Field Guide

Longjawed orbweavers are called stretch spiders because they rest with their legs stretched straight out in front of and behind their slender bodies. They build their circular webs horizontally, within a few feet above the surface of a stream or lake.

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.

The Carolina grasshopper is frequently seen in dusty, open habitats like dirt roads and vacant lots. Its yellow-bordered, black hindwings make it look like a mourning cloak butterfly.

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

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

The pale green assassin bug, Zelus luridus, is one of nearly 200 species of assassin bugs in North America. Like other assassin bugs, it is a predator that captures and eats other insects.

The green crab spider has spines, and the entire body and legs are pale green to silvery white. Like other crab spiders, its legs extend outward from the sides, and it can walk in any direction.

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

The common claybank tiger beetle, or green-margined tiger beetle, occurs on dirt clay soils in open areas in spring and, less abundantly, in late summer. Color varies from red to purple to green. The outer shell edges are often edged with shiny green.