Field Guide

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.

The green stink bug is one of many species of stink bugs. Like others in their family, they emit a foul odor when they are harassed or crushed.

The six-spotted tiger beetle is probably the most familiar tiger beetle in Missouri. It’s most often seen in spring, as it darts in and out of trails just ahead of hikers.

The pronghorn clubtail is one of several members of its genus in our area that are generally difficult to identify. Like other dragonflies, it is an aerial predator that hunts insects on the wing.

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.

The olive-green swamp grasshopper lives on pond edges and wetlands where the vegetation is thick and lush. It has rather long antennae, for a short-horned grasshopper.

The shiny, iridescent dogbane beetle is one of Missouri's most beautiful insects. As the name indicates, this beautiful beetle feeds on dogbanes.

The green robber fly is one of several species of robber flies called giant robber flies or bee killers. They are indeed large, with distinctive yellow and dark stripes on the abdomen and iridescent green eyes.

Although most dung beetles are dull black, the rainbow scarab is bright metallic green and copper.

The Hine's emerald dragonfly is a federally endangered species. It has a dark emerald-green thorax and two yellow stripes on its sides. It lives in calcareous spring-fed marshes and sedge meadows overlaying dolomite bedrock.