Land Invertebrates
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Scientific Name
Anoplophora glabripennis
Description
An unwanted arrival from Asia that's now living in parts of the United States, the Asian longhorned beetle could destroy millions of acres of American hardwoods. Report any sightings immediately.
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Scientific Name
Loxosceles reclusa
Description
The brown recluse is a spider whose venomous bite may be medically significant to humans, though a bite is almost never fatal. Brown recluses are most commonly encountered in houses, where they occupy little-used drawers, closets, and other small hiding spaces.
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Scientific Name
Argiope aurantia
Description
The black-and-yellow garden spider is large but harmless. It sets up large, circular webs in gardens and grasslands. Lucky gardeners can host this remarkable pest exterminator all season long.
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Scientific Name
Argiope trifasciata
Description
The banded, or white-backed garden spider is slightly smaller than the black-and-yellow garden spider and has a pointier hind end. The abdomen is patterned with many thin silver and yellow transverse lines and thicker black, spotty lines.
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Scientific Name
Centruroides vittatus
Description
Striped bark scorpions are pale yellowish brown, usually with two lengthwise dark stripes on the abdomen. It is the only species of scorpion in Missouri. It occurs in glades and other dry, warm, rocky areas, and sometimes in buildings and shelters and under piles of wood, brush, or garbage.
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8 tribes, with about 23 genera, in North America north of Mexico
Description
Millipedes in family Xystodesmidae often have bright colors that serve as a warning to potential predators that they may secrete foul or toxic substances.
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Scientific Name
Conocephalus strictus
Description
The straight-lanced meadow katydid is common in pastures, roadsides, and crop lands. The female's swordlike ovipositor is longer than the rest of her body. The male's song is a relatively soft buzz that sometimes breaks into a series of rapid, skipping tics.
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Scientific Name
Amblycorypha oblongifolia
Description
The oblong-winged katydid is one of many species in the katydid family. Although it is usually green in most places, some populations made up of pink-form individuals.
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Scientific Name
Microcentrum retinerve
Description
The lesser angle-winged katydid is one of our common species of so-called false katydids. Its song is a single 3-5-pulsed rattle, with about a second of silence between each rattle.
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Scientific Name
Stagomantis carolina, Mantis religiosa, and Tenodera sinensis
Description
Most people recognize mantids, or mantises, when they see them, but it takes more practice to distinguish among the different species of these efficient insect predators.
See Also
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Scientific Name
Cisseps fulvicollis
Description
The yellow-collared scape moth is more often “orange-collared.” And whether you think it looks more like a firefly or a wasp, it’s still a moth!
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Nearly 150 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Slim, delicate plume moths are instantly recognizable by their T-shaped silhouette, long legs, and muted shades of tan and brown. It can be hard to separate the various species.
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Scientific Name
Pyrrharctia isabella
Description
Not many people know the adult Isabella tiger moth when they see one, but we’re all acquainted with its caterpillar, the woolly worm, or woolly bear.
About Land Invertebrates in Missouri
Invertebrates are animals without backbones, including earthworms, slugs, snails, and arthropods. Arthropods—invertebrates with “jointed legs” — are a group of invertebrates that includes crayfish, shrimp, millipedes, centipedes, mites, spiders, and insects. There may be as many as 10 million species of insects alive on earth today, and they probably constitute more than 90 percent all animal species.