Search Results - Field Guide

Showing 31 - 40 of 54 results
Photo of a spotted orbweaver or barn spider, Neoscona crucifera, with black background
Spotted Orbweavers
Neoscona spp.
Missouri's Neoscona spiders, called spotted orbweavers, can be hard to identify to species. Most have camouflage patterns, and they all make the characteristic, delicate, wheel-shaped webs to catch prey.
Photo of an alderfly larva among rocks and gravel in an aquarium.
Alderfly Larvae
Sialis spp.
Alderfly larvae look a lot like their cousins the fishflies, but instead of having pairs of fleshy tails, they have only a single tail pointing straight back.
Photo of a female arabesque orbweaver spider
Arabesque Orbweaver
Neoscona arabesca
The arabesque orbweaver is a common orb-weaving spider in Missouri. The coloration is quite variable, but the slanting dark marks on the abdomen help to identify it.
Photo of an armored harvestman walking on the ground
Armored Harvestmen
Members of suborder Laniatores
Armored harvestmen have spines on their fingerlike mouthparts (pedipalps). Unlike other harvestmen, members of this suborder of so-called daddy longlegs do not usually have long legs.
Photo of arrow-shaped micrathena spider
Arrowshaped Micrathena
Micrathena sagittata
One of three micrathena spiders in Missouri, the arrowshaped micrathena is small but unforgettable. Females have striking reddish, black, and yellow colors, and a pair of outward-pointing tubercles at the end of the body give it a triangular or "arrow" shape.
Photo of backswimmer, side view
Backswimmers
About 32 North American species in the family Notonectidae
Sometimes called “water bees” or “water wasps,” backswimmers are predaceous and can deliver a painful bite if mishandled. True to their name, they swim belly-up, and their backs are keeled like a boat, which makes back-swimming easier.
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 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.