Field Guide

Land Invertebrates

Showing 31 - 40 of 76 results
Closeup of brown recluse spider on floor.
Brown Recluse (Violin Spider)
Loxosceles reclusa
The brown recluse is a spider whose venomous bite may be medically significant to humans, though a bite is almost never fatal. Brown recluses are most commonly encountered in houses, where they occupy little-used drawers, closets, and other small hiding spaces.
Photo of a Texas brown tarantula
Texas Brown Tarantula
Aphonopelma hentzi
The Texas brown tarantula is our state's largest spider. The hairy body and legs are uniformly dark chocolate brown, with reddish hairs on the carapace. Look for it on dry, rocky glades in the southern half of the state.
Image of a female Argiope garden spider.
Black-and-Yellow Garden Spider
Argiope aurantia
The black-and-yellow garden spider is large but harmless. It sets up large, circular webs in gardens and grasslands. Lucky gardeners can host this remarkable pest exterminator all season long.
striped bark scorpion on a rock
Striped Bark Scorpion
Centruroides vittatus
Striped bark scorpions are pale yellowish brown, usually with two lengthwise dark stripes on the abdomen. It is the only species of scorpion in Missouri. It occurs in glades and other dry, warm, rocky areas, and sometimes in buildings and shelters and under piles of wood, brush, or garbage.
image of Xystodesmid Millipede crawling on a forest floor
Xystodesmid Millipedes
8 tribes, with about 23 genera, in North America north of Mexico
Millipedes in family Xystodesmidae often have bright colors that serve as a warning to potential predators that they may secrete foul or toxic substances.
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.
Pink katydid standing on a milkweed leaf
Oblong-Winged Katydid
Amblycorypha oblongifolia
The oblong-winged katydid is one of many species in the katydid family. Although it is usually green in most places, some populations made up of pink-form individuals.
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.
Photo of a male giant stag beetle on moss
Giant Stag Beetle (Elk Stag Beetle)
Lucanus elaphus
The giant stag beetle is enormous, the males reaching 1½ inches in length without the mandibles, and nearly 2½ with them. Look for them on rotting logs in forests in early summer. They’re also attracted to lights.
Female adult baskettail dragonfly perched on a plant stem
Baskettails
Epitheca spp.
Female baskettails have a specially adapted, upturned abdomen tip, which allows them to carry around their egg masses in a little, orangish glob.
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.