The most effective method of brown recluse spider control is to prevent them from entering the home in the first place. Homeowners should inspect the outside of your home for any small openings or holes, paying special attention to areas where utility pipes enter the home.
Seal any such openings with a silicone caulk to prevent spiders and other insects from gaining access inside. Stack firewood at least twenty feet from your home and five inches up off of the ground to deter spiders from hiding out in the wood. Clothes and shoes should not be left on the floor, or they must be shaken out before wearing, especially if stored in the basement, garage, or other dark are. Control of severe brown recluse spider infestations should be left to a licensed pest control professional.
Spider bites can be painful, but a spider's venom is the real concern. For more information on spiders, check out the spider pest guides. The bite of a brown recluse spider is usually not felt, but it may produce an immediate stinging sensation followed by intense pain or this reaction may be delayed for hours. A small blister usually appears and the surrounding bite area becomes swollen.
Symptoms include restlessness, fever and difficulty sleeping. An antivenom has been developed but it is not clinically available. Call a physician or go to an emergency room immediately if bitten, and take the spider along for identification purposes. It should be noted that not all brown recluse bites result in ulcer formation, and that bites of other arthropods may cause similar reactions in people.
Female brown recluse spiders deposit eggs in a silken egg sac, which is off-white, with the outer covering loosely woven. Each sac contains between eggs. The eggs hatch in days and the spiderlings undergo at least one molt within the sac before emerging.
The development period egg to adult averages days. Indoors, male brown recluse spiders live an average of days, and females live days, but years is not uncommon. Most are harmless, and many are beneficial given they prey upon other nuisance insects, like mosquitos or flies. One spider found in Kentucky and much of the Midwest that is potentially dangerous is the brown recluse. Although brown recluse spider bites are rare, the venom can sometimes cause serious wounds and infestations should be taken seriously.
The brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa , is found throughout the south central and Midwestern United States. Infestations in Kentucky are more common as one travels westward. Other species of Loxosceles spiders occur in the southwestern U. Recluse spiders are rare outside their native range. In general, these spiders are widely over-reported and less common than perceived.
Occasionally, one or a few spiders may be transported to a non-native area in boxes or furnishings, but infestations seldom become established. Though variable in size, adult brown recluse spiders with legs extended are about the size of a U. Coloration ranges from tan to dark brown, and the abdomen and legs are uniformly- colored with no stripes, bands or mottling. The legs are long and thin and lack conspicuous spines.
For laypersons, the most distinguishing feature of a brown recluse is a dark violin-shaped mark on its back, with the neck of the violin pointing toward the rear abdomen of the spider. This feature is consistent in adult brown recluses, but sometimes less obvious in younger spiders. A more definitive diagnostic feature is the eye pattern -- brown recluses have a semi-circular arrangement of six eyes three groups of two while most other spiders have 8 eyes.
Seeing this feature requires a good quality hand lens. Many harmless brown spiders are mistaken for the brown recluse, so it is prudent to have specimens confirmed by an entomologist or knowledgeable pest control firm.
In nature, brown recluse spiders live outdoors under rocks, logs, woodpiles and debris. The spider is also well adapted to living indoors with humans. They are resilient enough to withstand winters in unheated basements and stifling summer temperatures in attics, persisting many months without food or water.
The brown recluse hunts at night seeking insect prey, either alive or dead. It does not employ a web to capture food — suspended webs strung along walls, corners, ceilings, outdoor vegetation, and in other exposed areas are almost always associated with other types of spiders.
In homes, such webs are often produced by harmless cobweb or cellar spiders. While sometimes considered a nuisance, spiders like the cobweb or cellar varieties prey upon other pests including brown recluses , and in this sense could be considered beneficial.
During daylight hours, brown recluse spiders typically retreat to dark, secluded areas. They often line their daytime retreats with irregular webbing, which is used to form their egg sacs. Adult female recluses seldom venture far from their retreat, whereas males and older juveniles are more mobile and tend to travel farther.
Consequently, they are more likely to wander into shoes, clothing or bedding at night and bite people when they inadvertently become trapped against the skin. At times, brown recluse spiders will be seen during daylight hours crawling on floors, walls and other exposed surfaces. Insecticides labeled to control brown recluse spiders kill the spiders, but must be sprayed directly on them, or the spider needs to come into direct contact with the treated area while it is still damp.
Otherwise, little control is achieved. Preventative measures like sealing cracks in foundations and walls, clearing clutter in and around the home, moving woodpiles away from the house, placing sticky traps in low traffic areas and spraying pesticides can help eliminate brown recluse populations within the home.
Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Science News. The team shared 10 facts about the much-publicized spider. ScienceDaily, 24 April Kansas State University Research and Extension. Retrieved November 10, from www. Of course not," Vetter said. You put it in your Christmas letter. Over the years, Vetter and his colleagues have compiled a list of about 40 things that can masquerade as recluse bites : bacterial infections, viral infections and fungal infections; poison oak and poison ivy; thermal burns, chemical burns; bad reactions to blood thinners; herpes.
Most physicians don't have a lot of experience discriminating between a recluse bite and something like necrotizing Staphylococcus. And even if a patient brings in a spider for identification, it's unlikely the ER doctor has been trained to ID a brown recluse. There are some ways in which brown recluse bites are different from many other wounds, however.
A raised, reddish and wet wound is likely not a recluse bite, Vetter says. Recluse venom destroys small blood vessels and causes them to constrict, turning the area around the bite white, or purple, or blue. Fluids can't flow to the area, and it sinks a little, and dries out. In reality, just 10 percent of recluse bites require medical attention.
The rest look like little pimples or mosquito bites or something else that doesn't merit a trip to the emergency room, and they heal by themselves. But the reality about bite statistics doesn't seem to matter. Even when faced with numbers and geographic distribution maps, people still cling tightly to their beliefs about the recluse and its arachnid malfeasance. It is true that brown recluses like hiding in dark corners.
They're nocturnal and shy away from daylight and, sometimes, the outdoors. Hence the name.
0コメント