The invention provides a system and a method for identifying varieties of insects based on a big data cloud server. The problems that the existing insect identification cannot meet the requirements and the automatic identification process is complex are solved. The identification system comprises a mobile terminal and the big data cloud server; the mobile terminal comprises a picture acquiring module with close-distance photography, a display module for displaying a picture acquired by the picture acquiring module, a GPS module with a positioning function and a data transmission module for transmitting the picture acquired by the picture acquiring module; the big data cloud server comprises an identification server for classifying insects, an insect information database for storing insectdetailed information and a cloud management module; the cloud management module is connected with the insect information database; and the data transmission module of the mobile terminal is connectedwith the identification server through wireless network. Meanwhile, the invention also discloses the related insect identification method. By the system and the method, unknown insects can be identified rapidly, and convenience is provided for people to prevent injurious insects and utilize beneficial insects.