Brown Recluse Spiders: A Primer

There's a good reason that Halloween tradition has kids all across the land stringing up fake spider webs and charming their friends and family by wearing gumball machine plastic spider rings on their fingers -- it's spider season! Time for all our eight-legged friends to come marching indoors. If you'd like to make them feel welcome in your home, by all means do -- they'll help keep your house free of other bugs, first, however, a word of warning about the poisonous brown recluse spider.

While the fangs of most spiders are not even strong enough to penetrate human skin, this innocuous-looking little critter will make quite the mess of your skin if it bites. A bite that you may not even feel at the time can lead to a skin ulceration that will take months to heal. Though rare, the venom has also been known to cause fatalities in small children.

Brown recluse spiders hang out almost exclusively on the floor. They are not big and monstrous as you'd expect a poisonous spider to be but are instead smaller than a quarter, very quick runners and, as the name suggests, reclusive. They will not come dangling over your bed in the middle of the night, but look out in the morning, they may be nesting in your slippers! They are also not aggressive and most bites tend to occur because of people rolling over on them while sleeping or other similar situations.

To reduce your chances of being bitten, be wary of storage areas and quiet corners where they could be hiding near the floor. Also, always shake out any clothing or towels before you wear or use them. Don't lull yourself into a false sense of security by spraying your home once with insecticide and thinking that will take care of the problem. If you intend to spray your home, keep up a year-round regimen to catch the new hatchlings. Older buildings and homes in heavily wooded areas tend to have more problems with these spiders.

Most importantly, be aware of what they look like. Often referred to as the "fiddle-back," these spiders have a very noticeable violin-shaped marking on their backs in which the fat part of the violin faces toward the spider's head. They also have very knobby knees (we use the word "knees" loosely here, but you get the idea.) If you've spotted these spiders in your home, work or school, keep an eye out for a round sore that seems to be sinking in. Especially watch small children as the venom is more toxic to them. If you suspect you or someone you know has been bitten by a brown recluse, try to catch the spider (if you see it) and take it with you to the doctor for diagnostic purposes Have the bite looked at as soon as possible.