Field Guide

The pine tree spur-throat grasshopper usually lives in wooded areas, where its mottled, brownish-gray camouflage protects it when it rests on tree trunks.

Whitebanded fishing spiders are often seen on tree trunks, walls, or other vertical surfaces, sometimes far from water. The coloration and markings can vary, but many individuals have an olive-green cast that helps them blend in with mosses and lichens. Note the bristly legs.

Plant bugs, or mirids, are a huge family of true bugs. They are often overlooked — except by gardeners and farmers. Most mirids eat plants, and some are agricultural pests. As a group, they’re an important food source for birds and other insectivores.

About six species of bird grasshoppers occur in Missouri. Most are attractively marked, large insects that gracefully fly from danger, almost like birds.

The American bird grasshopper is a large grasshopper with ornate markings. It is a good flier that floats upward into trees. Note the pale stripe running down the back.

Katydids are a family of insects that may also be called longhorned grasshoppers, because of their super-long antennae. Many resemble green leaves. Others are brown. Members of some species may be bright pink or yellow.

The common meadow katydid is aptly named: it is well-known and widespread in the eastern United States. Listen for its distinctive call — like a pulsating circular lawn sprinkler ratcheting around — in midsummer to the first hard frost.

Members of the pygmy grasshopper family are small and have a distinctively elongated pronotum — this plate, which only covers the shoulders of most other grasshoppers, extends back to cover the abdomen in this family. Most live along streams and in other wet habitats.