The Ladybug, Mosquito and Pillbug are usually added as a complete optional set in Bug Hive. They do not change the goal: surround the opposing Queen while keeping the connected hive intact. What they change is how a player reaches a critical space and which pieces can be displaced.
Learn Queen, Ant, Beetle, Grasshopper and Spider movement first. The extra insects make more sense when sliding gates, stacks and the One-Hive rule are already familiar.
Ladybug: two above, one down
A Ladybug makes exactly three steps in one move. Its first two steps travel over occupied pieces or stacks. Its third step descends to an empty ground-level space. It cannot remain on top of the hive and it cannot use an empty cell for either of the first two steps.
The route matters. Trace occupied cell one, occupied cell two, then empty destination. The Ladybug may change direction between steps and may cross pieces of either color. It does not jump in a single straight line like the Grasshopper.
Height creates one subtle restriction. A Ladybug must still fit through the vertical doorway when it climbs, crosses or descends. If stacks on both sides rise above its travel level, the narrow gate is closed. It cannot squeeze between two tall walls merely because its route is “on top.”
Exactly three steps; occupied, occupied, empty. Preserve one hive, do not reuse a route cell and check the gate at each transition.
Mosquito: copy an adjacent ability
A ground-level Mosquito copies the movement ability of any insect directly adjacent to it. Color does not matter. Beside an Ant it can crawl like an Ant; beside a Spider it can make a three-step Spider route; beside a Ladybug it can travel two steps over and one down.
If several species are adjacent, the Mosquito may choose any one available ability for that move. It does not combine abilities. For example, it cannot take two Ant steps and finish with a Grasshopper jump. It must complete one copied movement pattern legally from start to finish.
A Mosquito on top of the hive behaves as a Beetle, regardless of the neighboring insects. It moves one adjacent space across stacks or down to the ground under the same height-aware gate rules. Once back on the ground, it returns to copying its adjacent neighbors.
A Mosquito beside only another Mosquito gains no movement from that contact alone. It needs a neighboring non-Mosquito species to copy. Covered insects are not exposed neighbors; only the top piece of a stack supplies an ability.
Pillbug: move itself or relocate a neighbor
The Pillbug’s ordinary movement is one ground-level slide, like the Queen. Its special ability can instead relocate one adjacent ground-level piece: lift that piece onto the Pillbug’s position, then place it into a different empty space adjacent to the Pillbug.
The source and destination are both next to the Pillbug, but the relocated piece does not slide around the edge. It is lifted across the Pillbug. The hive must remain connected when the piece is lifted, so a bridge piece cannot be relocated. A stacked piece cannot be lifted, and the destination must be empty at ground level.
The relocation also respects a vertical gate. The piece must be able to rise from its source and descend into its destination without being trapped by taller stacks on both sides of the corresponding doorway. The Pillbug does not teleport a piece through a sealed wall.
Stun and immunity
A piece moved by the Pillbug ability cannot move on the immediately following turn. That prevents repeated back-and-forth relocation and gives the opponent a response. A piece that the opponent moved on the previous turn is also protected from immediate Pillbug relocation. These timing restrictions apply to the ability, not to the Pillbug’s own normal one-space move.
A Pillbug covered by a Beetle or Mosquito cannot use its ability. A covered neighboring insect cannot be selected either. As with every move, neither player may use relocation to split the hive at any intermediate moment.
Do not test only the final board. Temporarily lifting the selected piece must leave one connected hive. If the hive separates during the lift, the relocation is illegal even if the destination would reconnect it.
How the three pieces interact
A Mosquito adjacent to a Pillbug may copy its one-space movement and its special relocation ability while the Mosquito remains on the ground. The copied action obeys the same source, destination, stack, timing and connectivity restrictions. On top of a stack, that same Mosquito is Beetle-like and cannot perform a Pillbug relocation.
A Ladybug can route over a Pillbug or Mosquito as one of its occupied steps. It does not activate or copy them. Its final landing must still be an empty ground cell, so it cannot finish on a Beetle stack.
When to enable the complete set
The base five create a clean strategic game with fewer exceptions. Add all three extra insects when both players are comfortable spotting bridge pins and perimeter gates. The Ladybug breaks into enclosed ground spaces, the Mosquito rewards precise neighborhood reading, and the Pillbug makes the last open Queen space tactically unstable.
Bug Hive uses one complete-set option so a match either contains Ladybug, Mosquito and Pillbug for both sides or contains none of them. That keeps setup symmetrical and makes the chosen rule set clear before the first move.
Bug Hive is an independent game and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or the official digital edition of Hive® or Gen42 Games.