Forget the punkies, does anyone know what a brown recluse spider looks like?

[hedgehog]

The punkies are the teeny tiny flies that have been driving me crazy . Placebo effect or not, I found that another antihistamine worked as well as benydryl for me without knocking me out. Then I looked up to seee a big spider of a variety new to me. Normally I'm live and let live with spiders (even though they cover my house in cob webs on a weekly basis) but my husband took one look at this guy, one look at the google images and smooshed it.

[1awake]

1. here

on edit:

Don't mess with a recluse, their bite can eat your skin away.. at least the ones I know of.

[hedgehog]

2. This guy was big with a black stripe down his back.

Oswego County is mostly swamp and with the freak heat wave we've had the usual bug problems are exaggerated. I'm not kidding about the spiders. I should remove cobwebs from every room weekly. Since I'm short and the ceilings are high, I usually don't notice them until I'm cleaning up for guests. For years I had my kids convinced I left the spider webs up to catch any fleas the dogs and cats brought in!

[hyphenate]

22. The prefect way to get rid of webs!

I'm short too, and don't mind the spider webs because they catch the flies for me. (Unfortunately, they don't catch the damned carpenter ants!)

Put an old nylon over the top of a broomstick, and sweep them right out. I'd have to do it often as well, but I leave them when there seem to be a lot of flies around

[graywarrior]

18. Mr Gray got attacked by one several nights in a row

We were staying at an inn in Cambridge and the little bastard came back to the same spot on his leg and chewed out a hunk of flesh. Mr Gray got so sick I thought he was gonna die. Couldn't get out of bed for a week.

[Aristus]

21. The brown recluse is always described as having a violin-shaped mark

on its back.

That mark looks like a bottle of Jack...

[Kali]

30. unfortunatly lots of brown spiders have the violin shape -

not a reliable marker, although obviously if you avoid all of them you would be avoiding the bad ones too.

[stuntcat]

31. that's what I'm so scared of

:scared: we have TONS of spiders in the basement, all sizes. So now I've looked up so many spider pictures they're all looking the same to me. The pictures you find online can be confusing.

[Blue Diadem]

3. Here's how to identify them

http://spiders.ucr.edu/recluseid.html

and according to the map, they probably aren't in your area.

[hedgehog]

4. I've been looking at various pictures and can't make up my

mind what we had. Like I said, it's squashed now so there's not much left to identify. My husband and daughter have had some spectacular reactions to spider bites, so I guess my husband decided he'd just as soon eliminate anything that big.

[Blue Diadem]

6. Spiders and I don't get along.

They're fine if they're outside but I don't like them inside. I take that back..as long as they're far enough away outside. We get those siding spiders..geesh those things can get gigantic. I hate when they attempt to get on the porch or hang out by the lights.

[oregonjen]

11. What kind of reactions do they have?

I've had huge swelling, oozing and incredible itching that lasted 4 days. Even with antihistamines and antibiotics, the reaction is very unpleasant. Not fun at all.

[hedgehog]

14. Massive swelling. She had it on the forehead where the skin is tight,

so the swelling was painful but limited. My husband got bit on the lip while sleeping and had the shock of his life when he woke up. You'd be amazed at how big a lip can swell!

[oregonjen]

16. For some reason, in the spring, spiders like my whole head and neck area

I have to wear a hat outside while the spiders are hatching. I HATE hat hair, but would rather deal with that than have more reactions.

[galledgoblin]

20. somehow I'm always bitten on an eyelid

my eye swells shut for a week, even with antihistamines- it's only spiders and black flies that have ever bitten me there, and only spiders and black flies that make me swell that badly.

[1awake]

5. That map is not totally acurate

WV has recluse's as well.. I know from experience unfortunately

[hedgehog]

7. Any maps showing animal or plant territories are going out of date rapidly

due to the change in climate and to hitchhikers. (Plants or animals spread accidently by people)

[Blue Diadem]

9. I see elsewhere that they say east coast to west coast.

but even our OSU extension uses a similar map. It'd be nice if one could trust the education sites.

Sorry you went through that. I've heard it can be awful.

[Zodiak]

26. Depends on natural habitat compared to "where found"

I believe that map is more natural habitat.

But really, they can be found where humans live. Perfect environment in the nooks and crannies.

The good thing, though, is they live up to their reputations...they shun contact and so will only be found in places humans have not disturbed for some time, like the back of one's closet.

(BTW...I'm an OSU entomologist)

[Blue Diadem]

32. I didn't know there were 11 species of native recluse's

I'm curious if we'll see a wider variety of them with all the imports. I read about the Chilean recluse in LA and Fla. :scared:

There is more information at this webpage for those interested:

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html

[Zodiak]

25. They can be metropolitan

Some cities have them because human habitations are one of their habitats, and so they find refugia.

Their natural habitat is more limited, though.

Here is Ohio, they are present, but fairly rare.

[Chan790]

19. I've got to question that map.

I had a basement full in DC about 6 years ago. Confirmed by the biologist who came to catch and study them.

[Blue Diadem]

23. You might want to email University of California Riverside

They have an email address at the link I listed. It's be nice to get these educational sites up to date.

[csziggy]

24. That map is not accurate - my MIL was bitten by a recluse

and she lives in Panama City, Florida, east of where they show the range.

[SPKrazy]

8. Brown Recluses Tend To Hide In Drawers Under Clothes

In places where you wouldn't usually go, hence the name recluse.

[hedgehog]

13. Well, this guy was up on the wall near one of my clocks. Do they ever hide

behind clocks? I only go there when the batteries die.

Besides, they have to travel to get from hiding place to hiding place!;-)

[Zodiak]

27. No...they are ground dwellers

They do climb a bit, but they tend to move on the ground. And a clock is not remote and interesting enough topographically for a recluse. Recluse like tight spaces over a range for hunting.

[Liberal Veteran]

10. The easiest way to tell if it's a brown recluse or not is to let it bite you.

If in about a week or the area turns a nasty greenish black and starts oozing puss, it's probably a brown recluse.

[hedgehog]

12. Well, it's either that or get up close to count if it has 6 eyes or 8.

BTW- do these spiders jump?

[Liberal Veteran]

15. I'm not sure. Any spider that has temerity to look scary (70% of them) never get the chance.

I'm not a huge spider fan. I can handle certain spiders, but other than orb spiders, if they are bigger than my fingernail, it's considered a death sentence to enter my domain.

[Zodiak]

28. Not really

They have limited lunging ability over perhaps a body length at most. They are ambush predators that hide in tight spaces and wait for stuff to walk on by.

This is in contrast to Saliticids and Lycosids which can jump much farther. they have good eyesight, though. Recluses do not...only having six eyes that are situated in a limited spacial range on its head.

[UTUSN]

17. A *******graphic******** link. Do NOT click on it if easily grossed out !1

I know somebody who recently spent over two weeks in the hospital. Supposedly, he was bitten by a brown recluse TEN YEARS ago (and never got treatment?). I didn't see the leg, but others have told me that (the bacteria?) have eaten away the skin. At the time of this news, I found a VERY GRAPHIC, stomach turning pic of what I'm describing, but I can't find it now. This one shows smaller coverage.

http://thefuntimesguide.com/2005/07/brownrecluse.php

[Zodiak]

29. By the way, a lot of wolf spiders (Lycosids)

have a stripe running down their head that can be confused with the violin shape on a recluse's back.

Lycosids are very common and come in a great variety of species...recluses are very rare if you are not in its natural habitat. Not only that but Lycosids have close cousins, the Agelenids, that have the same appearance, even with the stripe. And they make webs (sheet webs with a funnel at the end).

But it is safe to kill it...don't worry about spiders so much if it is an Agelenid or a Lycosid, they'll make more. If it is a recluse (Sicariidae), you did the right thing still.

[Blue Diadem]

33. I think that's what we get an abundance of every year.

That's what my Dil calls them, wolf spiders. I have two alberta spruces that get covered every year with funnel type webs and sometimes you can see those little brown spiders sitting in the funnel.

[hedgehog]

34. I think the odds are that it was a wolf spider. Given the sensititvity of household

memebers to spider bites, I don't feel bad that it's gone. I have plenty of small spiders around the house to take care of the wild life.

I have a curious cat and a really dumb dog. If one of them had been bitten, I never would hae guessed what happened!