Missouri Department of Conservation

This brightly patterned beetle specializes in cleaning carrion from the landscape, burying the dead bodies of mice, birds and other creatures. Unfortunately, they are endangered in our nation and in our state. Fortunately, there is hope for their survival.

There are several species of Neoscona and Araneus orb weavers in Missouri, and some are quite difficult to distinguish. They tend to have camouflage patterns, and all make the characteristic, delicate, wheel-shaped "orb" webs as nets for catching prey.

Sometimes called “water bees” or “water wasps,” backswimmers are predaceous and can deliver a painful bite if mishandled. True to their other common name, they swim belly-up, and their backs are keeled like a boat, which makes back-swimming easier.

The glossy, black-bodied female widows have distinctive red spots on the underside of their abdomens. In L. mactans this spot often is shaped like an hourglass; in L. variolus it is not. Faint red or white spots may also appear on top of the abdomen, as they do in males. Only the sedentary female black widow is capable of inflicting a potentially dangerous bite; the wandering and seldom-seen male is harmless.