Invertebrates

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

Subcategories

🐞 Insects (10)🕷️ Arachnids (1)🦀 Crustaceans (1)

12 entries

Several pale blue-gray death-feigning beetles on a rock.

Blue Death-Feigning BeetleCryptoglossa verrucosaA pale blue desert beetle from the southwestern U.S. that flops over and plays dead when startled.

A purple-red Caribbean hermit crab in a white seashell climbing a log.

Caribbean Hermit CrabCoenobita clypeatusA land-dwelling hermit crab of tropical Atlantic shores that protects its soft body inside a borrowed seashell.

Top and bottom views of a large tan giant cockroach on a white background.

Giant CockroachBlaberus speciesA big, glossy tropical cockroach from Central and South America that grows three inches long and helps break down dead plants.

A brown, spiky giant prickly stick insect curling its tail on a log.

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.

A bright green female jungle nymph stick insect on leaves.

Jungle NymphHeteropteryx dilatataA big, thorny, leaf-green stick insect of tropical rainforests whose females snap their spiny back legs together in defense.

A shiny brown Madagascar hissing cockroach on a log.

Madagascar Hissing CockroachGromphadorhina portentosaA large, wingless cockroach from Madagascar that hisses by pushing air out of its breathing holes.

A shiny black pinacate beetle on sand.

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.

A red harvester ant walking on pale sand.

Red Harvester AntPogonomyrmex barbatusA seed-collecting desert ant of the southwestern U.S. with a painful sting, often mistaken for fire ants.

A fuzzy red-and-black female velvet ant on the ground.

Velvet AntFamily MutillidaeNot an ant at all: a fuzzy, brightly colored wasp whose wingless females have a very painful sting.

A black western black widow spider with a red hourglass hanging in its web.

Western Black WidowLatrodectus hesperusA shy, venomous North American spider whose shiny black females have a red hourglass mark on the belly.

A western honey bee with orange pollen on its legs feeding on a yellow flower.

Western Honey BeeApis melliferaThe familiar honey-making bee, which lives in large, organized hives with a queen, drones and workers.

A black white-spotted assassin bug with red leg bands on bark.

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.