Field Guide

The spotted lanternfly has not yet been found in Missouri, but it is present in several eastern states. It has the potential to damage our forests and food supply by feeding destructively on trees and crops.

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.

Mantidflies look like a cross between a lacewing insect and a praying mantis. They are small, delicate creatures with intricately veined wings, but the front half looks like a mantid, complete with raptorial forelegs.

Ebony bugs are definitely true bugs, but they look a lot like tiny, shiny black beetles. Their bodies are fat ovals. They’re almost always seen on flower clusters and immature seeds, often on members of the carrot or parsley family.

The large milkweed bug, with its bold black-and-orange pattern, is one of the most beautiful of the true bugs. Look for it on milkweeds, from midsummer through the first hard freeze.

Earthworms are familiar to just about everyone who digs in the soil. They play a major role in the nutrient cycling and structure of soils. There are many species. The most familiar ones in Missouri are nonnative.

The orange assassin bug, Pselliopus barberi, is about ½ inch long and is one of our most attractive non-butterfly insects. They overwinter in groups as adults under loose bark.

Members of the pygmy grasshopper family are small and have a distinctively elongated pronotum — this plate, which only covers the shoulders of most other grasshoppers, extends back to cover the abdomen in this family. Most live along streams and in other wet habitats.

Tumblebugs in genus Canthon are usually seen on, near, and beneath poop. They are sometimes seen rolling dung balls away from the original heap, heads down and pushing the ball backward with their hind legs.