Field Guide

Yellowjackets are bee-sized social wasps that build paper nests, usually underground. Their defensive stinging can make them a major pest when they nest near people.

Mud daubers are among the most familiar solitary wasps. They belong to a number of related groups, but we call them all "mud daubers" because they all build their nests out of mud. One way to tell the different mud daubers apart is by the distinctive architecture they use.

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.

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.

Meet the horse fly: Stealthily, one will land on your back, slice your skin, and lap your blood. By the time it starts to hurt and you swat at it, the painful, itchy welt is rising.

Sooner or later, most Missouri gardeners learn about squash bugs, which feed on the foliage of squash, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, and other plants in the squash family.

An owlfly looks like a dragonfly with a butterfly’s head. Dragonfly shaped and sized, they have long, clubbed antennae and large, bulging eyes. Look for them in summertime dusks and evenings.

Green lacewings are delicate insects whose larvae are ravenous predators of aphids. This makes the lacewing a friend to gardeners!

Adult antlions look something like drab damselflies. These insects are most familiar in their immature stages, called doodlebugs, which create pits in sand for trapping ants.