Field Guide

The eastern carpenter bee somewhat resembles a bumblebee but has a noticeably black, shiny abdomen. Carpenter bees are rather solitary and excavate their nests in wood.

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.

Bumblebees are like huge honeybees: They are yellow and black, collect pollen and nectar, live in colonies, and make honey. They are capable of stinging, if molested or if their nest is endangered, but you need not fear them; they are not aggressive.

Ants are everywhere! They outnumber us a million to one. These colonial insects are familiar to everyone on Earth. Their lives are endlessly fascinating.

The eastern cicada-killer wasp might be the scariest-looking wasp in our state. But it is not aggressive to people and is virtually harmless, unless handled roughly. Like other ground-nesting wasps, nests can be recognized by the mound of earth excavated by the female.

Yellowjackets are bee-sized social wasps that build paper nests, usually underground. Their defensive stinging can make them a major pest when they nest near people.

Mud daubers are among the most familiar solitary wasps. They belong to a number of related groups, but we call them all "mud daubers" because they all build their nests out of mud. One way to tell the different mud daubers apart is by the distinctive architecture they use.

Velvet ants are not true ants. True ants are social insects, while velvet ants are a group of solitary wasps. Female velvet ants are wingless throughout their lives; males are winged.