Field Guide

Land Invertebrates

Showing 1 - 10 of 21 results
image of Walker's Cicada clinging to a perch
Annual Cicadas
Neotibicen spp. (in Missouri) (formerly Tibicen)
Annual cicadas look like larger and greener versions of the famous periodical cicadas. Annual cicadas go through a life cycle of only about 2–5 years, and some are present every year — thus they are called annual.
image of a Leafhopper on leaf
Leafhoppers
More than 3,000 species in North America north of Mexico
The leafhoppers are a large and diverse family of sap-sucking, hopping insects. You can distinguish them from similar groups of hoppers by the hind legs, which have at least one row of small spines on the hind tibiae (“shins”).
Two-marked treehopper clinging to a stem
Treehoppers
More than 260 species in North America North of Mexico
Treehoppers can resemble thorns, bark, weird plant bumps, or tiny leaves. If you can recognize one of these as an insect, you're doing well!
Photo of a male Banded Pennant dragonfly
Dragonflies
Species in the suborder Anisoptera
Like damselflies, dragonflies have long bodies, two pairs of long, membranous, finely veined wings, and predaceous aquatic larvae. Dragonflies typically hold their wings stretched outward, horizontally.
Photo of a whitebanded crab spider, yellow individual, on ox-eye daisy flower
Whitebanded Crab Spider
Misumenoides formosipes
The whitebanded crab spider is a small, whitish-yellow or yellowish-brown crab spider commonly found in flower heads. Often its carapace is slightly greenish, with a broad whitish-yellow midband bordered by darker, thinner sides of yellowish brown.
Photo of an orchard orbweaver with a black background
Orchard Orbweaver
Leucauge venusta
The orchard orbweaver is a small, colorful, greenish, delicate spider that makes circular webs in low bushes and damp woodlands. It typically hangs in the middle of its web, its back to the ground.
Photo of a swift crab spider, female, from above.
Foliage Flower Spiders
Mecaphesa spp. and Misumessus spp.
Foliage flower spiders are two genera of crab spiders. They are generally smaller than other crab spiders, and their carapaces, abdomens, and legs are spiny.
Peacock fly resting on a thistle leaf
Peacock Flies (Tephritid Fruit Flies)
About 300 species in North America north of Mexico
Tephretid fruit flies, in the family Tephritidae, are often called peacock flies for the intricately patterned, often brightly colored wings of many species.
Elongate-bodied springtail on a brown leaf
Springtails
More than 8,000 species globally
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.
image of Sand Wasp perched on sand
Sand Wasps
More than 1,200 species in North America north of Mexico
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.
See Also
Photo of a Yellow-Collared Scape Moth
Yellow-Collared Scape Moth
Cisseps fulvicollis
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!
image of Plume Moth on blade of grass
Plume Moths
Nearly 150 species in North America north of Mexico
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.
Photo of an Isabella Tiger Moth
Isabella Tiger Moth (Woolly Bear; Woolly Worm)
Pyrrharctia isabella
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.