Field Guide

Land Invertebrates

Showing 21 - 30 of 175 results
Media
Photo of mating pair of musk mares, on a gravel surface, viewed from above.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Anisomorpha ferruginea
Description
Be careful when approaching northern two-striped walkingsticks: They can squirt an acrid fluid at you. Musk mare, devil’s riding horse, and prairie alligator are all names for this remarkable stick insect.
Media
Photo of wolf spider with young
Species Types
Scientific Name
Nearly 250 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
A wolf spider doesn't spin webs to catch its prey — it runs it down like a wolf! Spiders in this family have long legs and are usually gray, brown, black, or tan with dark brown or black body markings (especially stripes).
Media
Photo of a nursery web spider on a plant
Species Types
Scientific Name
Pisaurina spp.
Description
Nursery web spiders build silken tents in plants to protect their egg sacs, then stand guard until the hatchlings are ready to disperse. Large and velvety, nursery web spiders have long legs and variable color patterns.
Media
Photo of a Harvestman, viewed from above
Species Types
Scientific Name
About 6,500 species have been named so far, worldwide.
Description
Daddy longlegs, or harvestmen, are familiar Missouri animals. They are not spiders, but opilionids. Unlike spiders, they have a fused body form and lack silk and venom glands.
Media
Photo of a longjawed orbweaver walking on a plant stalk
Species Types
Scientific Name
Tetragnatha spp.
Description
Longjawed orbweavers are called stretch spiders because they rest with their legs stretched straight out in front of and behind their slender bodies. They build their circular webs horizontally, within a few feet above the surface of a stream or lake.
Media
Photo of a furrow orbweaver hanging head down with a green background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Larinioides spp.
Description
Furrow orbweavers have a distinctive dark pattern on the abdomen that resembles a furrow. These harmless spiders are common under the eaves of homes and near porch lights.
Media
Photo of a sowbug (left) and pillbug (right).
Species Types
Scientific Name
Land-dwelling members of the crustacean order Isopoda
Description
Pillbugs, roly-polies, woodlice, and sowbugs — the terrestrial members of order Isopoda are familiar to anyone who has overturned a rock. But what do you really know about them?
Media
Photo of a female scorpionfly perched on a leaf.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Panorpa spp.
Description
Male scorpionflies will make you look twice, because the abdomen is tipped with what looks like a scorpion stinger! These nifty insects cannot sting, however.
Media
image of greenbottle fly on carcass
Species Types
Scientific Name
About 84 species in North America.
Description
Many blow flies are so shiny and colorful they’re called greenbottles and bluebottles. But pretty as they are, it’s hard not to be repulsed by their larval diets.
Media
Wood cockroach crawling on tree
Species Types
Scientific Name
About 100 species of cockroaches and termites in North America north of Mexico
Description
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.
See Also
Media
Photo of a Yellow-Collared Scape Moth
Species Types
Scientific Name
Cisseps fulvicollis
Description
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!
Media
image of Plume Moth on blade of grass
Species Types
Scientific Name
Nearly 150 species in North America north of Mexico
Description
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.
Media
Photo of an Isabella Tiger Moth
Species Types
Scientific Name
Pyrrharctia isabella
Description
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.