Invertebrates

Animals without a backbone, such as insects, spiders and crabs.

Subcategories

🐞 Insects (15)🕷️ Arachnids (7)🦀 Crustaceans (2)

25 entries

Black Beauty Walking StickPeruphasma schulteiA critically endangered black stick insect with yellow eyes and red wings, found in the wild in one tiny patch of Peru.Blue Death-Feigning BeetleCryptoglossa verrucosaA pale blue desert beetle from the southwestern U.S. that flops over and plays dead when startled.Caribbean Hermit CrabCoenobita clypeatusA land-dwelling hermit crab of tropical Atlantic shores that protects its soft body inside a borrowed seashell.Chaco Golden Knee TarantulaGrammostola pulchripesA large, dark brown South American tarantula with golden bands around its knees.Dairy Cow IsopodPorcellio laevisA black-and-white spotted pill bug relative that breaks down dead leaves and helps clean up soil.Desert Blonde TarantulaAphonopelma chalcodesA big, hairy tarantula of the Southwest deserts whose bite is about like a bee sting.Dubia RoachBlaptica dubiaA South American forest cockroach that eats fruit and is widely raised as food for zoo and pet reptiles.Emperor ScorpionPandinus imperatorOne of the world's largest scorpions, a shiny black West African scorpion that glows under UV light and uses its huge pincers more than its sting.Garden Fruit ChaferPachnoda sinuataA brown-and-yellow African scarab beetle that eats fruit and flowers and whose grubs help build soil.Giant African MillipedeArchispirostreptus gigasThe largest millipede on Earth, a foot-long East African forest recycler that curls into a spiral when threatened.Giant CockroachBlaberus speciesA big, glossy tropical cockroach from Central and South America that grows three inches long and helps break down dead plants.Giant Prickly Stick InsectExtatosoma tiaratumA spiky Australian stick insect, also called the Australian walking stick, that curls its tail up like a scorpion to scare predators.Golden Silk OrbweaverTrichonephila clavipes (also called Nephila clavipes)A large American spider whose golden silk is stronger than steel for its weight.Green Bottle Blue TarantulaChromatopelma cyanopubescensA colorful tarantula from Venezuela's Paraguaná Peninsula and one of the few naturally blue animals.Jungle NymphHeteropteryx dilatataA big, thorny, leaf-green stick insect of tropical rainforests whose females snap their spiny back legs together in defense.Madagascar Hissing CockroachGromphadorhina portentosaA large, wingless cockroach from Madagascar that hisses by pushing air out of its breathing holes.New Guinea Walking StickEurycantha calcarataA big, bulky, spiny stick insect from New Guinea that looks like a piece of bark and hides in groups by day.Noble False WidowSteatoda nobilisA spider from the Canary Islands and Madeira that has spread widely, and is often mistaken for a dangerous black widow.Orchid MantisHymenopus coronatusA pink-and-white Southeast Asian praying mantis that looks like an orchid flower and ambushes the insects that visit it.Pinacate BeetleEleodes speciesA black desert darkling beetle of the western U.S., also called the stink beetle, that does a headstand and sprays a bad smell.Red Harvester AntPogonomyrmex barbatusA seed-collecting desert ant of the southwestern U.S. with a painful sting, often mistaken for fire ants.Velvet AntFamily MutillidaeNot an ant at all: a fuzzy, brightly colored wasp whose wingless females have a very painful sting.Western Black WidowLatrodectus hesperusA shy, venomous North American spider whose shiny black females have a red hourglass mark on the belly.Western Honey BeeApis melliferaThe familiar honey-making bee, which lives in large, organized hives with a queen, drones and workers.White-Spotted Assassin BugPlatymeris biguttataA black African assassin bug with two big white spots that stabs insect prey with its beak and injects digestive juices.