Field Guide

Land Invertebrates

Showing 41 - 49 of 49 results
Female Georgia mason bee, covered with yellow pollen, on a yellow flowerhead
Georgia Mason
Osmia georgica
The Georgia mason is one of several species of mason bees in Missouri. Like other megachilid bees, it is a native solitary bee that carries pollen in a special clump of hairs on the underside of the abdomen.
Male common eastern bumble bee on a New World aster
Common Eastern Bumblebee
Bombus impatiens
The common eastern bumblebee is widespread in the eastern United States. It is one of several species of bumblebees that occur in Missouri.
Black-and-gold bumble bee visiting wild bergamot flowerhead
Black-and-Gold Bumblebee
Bombus auricomus
The black-and-gold bumblebee is associated with prairies and other grasslands. It is one of several species of bumblebees that occur in Missouri.
eastern stizus wasp on goldenrod
Eastern Stizus
Stizus brevipennis
The eastern stizus is a large, solitary wasp that is often misidentified as the better-known eastern cicada-killer wasp. The markings are slightly different, however, and the eastern stizus female hunts katydids, not cicadas.
Female five-banded thynnid wasp taking nectar on mountain mint flowers in a prairie
Five-Banded Thynnid Wasp
Myzinum quinquecinctum
Female and male five-banded thynnid wasps look quite different. Both are banded with black and yellow, but the females are large and heavy-looking, while the males, often seen in groups, are much skinnier and have a scythe-shaped false stinger on the hind end.
European hornet resting on a window screen
European Hornet
Vespa crabro
The European hornet is a large, nonnative hornet that was introduced to New York in the mid-1800s. They now occur across most of the eastern United States, including Missouri. People may misidentify them as the highly publicized, so-called murder hornets.
Honeybee worker on flower
Honeybee
Apis mellifera
The honeybee is a major pollinator of many field crops and tree fruits. Native to the Old World, it is not native to North America. In 1985 it was named the official state insect of Missouri.
Wood cockroach crawling on tree
Cockroaches and Termites
Over 100 species of cockroaches and termites in North America north of Mexico
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.
Several termite workers and a soldier in a gallery in wood
Termites
About 40 species in North America north of Mexico
People often confuse termites with ants. Termites have a fairly cylindrical body, only slightly narrowed behind the head. Termites also have a pronotum, a shieldlike plate behind the head.
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.