Content tagged with "Insects, Spiders and Kin"

Funnel Web Spiders

Agelenopsis spp.

A unique web is characteristic of this group of spiders and is more often noticed than the spider itself. The web is sheetlike, usually positioned horizontally, with a funnel leading downward to a shelter (a rock crevice or dense vegetation) where the spiders hides, waiting for prey.

Giant Red-Headed Centipede

Scolopendra heros

The bright colors of this centipede have a message for you: Handle with great care! It’s of the few centipedes in our state capable of inflicting a painful, venomous bite.

Giant Water Bugs

Species in the genera Abedus, Belostoma, and Lethocerus

These huge aquatic bugs, which frequently fly around electric lights at night, are infamous for the painful bite they can deliver, but fish, birds—and some people—find them tasty!

Great Golden Digger Wasp

Sphex ichneumoneus

This rather large solitary wasp is found throughout Missouri. The abdomen is orange in front and black at the end. The head and thorax have golden hairs. Like all solitary wasps, this species is not aggressive.

Honeybee

Apis mellifera

In 1985, the honeybee was made Missouri's official state insect, and most people know how to identify it. This social insect is unquestionably a friend to humanity and has been for millennia. Today, more than ever, we rely on honeybees to pollinate our crops, as well as for the sweet honey that only they can make.

House Centipedes

There are several species of house centipedes in the world.

These centipedes usually make a strong first impression: They are fast and seem to have a thousand wiggly legs! They are usually found in houses, where they prey on all the other insects and spiders you don't want around. If you learn more about them, they won't seem so disconcerting.

Leafcutter Bees

Species in the genus Megachile.

Leafcutter bees are common throughout Missouri from late spring into early autumn. All are solitary. They are dark-colored with several whitish hair bands across the abdomen. One sign of their presence is the rounded holes they cut in the leaves of plants.