Field Guide

Land Invertebrates

Showing 11 - 20 of 31 results
Flea beetle, probably Disonycha procera, resting on a window screen
Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelids)
About 2,000 species in North America
Leaf beetles, or chrysomelid beetles, are members of a large, diverse, often very colorful beetle family. As the name suggests, they eat leaves and other plant parts and are common on foliage.
Japanese beetle on a leaf
Japanese Beetle
Popillia japonica
Despite its decorative bronze wing shields, metallic green thorax, and black-and-white striped abdomen, the Japanese beetle is a serious agricultural pest.
Red milkweed beetle eating a common milkweed leaf.
Longhorned Beetles (Borers; Sawyer Beetles)
About 1,000 species in North America north of Mexico
Longhorned beetles are elongated and cylindrical, with antennae that are at least half the length of the body — sometimes much longer. The larvae are grubs that bore in wood or other plants. Some are serious pests.
photo of a male reddish-brown stag beetle
Stag Beetles (Lucanids)
About 40 species in North America north of Mexico
Stag beetles are a family that, though not very colorful, have prominent pincers! Male stag beetles usually have enlarged, sometimes astonishing jaws. These “antlers” give rise to the common name.
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”).
image of a Carolina Grasshopper
Short-Horned Grasshoppers
About 620 species in North America
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.
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 northern walkingstick on autumn dogwood leaves
Walkingsticks (Stick Insects)
Diapheromera femorata, Megaphasma denticrus, and others
Walkingsticks are long, slender insects that are perfectly camouflaged to look like brown or green twigs. Most species are tropical, but some types are found in Missouri.
image of greenbottle fly on carcass
Blow Flies (Bottle Flies)
About 84 species in North America.
Many blow flies are so shiny and colorful they’re called greenbottles and bluebottles. But pretty as they are, it’s hard not to be repulsed by their larval diets.
image of a Tree Cricket on a flower
Tree Crickets
About 20 species in North America in subfamily Oecanthinae
Tree crickets, or pale bush crickets, are a subfamily of crickets that are little seen but often heard. True to their name, instead of living on the ground, they live in trees, bushes, and tall herbaceous plants.
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.