Heidi Eaton

A jumping spider with dark front legs and a rust and gray racing stripe down its abdomen is perched on a brown reed facing the camera.

A top view of a jumping spider with dark front legs and the rest of the legs are tan. It's body is tan with a dark rust color on either side of a light gray racing stripe.

This lovely jumper was spotted on a dry reed along the bank of Ottawa State Fishing Lake in Ottawa County, KS. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A yellow crab spider sits on a yellow flower, well camouflaged to wait for a visiting insect to come along.

The female White-banded Crab Spider (Misumenoides formosipes) can be either white or yellow and can adjust its color to the flower that it is on. This one was in Carter County, Missouri. #Arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A crab spider with a white abdomen with black spots is perched on a white fleabane flower and has caught a syrphid fly.

Not one of the usual "flower crab spiders", but a ground crab spider in the genus Xysticus taking advantage of a flower to catch lunch. This one was spotted on a prairie bioblitz in Missouri. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

What looks like a glob of bird poop is actually a spider, its abdomon bulbous and white on the bottom and poop brown on top. It sits with its legs pulled in tight around its head, so it doesn't look like the spider it is.

Another unique spider, the Toadlike Bolas Spider (Mastophora phrynosoma) looks like a lump of gross bird poop, but is able to catch prey using a sticky glob on the end of a line of silk. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A spider with a yellow tear-drop shaped abdomen and long yellow legs is suspended in a nearly invisible web.

I posted a couple of these (Spintharus flavidus) earlier in the month, both on the undersides of leaves. This one was spotted in its web. Shannon County, MO #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

Large spider with a yellow body and yellow and black striped legs has captured a cicada that is larger than the spider and wrapped it in silk.

A large spider with a yellow body with narrow black and white stripes and yellow and black banded legs is in the center of its web.

We found a few mature Banded Argiope (Argiope trifasciata) in a prairie in central Kansas. Two of them had captured cicadas, as seen in the first photo. #Arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A fuzzy jumping spider with white legs and a greenish face is looking at the camera with its big eyes while perched on a leaf.

A jumping spider with a black body and carapace and fuzzy white legs is perched on a leaf.

These photos aren't as sharp as I'd like, but this species (Phidippus putnami) is so gorgeous, I couldn't leave it out. This beauty was photographed at nature hike in rural Lincoln County, Kansas last July. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A brown orbweaver with short hairs on its body and legs is spread out in its web front lit by a flash in front of a dark background.

A side angle shot of a brown orbweaving spider with short hairs on its body and legs in the center of its web.

Two angles of the same spider, Neoscona crucifera. This is the most common large orbweaver in our area. This one was found on a night hike in Shannon County, MO. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A spider is left of center in her dome shaped web. Above the web are suspended a line of 4 egg sacs.

A spider with an oblong-shaped abdomen with greenish, orange and white markings is hanging upside-down in her web.

We found two of these really pretty and interesting spiders in far southern Illinois this past July. The Basilica Spider (Mecynogea lemniscata) is so named for the dome shaped web seen in the first photo. Those are her egg sacs above the dome. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

This lovely White-banded Crab Spider (Misumenoides formosipes) was spotted on a night walk in Shannon County, Missouri. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A large dark brown wolf spider with gray banded legs and gray markings has a couple of dead caddisflies near it.

A beautiful dark grayish-brown wolf spider, with gray bands on the legs and pretty gray markings on its abdomen is perched on metal flashing.

This beautiful large wolf spider (Gladicosa pulcra) was living under the edge of the siding on my friend's house in Shannon County, MO. She would venture out at night, enjoying the spoils of a nearby blacklight setup. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A spindly-legged spider with a triangular body with a red and green pattern is sprawled on the underside of a green leaf.

A spindly-legged spider with a triangular body with a red and green pattern is sprawled on the underside of a green leaf.

Another new species for me this year, was Spintharus flavidus, a small orbweaver more often found on the underside of leaves than in a web. Here are two of them I found in the same area Labor Day weekend. Shannon County, Missouri #Arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

This beautifully marked Nursery Web Spider (Pisaurina mira) was a visitor to our blacklights in Shannon County, Missouri over Labor Day weekend. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A black wasp is grasping a spider in its jaws and backing up the trunk of a tree.

We watched this wasp find and sting this orbweaver. It then dragged up the trunk of the tree and out to the tip of a branch where it could fly with it to its nest. We didn't actually see it fly with it, but it took awhile to do the dragging. Kansas July 2025 #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

Quite a bit smaller than the Spined Micrathena, the White Micrathena (Micrathena mitrata) likes similar forest habitats, frequently making its webs across trails (or so it seems). #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A compact spider with gray, black and white markings and brown legs has a small midge in its jaws.

This Gnaphosid, which I believe is in the genus Sergiolus, was spotted on a railing around a pond at Mueller State Park in Teller County, CO last June. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A plump female orbweaver with a marbled brown and yellow abdomen, brownish-red thorax, and red, white, and black striped legs is perched in the center of her web.

I've found that these Marbled Orbweavers (Araneus marmoreus) are rather skittish and easily startled back to their hide from the web. I was excited to get a photo of this one out in its web in Shannon County, Missouri in late August. #Arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A large, leggy spider with a brown and tan body and brown and tan banded legs is perched on a black kettle grill, next to the silver vent.

This handsome Dark Fishing Spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus) seemed to be living in a kettle grill outside our VRBO in western Kentucky, as it was perched on top of it at night, retreating into the vent holes. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

This brown and white jumping spider with long black chelicerae is Bagheera prosper. This species is considered a more tropical species, but this one was found at Kenline State Resort Park in western Kentucky.

This unique looking jumper, with really long chelicerae, is Bagheera prosper. Mostly known from more tropical climes, this one was spotted at a state park in western Kentucky. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A plump white crab spider is perched on purple penstemon flowers eating prey while 3 tiny flies are on its body and leg hoping for a bite of its prey.

This crab spider (Misumena vatia) was perched on some penstemon, trying to eat lunch while being pestered by freeloader flies (Milichiidae) trying to get a bite of that lunch. Jefferson County, CO June 2025 #arachtober #flydayfriday #arachtober2025 🕷️#spider

A tiny spider with a bulbous red, yellow, and black abdomen and thin green legs is perched on the underside of a leaf.

While looking for caterpillars under leaves in southeast Missouri, I spotted a tiny red spot. I took a photo and zoomed in to see this tiny unique spider, Theridus emertoni. The genus is mostly tropical with only a few species in the US. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A night shot of light reflecting and refracting off a portion of a large spiderweb, resulting in many small rainbows.

My phone did a better job of photographing this Neoscona web than my camera. It was taken in Shannon County, Missouri in late August. #Arachtober #arachtober2025 #spiderweb 🕷️

A small jumping spider with a dark green thorax and front legs and a shiny green abdomen is perched on a stem.

This jumping spider is in the genus Sassacus. They are leaf beetle mimics and are always a treat to find. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A trashline orbweaver is in the center of its circular web, camouflaged by the line of old prey corpses that gives it its name.

This Trashline orbweaver, Cyclosa turbinata, is hiding in plain sight. These orbweavers arrange the remains of their prey in a line in the center of their web and then sit in the perfect camouflage. #Arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A colorful green, white, and yellow crab spider is perched on a leaf with a much smaller tan and black, male crab spider in her jaws.

I'm not sure if the male White-banded Crab Spider (Misumenoides formosipes) was successful in mating with the larger female, but he certainly didn't survive the encounter. These two were photographed on Stegall Mountain in Carter County, MO on 30 August 2025. #Arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

I've never put a video up for Arachtober before, but over Labor Day weekend, I was able to observe this Neoscona crucifera preparing egg sac on one of the blacklight sheets. I was fascinated by how she used her legs to place the webbing. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A pale green and pink crab spider on the underside of a leaf guarding her white pillowy egg mass.

I believe this crab spider is Misumessus, and by range should be Misumessus oblongus. I found it on the bottom of a leaf in Shannon County, MO in late August, guarding her egg mass. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A jumping spider with a bronzy body outlined in white with dark front legs and jaws has a green midge in its jaws and is perched on the underside of a green leaf with detailed veining showing.

Hentzia sp. (probably palmarum) jumping spider with a midge on the underside of a leaf at Marais de Cygnus State Wildlife area in Linn County, KS. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

A spider with an abdomen marked with silver and yellow shape on a black background, looking like stained-glass, which is perched on a metal bracket.

This Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge venusta) sure looks like it could be made of stained glass. Usually seen hanging under their horizontal webs, this one was on a metal bracket near our black lighting site at Giant City State Park last July. #arachtober #arachtober2025 #spider 🕷️

I don't get why Avery won't run the ball. Unless he has an injury they're not talking about, he has legs and needs to use them.