Field Guide

The dotted wolf spider has a solid brown stripe running down the middle of the abdomen, seen from above. Like other wolf spiders, females have strong maternal instincts, carrying their spiderlings around on their back until they can be on their own.

The rabid wolf spider, despite its scary name, is harmless to people and is absolutely not rabid. It commonly hides in leaf litter and sometimes gets into houses.

Tachinid flies are one of the largest families of flies. They are parasitic flies whose larvae are parasitoids of other insects. They look a lot like house flies, blow or bottle flies, wasps, or bees. Many are very bristly.

The white-crossed seed bug, or ragwort seed bug, has a prominent thin-lined pale X dividing zones of red and black. Look for it in places where ragworts are plentiful.

The blue-winged wasp is a common Missouri species of scoliid wasp. The abdomen has a distinctive fuzzy, rich rusty patch with two ovals of yellow. Its larvae eat Japanese beetle grubs and other scarab beetle larvae.

The Georgia mason is one of several species of mason bees in Missouri. Like other megachilid bees, it is a native solitary bee that carries pollen in a special clump of hairs on the underside of the abdomen.

The common eastern bumblebee is widespread in the eastern United States. It is one of several species of bumblebees that occur in Missouri.

The black-and-gold bumblebee is associated with prairies and other grasslands. It is one of several species of bumblebees that occur in Missouri.

Bot flies are chunky, beelike flies usually with rounded heads. Adults are not commonly seen. The larvae are short, pudgy, segmented grubs that live as parasites in the tissues of animals. Those that live just under the skin often form a bulge. Some types live in the nasal or throat cavities of deer.

The eastern stizus is a large, solitary wasp that is often misidentified as the better-known eastern cicada-killer wasp. The markings are slightly different, however, and the eastern stizus female hunts katydids, not cicadas.