Search Results - Field Guide

Showing 41 - 50 of 55 results
Photo of a featherlegged orbweaver and egg case on a leaf
Featherlegged Orbweaver
Uloborus glomosus
The featherlegged orbweaver has two very long forelegs that, when held together, look like a tiny twig resting in the circular web. When they’re held apart, the spider looks like a little V.
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 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 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.
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.
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.