Search Results - Field Guide

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Photo of a Harvestman, viewed from above
Daddy Longlegs (Harvestmen)
About 6,500 species have been named so far, worldwide.
Daddy longlegs, or harvestmen, are familiar Missouri animals. They are not spiders, but opilionids. Unlike spiders, they have a fused body form and lack silk and venom glands.
Photo of a fishfly larva crawling among rocks in an aquarium.
Fishfly Larvae
Chauliodes, Neohermes, and Nigronia spp. (in eastern US)
Fishfly larvae look a lot like their cousins the hellgrammites, but they lack cottony or hairy gill tufts along the abdomen, and they have 2 short, fleshy tails at the hind tip.
Photo of female heptagonal orbweaver in web.
Heptagonal Orbweaver
Gea heptagon
The heptagonal orbweaver, Gea heptagon, builds its circular webs in vegetation only a few feet off the ground. When disturbed, it drops instantly to the ground below and turns a drab brown.
Photo of a mayfly naiad crawling on rock underwater
Mayfly Larvae
There are hundreds of species in North America.
Mayfly larvae, or nymphs, live from months to years under water, breathing through gills, and the adults fly around in the air, mating, living for only a day or two.
Photo of a female openfield orbweaver spider crouching on a plant stalk
Openfield Orbweaver
Araneus pratensis
The openfield orbweaver is a common nocturnal orb-weaving spider in Missouri.
Image of a deceased pseudoscorpion on a US dime
Pseudoscorpions
Various species in the order Pseudoscorpionida
Pseudoscorpions are unusual little arachnids. They look something like tiny scorpions but with a rounded (and nonvenomous) hind end. They're common but often overlooked.
Riffle beetle larva photographed in water in a dish
Riffle Beetle Larvae
About 100 species in North America north of Mexico
Riffle beetles live underwater, in shallow, swift-flowing streams, as both adults and larvae. The larvae are elongated, multi-segmented, and rather hard and stiff; they reach about ½ inch long. The adults, the size of small ants, are oval with long legs.
Photo of female spiny-bellied orbweaver (spined micrathena) on a leaf
Spined Micrathena
Micrathena gracilis
The color pattern can vary, but the ten-spined, chunky abdomen sets the female spined micrathena apart from all other spiders.
Starbellied orbweaver female clinging to a grass stalk
Starbellied Orbweaver
Acanthepeira stellata
Mature female starbellied orbweavers spin wheel-shaped webs in prairies and other open, sunny habitats. The abdomen is decorated with a crown of spines and usually has a star pattern on the back.
Photo of a stonefly naiad clinging to a rock underwater
Stonefly Larvae
There are hundreds of species in North America
Stonefly larvae are aquatic and somewhat resemble the larvae of mayflies and damselflies. Their presence usually indicates good water quality.