super common to begin with, but it’s received a -50% cut in spawn chances across most months too.

Finally, while the Emperor Butterfly currently isn’t available for those playing in real-time during April, we’re seeing a significant decrease in its spawn rate receiving a -50% cut or more. That’s pretty notable given how great the Emperor Butterfly proved to be during the launch in March with its lucrative 4,000 Bells sell price!

One last interesting note about the bug spawn changes is that the rates have been flattened consistently across every in-game month. Previously, there were some insects that secretly were more common in certain months than others, even if they were available in all of those months.

Once again, a special thanks to dataminer Ninji for the bug information used in this article. For a complete picture of insect spawn rates in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and what changes have occurred in the Version 1.2 update, check out the page compiled by him here.

For more on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, check out our many helpful pages on the game in the Guides section here.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Datamine News