Brown Recluse Spider

The Brown Recluse Spider gives a lot of people the creeps; they are different from our black widow spiders. They are active hunters and will catch and eat their prey. They do make small untidy webs but are normally found out walking or running while hunting for their prey. Brown Recluse spider prefers soft bodied insects and other spiders, but will not turn down dining on another brown recluse. Since they are active hunters they will spend the majority of their time on the ground or floor. They do not like to climb unless they feel threatened, and nighttime is the normal time that they will hunt.  The name Recluse should give us a big clue, as they do not like to come out into the open spaces and try to remain hidden.

One interesting fact, which I did not know was the blood, cannot flow through their legs while they walk, so this makes them stop every few seconds to allow the blood to flow again, this might explain why some people think they walk, stop and look before moving again.

If you live in an area known to have brown recluse spiders here is a small list of places they might be found.

The brown recluse spiders I have seen have been between a light brown to a dark brown and have a small shape on the back of their thorax that resembles a violin, this is why some people call it a violin spider. The way I tell the difference is the brown recluse spider has 6, eyes which is unusual for any spider. They are also a smallish spider; we have had people come into our store with stories of a brown recluse being as big a silver dollar. We know real quick they have miss identified the spider they saw, we would venture a guess they had seen a large wolf spider and still over exaggerated the size. A large brown recluse body might get to be about ¼ of an inch. The female is a little larger than the male.

Brown Recluse Spiders are only found in the United States. Most brown recluse spiders live out in the wild where they live in hollowed tree trunk and logs and other similar areas. But when they get in your home or business they like dry, dark areas that give them ample hiding places.  If you have a lot of empty boxes laying around this will give the brown recluse what it wants. If you have a problem with brown recluse in your home you can might find them anywhere from the basement to the attic. They prefer not to be bothered and will try to stay out of your way.

We have heard that people have been bitten when putting on their shoes as a brown recluse had taken up residence the night before. So in areas where they are known to be you should check before putting your hands, fingers, and feet into shoes, boxes, and even your mail box.

This is one spider we do recommend using our CatchMaster Glue Boards for as a spider trap. So if you live in Reno or Las Vegas you need to stay one step ahead and use spider traps.

Spider Traps