Brown Recluse Spiders
Facts, Identification & Control
Latin Name
Loxosceles reclusa
Appearance / Identification
What Does a Brown Recluse Spider Look Like?
Marking: The most telltale characteristic of brown recluse spiders is the presence of a dark, violin-shaped mark on the dorsum of the arachnid's light brown or yellowish-brown cephalothorax. The neck of this distinct violin pattern is directed toward the abdomen. Due to this marking, brown recluses are also commonly known as fiddle-back spiders. Baby brown recluse spiders do not have this distinctive marking. It develops as the spiders grow into adulthood. To positively identify a spider as a recluse, both the eyes and fiddle marking must be seen, since other spiders may possess one or the other characteristic alone.
Brown Recluse Spider
How Did I Get Brown Recluse Spiders?
Like many spiders, the brown recluse spider likes to stay secluded in dark corners of places that are rarely disturbed or cleaned. Inside locaations such as voids between and under kitchen cabinets, storage areas and basements inside houses can provide plenty of areas for these pests to hide. Outside these spiders may inhabit sheds, barns and garages and may unknowingly be brought inside a home when moving stored items inside. The abundance of prey insects can lure a brown recluse spider inside the house, as well as provide a sustainable source of food should they get inside a home.
How Serious Are Brown Recluse Spiders?
The pests lay up to five egg sacs with as many as fifty eggs in each. This can quickly escalate an infestation. While they typically refrain from attacking humans, brown recluse spiders will bite if provoked. This often occurs when people step on the pests or roll on them while sleeping. Bites can result in lesions, nausea, and fever.
How Do You Get Rid of Them?
What Orkin DoesThe Orkin Man™ is trained to help manage brown recluse spiders. Since every building or home is unique, your Orkin technician will design a special program for your situation.
Keeping spiders out of homes and buildings is an ongoing process, not a one-time treatment. Orkin’s exclusive A.I.M. solution is a continuing cycle of three critical steps — Assess, Implement and Monitor.
The Orkin Man™ can provide the right solution to keep spiders in their place...out of your home, or business.
Signs of a Brown Recluse Spider Infestation
The most likely sign of recluses are sightings of the spider.
Behavior, Diet & Habits
Brown recluse spiders dwell in many of the same dark, sheltered places as black widows. They can be found in homes, barns and basements. Webs tend to appear disorganized and are built most commonly near ground level. The spider is a hunter, so the web is not intended to catch prey but instead roams around searching for prey. The brown recluse is found in the central southern part of the U.S., from Texas to the western most part of Florida.
Brown recluse spiders are shy and rarely bite unless provoked. Bites usually go unnoticed until effects manifest a few hours later. Most bites become red and fade away, but in uncommon cases necrosis or tissue damage can occur. A medical professional should be consulted if there are medical concerns.
More Information
Although urban myth purports that they are found throughout the U.S., studies have shown otherwise. Brown recluse spiders are endemic only to the American South and Midwest. Relocation of the brown recluse can occur in boxes or items moved from its native range. These usually are isolated events and do not result in an entire area becoming infested.
Many conditions are mistakenly diagnosed as brown recluse spider bites, including Lyme disease, diabetic ulcers, reactions to medication and bacterial infections.
Due to misinformation and fright, many people identify harmless spiders as brown recluses. They are also referred to as fiddleback spiders due to a distinctive marking on the thorax, which resembles a violin. Brown recluses have uniformly colored legs and abdomens; so any spider exhibiting distinct color variations and patterning on the legs or abdomen is not a brown recluse.
Brown Recluse Vs. Desert Recluse
Where Do Brown Recluse Spiders Live?