Most typical are patterns imitating grasshoppers, crickets, ants, beetles, leaf hoppers, cicadas and moths.

[1] Terrestrial fly patterns as a class of artificial was developed in earnest in the 1950s with the publication of Vincent C. Marinaro's A Modern Dry Fly Code-The Classic and Revolutionary Book on Dry-Fly Fishing with Aquatic and Terrestrial Artificials (1950).

The Palmer Worm of the 17th century was a heavily hackled fly that resembled a common fuzzy caterpillar, yet as Andrew Herd in The Fly-Two Thousand Years of Fly Fishing (2003) relates, palmer worms were never found in or on the water.

Early terrestrial patterns relied on hair, fur, hackle and other feathers to craft the fly.

Modern terrestrial patterns rely heavily on foam, rubber and other synthetic materials.