Land Invertebrates
Media
![Chinese mantis](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2011/12/chinese_mantis_12-16-11.jpg?itok=9K4EKZdy)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Tenodera sinensis (formerly T. aridifolia)
Description
The Chinese mantis is a large, green and tan ambush predator. This nonnative insect is often called a “praying mantis” because the front legs resemble hands folded in prayer.
Media
![A metallic green sweat bee gathering pollen on a yellow flowerhead](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2010/05/sweat_bee.jpg?itok=z8cQaLxG)
Species Types
Scientific Name
More than 500 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Missouri has many species of halictid bees, or sweat bees. Some are solitary, but a number show different levels of social behavior. They're named for their attraction to perspiration, which offers them precious moisture and salts.
Media
![Elongate-bodied springtail on a brown leaf](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Elongate-Bodied_Springtail_3-19.jpg?itok=C_ot3smi)
Species Types
Scientific Name
More than 8,000 species globally
Description
Springtails, like insects, have six legs, but these tiny rounded, oval, or elongated creatures that hop quickly into the air are not insects. They have a separate lineage and many structural differences.
Media
![image of Sand Wasp perched on sand](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/02/sand_wasp.jpg?itok=aP8aHfsl)
Species Types
Scientific Name
More than 1,200 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Many species and genera of sand wasps occur in Missouri. They nest in the ground during summer. They are found in many habitats but most often in open, sandy areas along rivers.
Media
![Photo of an adult damselfly on a twig next to water.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2012/11/damselfly_11-14-12.jpg?itok=Q7Ojlp5t)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Species in the suborder Zygoptera
Description
Like dragonflies, damselflies have long bodies, two pairs of long, membranous, finely veined wings, and predaceous aquatic larvae that have extendible mouthparts. Damselflies typically hold their wings together, above the body.
Media
![Tan stink bug on dead leaves](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/02/stink_bug.jpg?itok=LeBzUBLE)
Species Types
Scientific Name
In North America, more than 200 species in 64 genera
Description
Stink bugs are shield-shaped insects that can smell really bad. This is a large family of true bugs known for producing a foul odor when harassed.
Media
![several yellow aphids on plant](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/02/aphid.jpg?itok=dGcPSNxT)
Species Types
Scientific Name
More than 1,300 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Aphids are common, small, soft-bodied insects that suck plant juices. To see them well, you probably need a hand lens, but the damage they do to plants can be all too obvious!
Media
![Jagged ambush bug on a plant stem](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/06/ambush_brunet2012.jpg?itok=LWJqO2gF)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Phymata spp. and others in subfamily Phymatinae (ambush bugs)
Description
Ambush bugs are a subfamily of assassin bugs. They’re chunky, small insects with powerful grasping forelegs. They hide motionless in flowers waiting for prey to venture near.
Media
![image of Fiery Searcher on dead leaves](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/02/fiery_searcher.jpg?itok=0POiNHsA)
Species Types
Scientific Name
About 2,400 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Ground beetles are a family of mostly nocturnal or light-shunning beetles that tend to be shiny black and have grooved wing covers. This group also includes tiger beetles, however, which includes many colorful daytime fliers.
Media
![image of Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle crawling on dead leaves](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/02/6_spotted_tiger_beetle.jpg?itok=USpkuujl)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Subfamily Cicindelinae (about 100 species in North America)
Description
Dizzyingly fast runners and fliers, tiger beetles are remarkable, and often very colorful, insect predators.
See Also
Media
![Photo of a Yellow-Collared Scape Moth](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2012/06/scape_moth.jpg?itok=-C79oNCa)
Species Types
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!
Media
![image of Plume Moth on blade of grass](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/06/plumemothdb.jpg?itok=mHLwIYWX)
Species Types
Scientific Name
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.
Media
![Photo of an Isabella Tiger Moth](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2012/06/isabella.jpg?itok=DGWZ86EN)
Species Types
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.