Brown Recluse Spider
identification, behavior, poison, bites treatment and first aid
identification, behavior, poison, bites treatment and first aid
The brown recluse spider, with the scientific name loxosceles recluse, is a popular type of spider because it is one of the four spiders that are known to be dangerous to humans. It is sharing this stature along with the black widow, the yellow sac spider and the hobo house spider.
This particular spider specie can be found all over the United States. It can be found in more than 4% of urban houses in the city and 24% of them are found in rural areas. Brown recluse spiders are native to Southeastern states and Midwestern area of America. They can be found in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas.
In recent years, there are sightings of this type of spiders in certain areas in Florida and in California. There are also about a couple of spiders that are found outside of its native state. This may be because of increased travel (they can cling on to boxes) and individual spiders can be found outside the states where they originally live and breed.
Death is the worst case scenario that can happen to a person bitten by a brown recluse spider. Reported deaths from this spider bite happen to children below seven years of age. See our spider bite page for more details. You should always try to prevent the bite.
Brown recluse spider can be identified by its violin-like pattern found at the back of its cephalothorax. This is the part where their legs are attached. The violin-pattern goes from their neck all the way down their rear. This small arachnid is about 7 to 12 mm in length. This is one type of spider with no hair and with dark legs with a dark brown or yellowish tan colour. Its legs are about an inch in length. It also has six eyes located at the cephalothorax, although a man with a normal vision cannot pinpoint where these eyes are located because they are very small for the naked eyes to see. It has an oval shaped abdomen that may either be brown, greenish yellow or yellow.
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