Hey Central Illinois Guys.....I'm scared (very graphic and way OT)B-Bop do not open

[FalseDmitri]

Kornholio,

yeha, that are a LOT more common than most experts believe. Part of it is the way in which they're population grows so rapidly and that they feed off each other. Recluses so well-named, they hide in dark places, spin irregular webs, and are often ambush predators or hunters. They become more visible during mating season, as males rush off find to the ladies (males often hunt more and a LOT more aggressive) and the majority of bites are caused by males (in some venemous spiders, only females are dangerous to humans). They are nocturnal, shun light, and are VERY fast, so seeing them is not common as most people bitten never see the spider. the vast majority (something like 80-90%)of specimens sent to labs for ID are found NOT to be recluses (again, they are 13 species of L.reclusa). Many spiders have a violin spot on their thorax, and recluses vary widely in size. They key to ID is the unique leg shape and of course, having only SIX eyes (I wouldn't recomend getting close enough to tell this though).

wanna see 'em up close? Check this out...B-BOB DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT it. http://www.ku.edu/%7Erecluse/pics/AnatomyofBRS.ppt#257,1,Slide 1

:sad3:

 

[BaseballGuy]

I live in North Texas and I (honest to God) kill about 5-10 of those a month in my house..... We've sprayed but still find them wondering about. Man, they can be hard to catch too as they are pretty fast across the floor and such. However, they are very flimsy spiders....

If I ever feel something crawl across me at night (yeah...I can hear the snickering) I just let it go and jump up and turn on the lights when it gets off of me...I don't mess with stuff in the dark. Sometimes...it's a brown recluse. Jeepers, I could do without them, BUT we have never had an incident here and now that I've said this...you know what's going to happen.

We don't have bug problems at all, just a couple of different types of spiders that wander around our house and unfortunately the brown recluse is one of the types. So, I guess we do have a bug problem.

You know...now that I think about it...I think I'm going to have the house sprayed a couple times/year by a professional. I just hate thinking about the strong chemicals in the house and I have personally sprayed the house with store-bought insecticides, but obviously they aren't stopping the spiders.... tulsa

Where the hell do you live man? In the middle of the forest?

 

[FalseDmitri]

the only thing you can really do is use traps and try to eliminate as many food sources as you can for the violin backs (though they'll just resort to eating each other). Unless you actually hit them with the poison, they won't die (they "breathe" through an opening in the abdomen). Ask a pro, they're difficult as hell to get rid of. Good luck TULSA!!

 

[HarryCaray]

Korn - I'm in Peoria, we should get together at the Paradice sometime.

 

[viking611]

Korn - I'm in Peoria, we should get together at the Paradice sometime.

think me and illini are banned from Paradise!!:scared:

 

[viking611]

http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/zoology/spiders/pdfs/Brown_Recluse_article.pdf

“The Brown Recluse Spider”​

By Everett D. Cashatt,

Associate Curator of Zoology​

From

The Living Museum, 1971.​

Until the 1950s the brown recluse

spider,​

Loxosceles reclusa, was​

ignored or unknown to the general

public in the United States. As early as
1929, a Kansas physician, Dr. L.R.
Schmaus, published a case report in
the Journal of the American Medical
Association describing the bite of a
spider identified as​

Loxosceles. In​

1947, a Puerto Rican scientist

described the bite of Loxoceles laeta, a South American relative of our brown recluse.
The occasional occurrence of a necrotic skin lesion prompted a study by Missouri
physicians and scientists at the University of Missouri in 1957. These studies revealed
that the bite of the brown recluse caused the large, slow-healing open sore referred to as
necrotic spiderbite, necrotic arachnoidism (=loxoscelism), or gangrenous spot mentioned
in medical literature as early as 1872. In recent years more information on the recluse
became available to the public because of research at universities and other institutions in
Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, Arkansas, and Georgia.​

​

Spiderbites​

Despite the large number of brown recluse spiders in some midwestern areas, the number

of confirmed cases of necrotic spiderbite is relatively small. Many people have lived in
houses infested with this species for years and have not been bitten by it because it is
extremely shy and non-aggressive. If a person is bitten, however, it is important that the
symptoms be recognized and that, if at all possible, the spider be saved for positive
identification.
Reactions to the bite may range from a mild skin irritation to a large slow-healing open
sore, depending on the intensity and duration of the bite. One may or may not feel the
actual bite. Generally, within one to eight hours after the bite, the site becomes swollen
and painful. After about twenty-four hours, the area around the bite turns purple. The
cells of the skin turn black as they die and start to slough away in the next few days. The
sloughing off of dead cells continues for several weeks, usually leaving an open pit-like
sore the size of a dime or larger and often exposing underlying muscles. As the wound
heals, it fills with scar tissue. Healing may take several months. Such severe local
reactions have occurred in a minority of documented cases. In strong reactions, there may
be a rash, fever, nausea, and abdominal cramps. In a few extreme cases there has been
destruction of many red blood cells, signaled by bloody or dark-colored urine.​

Treatment​

No antivenin is yet available in the United States, but medications are available to treat

them and to promote healing. (*Addendum: Some include antibiotics (oral and/or IV),
steroids (usually prednisone), and Dapsone. Shock treatment, hyperbaric oxygen therapy
and nitroglycerine patches are used to promote healing.) Bites that receive treatment
within the first 24 – 48 hours usually heal more rapidly and with fewer serious effects.​

Identification of Brown Recluse​

Spiders​

With some knowledge of spider anatomy

and a few specific characteristics of the
brown recluse, this species is relatively
easy to identify. All spiders have eight
legs and a body that is divided into two
main parts. The front part or
cephalothorax is the more flattened part
of the body and has the legs attached to
it. The abdomen is sac-like and attached
at the rear of the cephalothorax. The
eyes, long pedipalps, and the mouthparts
are on the front of the cephalothorax.
The brown recluse spider is a delicatelooking,
medium-sized spider. When adult its long, dark brown legs extend past an area
the size of a half-dollar. The body is three-eighths to one-half inch in length. One of the
easiest and best characteristics to use in identifying the brown recluse is the dark violinshaped
mark on the upper side of the light brown or yellowish-brown cephalothorax. The
large end of the violin mark is at the head end of the cephalothorax, and the neck or stem
of the violin mark points toward the abdomen. Using magnification, the head region can
be seen to have​

​

six eyes instead of eight as in most spiders. It is also important to mote​

that the brown recluse has a dark brown or charcoal-brown abdomen​

with no stripes or​

spots​

. Young spiders usually have lighter coloration. A spider having all of the above​

characteristics should be suspected of being the brown recluse and should be handled

with care. Positive identification can usually be made at a state public health office or
pest control company.​

​

Distribution of the Brown Recluse​

The brown recluse is commonly found in

Missouri, the southern half of Illinois,
Kentucky, the eastern two-thirds of
Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas,
Louisiana, Mississippi, and northwestern
Alabama. The spider also occurs in fewer
numbers in Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, and
Ohio. Occasional specimens have been
found in California, Arizona, Wyoming,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina,
and Florida. These “strays” were probably
introduced accidentally by way of luggage or​

​

Rick Vetter, University of California Riverside​

household furniture brought from the Midwest.

In the southern part of its distribution the brown recluse is often found outside under
rocks and beneath bark. In the northern states, this spider is commonly found in houses,
storage sheds, barns, and warehouses. Favorite hiding places are in seldom-used clothing
hanging in dark closets, in collections of magazines and papers, on the underside of
furniture, in cracks and spaces around baseboards, around window and door facings, and
in dark cellars. Documented cases indicate that most victims were bitten after they had
put on clothes that had been stored in a secluded closet, while they were cleaning closets
or storage areas, or when they rolled over on a spider in bed. Biting usually occurs when
a spider is pressed against bare skin.​

​

Life Cycle​

Recent studies of the biology of the brown recluse provide us with information pertinent

to control by the homeowner. In the laboratory, mating has been found to occur from
February to October. Greatest egg production occurs from May to August. One female
may produce as many as 300 eggs, depositing them in several cases throughout the
season. Each case is a white silken sphere about one-third inch in diameter, which the
spider leaves in a sheltered place. Only about 50% of the young can be expected to
survive. Depending on the availability of adequate food and mild temperatures, the young
reach maturity in seven to eight months. They may live for several years and, under some
conditions, can survive for six months or more without food and water.
The brown recluse is a hunter, emerging from its hiding place at night in search of small
insects for food. The small, loose, irregular web is not usually used for trapping insects.​

Control of Spiders in their Illinois Habitat​

In Illinois the buildings that are often infested with a large population of spiders are old

houses and warehouses in cities, old farmhouses, and poorly constructed dwellings that
have cracks and spaces through which spiders can enter for shelter. It is difficult to
control spider populations in old dwellings that have surrounding reservoirs such as old
storage buildings and barns.
The homeowner can do much to control these spiders by thorough, periodic
housecleaning. It is best to use a vacuum cleaner to clean storage rooms, closets, under
and behind furniture, and behind pictures and mirrors. All unnecessary articles should be
removed from attics, cellars, and closets. The removal of insects and other arthropods
from the house also aids in controlling the brown recluse because it depends on insects
and other related organisms for food.
In houses where spiders are abundant, chemical control may be necessary. In places with
little or no air circulation, such as closets and chests, DDVP resin strips or
paradichlorobenzene flakes or crystals are effective. Closets and other areas suspected of
sheltering spiders may be spot-treated with residual sprays of 2% Baygon, 0.5% diazinon,
0.5% dieldrin, or 3% malathion. Attics, crawl spaces, wall voids, and other unused areas
are best treated with 5% silica aerogel. It is best to consult specialist and take care in the
use of chemicals.​

http://department.monm.edu/biology/recluse-project/index.htm​

This Monmouth College project’s Website gives more information about the Brown

Recluse in northern Illinois.​

​

 

[FalseDmitri]

there are 13 species of recluse in the US, of which 11 are native and the other two imported. most spiders thought to be recluse are are IDed as harmless.

If you live in the south or southern IL, if you find a web with a "spiny" eggsac, you have a BROWN WIDOW, more poisonous but less agressive than the black widow.

Spiders are INTERESTING.

Go ILLINI!

 

[DungBeetle]

Tulsa, you need to go get some good insecticides to kill these critters. Go to United Agri Products, Lesco inc. or Estes inc. their all in the dallas area. Dont waste your money on the stuff from home depot ect, that crap is weak.
they will sell you the stuff that works, I use (ficam) in the packs for 1 gal. mix. It works just fine.I live in OKC and havent seen on around my place for years. I used to have a tarantula for a pet but it got cold and I ran out of bugs to feed it, I dont think they bite like a fiddle back, it was in a glass case on my bar just for conversation.

 

[FalseDmitri]

Tulsa, you need to go get some good insecticides to kill these critters. Go to United Agri Products, Lesco inc. or Estes inc. their all in the dallas area. Dont waste your money on the stuff from home depot ect, that crap is weak.
they will sell you the stuff that works, I use (ficam) in the packs for 1 gal. mix. It works just fine.I live in OKC and havent seen on around my place for years. I used to have a tarantula for a pet but it got cold and I ran out of bugs to feed it, I dont think they bite like a fiddle back, it was in a glass case on my bar just for conversation.

getting bitten by a tarantula is about the same as getting stung by a wasp. some species have hairs that are irrating to your skin.

probably the worst arthropod to get nailed by is the Tarantula Hawk wasp out West. Its supposed to be the most painful insect in the Americas. It hunts down tarantulas, paralyzing them with its sting, dragging it back to the spider's hole, and laying an egg on it. The larva hatches and feeds on the spider's guts. The sad thing is that the spider can leave for months after the little wasp larva is done with it (one brown recluse lived in the lab for 2 YEARS without food or water). creepy.

 

[da1prophet]

Holy shit! That is a nasty picture!! I got bit by what my doctor thinks was a brown recluse a few years ago. Fortunately, I went to the doctor the same day and with some antibiotics it did very little damage. The thing bit me on the back of my knee and it got really swolen, red and itchy but that's about it. The worst part was that after a couple of days my doctor told me to scrape the back of my knee with the side of a credit card several times a day to slough off all of the dead skin. Brown recluse spiders are no joke, that's for sure.

My brother had a nasty spider experience this summer--he was bit by a spider and it got infected. It got to the point that they thought he was going to have to have surgery, but finally the doctor sliced open the wound with a scalpel and pulled a venom sac out! That apparently did the trick and it healed up quickly but he has a scar from it that looks like someone put a burning cigar out on his arm.

 

[FalseDmitri]

hey Korn! that pic you posted is before the skin graft he needed after the surgery. Prior to the pic, you could just see the poison in the tissue and some dying flesh.

Most "diagnosed" spider bites are actually not recluse bites (hence while the antibiotics worked so well). Without a specimen spider, its hard to tell as many medical conditions can cause these symptoms (another more-likely culprit though not as severe is the yellow-sac spider, those are almost all over the US).

KORN: remember I told you about my friend's house that was infested with recluses? Well, I helped her move this weekend. We found two recluse webs (very strange-looking) and found two or three juvenile recluses just behind the computer desk in the living room. They were really small, but I wasn't about to reach into the boxes of stuff being moved or even open the door to the crawlspace!

Scary thing is, she'll more than likely carry a few back in old clothes/boxes etc with her when she moves to Chicago tomorow.....and she's terrified of spiders!