Field Guide

Land Invertebrates

Showing 1 - 10 of 25 results
Citrus flatid planthopper on twig
Citrus Flatid Planthopper
Metcalfa pruinosa
The citrus flatid planthopper has a waxy coating and can look gray or tan. It eats a wide variety of plants.
Photo of a northern crab spider
Northern Crab Spider
Mecaphesa asperata
The northern crab spider has many spiny hairs covering the top surfaces of the carapace, abdomen, and legs, and it has usually has greenish-yellow or yellow-brown markings.
Photo of a green crab spider on a leaf
Green Crab Spider
Misumessus oblongus (formerly Misumenops oblonga)
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.
Golden tortoise beetle on a leaf
Golden Tortoise Beetle
Charidotella sexpunctata
The golden tortoise beetle is shiny metallic gold or orange, and the edges of the elytral shields are transparent. It eats plants in the morning glory family.
Deer bot fly Cephenemyia phobifer resting on a support beam at the top of a fire tower
Bot Flies
About 40 species in North America north of Mexico
Bot flies are chunky, beelike flies usually with rounded heads. Adults are not commonly seen. The larvae are short, pudgy, segmented grubs that live as parasites in the tissues of animals. Those that live just under the skin often form a bulge. Some types live in the nasal or throat cavities of deer.
image of Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle crawling on dead leaves
Tiger Beetles
Subfamily Cicindelinae (about 100 species in North America)
Dizzyingly fast runners and fliers, tiger beetles are remarkable, and often very colorful, insect predators.
photo of a leafcutter bee
Leafcutter Bees
Megachile spp.
Leafcutter bees are common throughout Missouri from late spring into early autumn. All are solitary. They are dark-colored with several whitish hair bands across the abdomen. One sign of their presence is the rounded holes they cut in the leaves of plants.
Robber fly, genus Efferia, male, perched on a white-painted post
Robber Flies
More than 1,000 species in North America
Robber flies are aerial predators of a variety of insects. They often perch in conspicuous locations and make short flights chasing prey.
White micrathena, side view
Spiny Orbweavers (Micrathena Spiders)
Micrathena spp.
Missouri has three species of spiny orbweavers in genus Micrathena. The webs of these woodland spiders are often run into by hikers!
Photo of a triangle orbweaver, or arrowhead spider
Arrowhead Spider (Triangle Orbweaver)
Verrucosa arenata
In late summer and fall, woodland hikers can count on walking into the arrowhead spider's web. These webs are delicate circles that help the spider snare tiny flying insects.
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.