Field Guide

The lichen grasshopper sticks to sunny, rocky areas, such as the many rocky glades and hilltops in the Ozarks, where lichens are plentiful. It is perfectly camouflaged there.

The three-banded grasshopper is one of our most attractively marked grasshoppers, with three sharply marked dark bands.

House crickets are probably native to Eurasia but are found nearly worldwide, having traveled the globe with people. Unlike most other field crickets in our area, they are tan and brown instead of glossy black.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cockroaches well-known: they are flattened, small, brown or black, often shiny insects that can hide in tight crevices and lack specialized appendages. Recently, termites have been included in their order.

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.