Field Guide

Land Invertebrates

Showing 1 - 10 of 26 results
Black-legged meadow katydid female
Black-Legged Meadow Katydid
Orchelimum nigripes
The black-legged meadow katydid is a gorgeous, strikingly marked katydid that hides among foliage. They are secretive and quick to hop away or move to the other side of a plant stem.
Image of a differential grasshopper.
Differential Grasshopper
Melanoplus differentialis
The differential grasshopper is familiar to most Missourians. Originally it lived only in wet meadows and creek bottomlands, but with the spread of farms, it has become a pest of many food crops.
Image of a red-legged grasshopper.
Red-Legged Grasshopper
Melanoplus femurrubrum
The red-legged grasshopper is a type of short-horned grasshopper common in Missouri. It reaches about 1 inch in length and is often seen flicking or flying away in open habitats.
Greenhouse camel cricket resting on a white-painted surface
Camel Crickets (Cave Crickets)
About 150 species in North America north of Mexico
Camel crickets and cave crickets are odd-looking, hump-backed insects that are commonly found in caves, basements, cellars, and similar places.
Admirable Grasshopper on grass stem
Admirable Grasshopper
Syrbula admirabilis
Although they both have slanted faces, male and female admirable grasshoppers look quite different: The females are large and marked with bright green and tan, and the males are smaller and wear brown, black, and tan hues.
image of a Common True Katydid
Common True Katydid
Pterophylla camellifolia
The common true katydid is a master mimic. Its bright green color matches surrounding leaves, and its wings are veined like leaves as well.
Common meadow katydid female viewed from the side
Common Meadow Katydid
Orchelimum vulgare
The common meadow katydid is aptly named: it is well-known and widespread in the eastern United States. Listen for its distinctive call — like a pulsating circular lawn sprinkler ratcheting around — in midsummer to the first hard frost.
Pine tree spur-throat grasshopper resting on a leaf
Pine Tree Spur-Throat Grasshopper
Melanoplus punctulatus
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.
Female straight-lanced meadow katydid resting on a leaf, viewed from side
Straight-Lanced Meadow Katydid
Conocephalus strictus
The straight-lanced meadow katydid is common in pastures, roadsides, and crop lands. The female's swordlike ovipositor is longer than the rest of her body. The male's song is a relatively soft buzz that sometimes breaks into a series of rapid, skipping tics.
Lesser angle-winged katydid resting on the ground
Lesser Angle-Winged Katydid
Microcentrum retinerve
The lesser angle-winged katydid is one of our common species of so-called false katydids. Its song is a single 3-5-pulsed rattle, with about a second of silence between each rattle.
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.