Land Invertebrates
Media
![image of a Leafhopper on leaf](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/02/leafhopper.jpg?itok=5Wi5ZoFV)
Species Types
Scientific Name
More than 3,000 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
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”).
Media
Species Types
Scientific Name
More than 900 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Planthoppers are a large and diverse group of small hopping bugs. They tend to be less abundant than other types of hoppers.
Media
![image of a Carolina Grasshopper](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/06/carolina_brunet2012.jpg?itok=L9NtpAoa)
Species Types
Scientific Name
About 620 species in North America
Description
The short-horned grasshopper family includes many familiar jumpers. They are named for their antennae, which are relatively short compared to those in the "long-horned" or katydid group.
Media
![Photo of a male Banded Pennant dragonfly](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2012/07/bandedpennant.jpg?itok=yiNaNI0_)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Species in the suborder Anisoptera
Description
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.
Media
![Photo of a swift crab spider, female, from above.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2014/08/swift_crab_spider_m.celer_top_8-19-14.jpg?itok=L8V61N3F)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Mecaphesa spp. and Misumessus spp.
Description
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.
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
![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
![Cryptorhynchus weevil viewed from side](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Cryptorhynchus_weevil_10-10-13.jpg?itok=VNdTsJ5p)
Species Types
Scientific Name
About 2,500 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
Weevils are plant-eating beetles with a characteristic long, down-curving snout. The antennae are clubbed and elbowed. There are thousands of weevil species.
Media
![Fork-tailed bush katydid resting on a tree trunk](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/2021-08/Fork-tailed_bush_katydid_8-21-21.jpg?itok=Vg4_L0_4)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Scudderia furcata
Description
The fork-tailed bush katydid reaches about 1¾ inches long. It is usually leafy green and is most common in bushes, thickets, and other shrubby areas. It is most active after dusk. The call is a simple "tsip!" given every few seconds.
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.