Field Guide

Humans and bed bugs have known each other for millennia. In the last century, pesticide use made these parasites rare in our country. But they’re growing more common now. Learn about them.

Exceedingly fast, with zillions of wiggly legs! House centipedes seem that way. We usually see them in houses, where they prey on all the other insects and spiders you don't want around.

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.

The name is a warning: blister beetles are famous for their chemical defenses. Beetles in this family can exude an oil that can cause a person’s skin to blister.

Their streamlined shape is distinctive, but the behavior of click beetles is even more unique: Placed on their backs, these beetles flip suddenly into the air with an audible click.

Meet the horse fly: Stealthily, one will land on your back, slice your skin, and lap your blood. By the time it starts to hurt and you swat at it, the painful, itchy welt is rising.

Sooner or later, most Missouri gardeners learn about squash bugs, which feed on the foliage of squash, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, and other plants in the squash family.

Soldier beetles are most often seen on flowers. Many species in this family are pollinators. Yellow, orange, and red are their most common colors, besides black and brown.

Adult caddisflies are mothlike. Their larvae are aquatic and build portable, protective cases out of local materials, including grains of sand, bits of leaves and twigs, and other debris.