Studies were conducted to determine if predation versus scavenging versus scavenging on insecticide-killed prey affected brown recluse spiders, Loxosceles reclusa. Indicators of possible effects were measured by weight change and survival. Live house crickets, Acheta domesticus, used as prey, were exposed to one of four treatments: live (untreated control), Spinosad or pyrethroid insecticide treated surface, or freeze-killed (scavenging control) and made available to spiders for twenty-four hours once/week for eight weeks. Spiders fed pyrethroid-killed crickets had significantly lower survival than did spiders utilizing crickets exposed to all other treatments. L. reclusa had significantly greater weight gain feeding as predators than as scavengers.