Field Guide

The Carolina grasshopper is frequently seen in dusty, open habitats like dirt roads and vacant lots. Its yellow-bordered, black hindwings make it look like a mourning cloak butterfly.

Horntails look a lot like wasps but have a taillike spine that projects from the tip of the abdomen. Their cylindrical bodies also lack the narrow waist so common in wasps.

The eastern Hercules beetle is a breathtaking animal. Like its Greek-hero namesake, it is big and strong. Males have horns; females do not. Hercules beetles are harmless to people.

The giant walkingstick is the largest insect in North America, with females up to 7 inches long. The middle and hind legs have spines. Males have a single, large spine on each hind leg.

The northern walkingstick is Missouri's most common species of walkingstick. It is perfectly camouflaged for a life in trees and shrubs. They not only look like twigs but also sway their bodies to mimic the motion of branches in a breeze.

Scoliid wasps are a family of beetle hunters. Large, rather hairy wasps, some are handsomely colored. The female digs in soil, finds a scarab beetle grub, and lays an egg on it.

The antlion known to science as Glenurus gratus ought to be called the pleasing antlion, but it has no formal common name.

Blister beetles in the genus Meloe are called oil beetles because of a yellowish oil they excrete from their joints when squeezed or distressed. This oil contains cantharidin, an irritating chemical that can cause blistering in many people.

The ebony jewelwing is a beautiful iridescent green or turquoise damselfly with large black wings. It flutters around streams in wooded areas.

The widow skimmer has distinctive dark wing markings that seem like mourning garb. Mature males have white areas in the center of their wings, beside the dark patches, while females and immature males lack the white patches.