Field Guide

Land Invertebrates

Showing 31 - 40 of 126 results
Photo of a meloe blister beetle, female, on ground
Blister Beetles
More than 400 species in North America north of Mexico
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.
Click beetle resting on a brick wall
Click Beetles
Approximately 1,000 species in North America
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.
image of Firefly crawling on a leaf
Fireflies (Lightning Bugs)
Approx. 175 species in North America north of Mexico
Fireflies are amazing beetles that use “cold light” (bioluminescence) to attract mates. They are commonly seen as they fly and glow in summer evenings.
image of a boxelder bug
Eastern Boxelder Bug
Boisea trivittata
Notoriously numerous, boxelder bugs overwinter in nooks of tree bark and rocks, but they will settle for warm crannies of your house. The box elder tree is the food plant of this harmless insect.
image of Soldier Beetle on Goldenrod
Soldier Beetles (Cantharids)
Nearly 500 species in North America north of Mexico
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.
image of Green Lacewing clinging to rock
Green Lacewings
About 85 species in North America north of Mexico
Green lacewings are delicate insects whose larvae are ravenous predators of aphids. This makes the lacewing a friend to gardeners!
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”).
Acanaloniid planthopper, green, viewed from side
Planthoppers
More than 900 species in North America north of Mexico
Planthoppers are a large and diverse group of small hopping bugs. They tend to be less abundant than other types of hoppers.
Two-marked treehopper clinging to a stem
Treehoppers
More than 260 species in North America North of Mexico
Treehoppers can resemble thorns, bark, weird plant bumps, or tiny leaves. If you can recognize one of these as an insect, you're doing well!
Photo of a trashline orbweaver, closeup
Trashline Orbweavers
Cyclosa conica and C. turbinata
Trashline orbweavers decorate their small, circular webs with an unimpressive line of insect husks and other debris. The small orbweaver rests at the hub within this line of garbage, looking like just another bit of trash.
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.