Brown recluse spiders have a prominent shading in the shape of a violin, or fiddle. Photo courtesy of the UK Extension Office.
By GAGE WILSON
Glasgow News 1
More than 16 million Americans suffer from varying degrees of arachnophobia making it one of the most common phobias reported. This makes sense as spider bites can, at best, cause skin irritation and, at worst, be lethal. Unfortunately, this phobia, with its wide appeal has become a social norm for many causing misinformation to spread out of fear. A target of exaggerated danger is one native to Kentucky that many residents have grown up around, the Brown Recluse.
While identification of a recluse spider can be difficult due to the muted browns and small size, they do have one stand-out feature, which is a patch of darker brown along the back of the spider in the indistinguishable pattern of a violin, giving them the nickname “Fiddleback.” Females, like in most insect species, are the larger of the pair with a body that ranges from 1/4 to 1/2 an inch, and males measuring about half that size. As the name suggests, these spiders are not at all social animals, and prefer a reclusive lifestyle.
“A majority of the time when you see a recluse its almost always a male out hunting,” said Dr. Jonathan Larson, Entomologist with the U.K. Extension Office. “Females prefer to stay in their burrows and will rarely venture out in her lifetime.”
“The Brown Recluse commonly make their homes in our homes,” said Larson. “Because of this, they aren’t really affected by seasonal changes as they have a pretty stable environment.”
The most common times that a person identifies that they have been bitten by a spider is when stored winter clothes are put on for the first time that year, or if a person pins the spider while sleeping or distracted, Larson explained. “Even under those circumstances the likelihood of a bite are rare.”
When threatened, they usually flee, seemingly to avoid a conflict. They do not jump, and the young do not balloon; that is, they do not use silk strands to disperse in the wind as other young spiders do. Despite their reclusive habits and non-aggressive nature, they do occasionally bite people. Brown recluse spiders have tiny fangs and cannot bite through clothing.
“Bites are often misdiagnosed,” Larson said. “Admittedly, unless the patient comes in with the spider that bit them, there’s no way for the doctor treating the wound to test for a recluse bite. More times than not the patient mistakes a Staph infection for a recluse bite.” One reason no consensus has been reached on the treatment of brown recluse spider bite is probably that misdiagnosis is common, preventing the correct assessment of the efficacy of different therapies, he explained.
According to the U.K. Extension Office Entomology department, “It is quite common, in fact, to live in a building that is heavily infested and never be bitten.”
“I couldn’t tell you the last time someone was seriously or lethally injured by a recluse bite,” Larson said. “People absolutely do get bitten, but in a vast majority of those cases the bite will become inflamed and stay localized before healing in around three weeks.”
It is important to note that while the Brown Recluse spider is not aggressive, residents who believe that they have been bitten should still seek some kind of medical attention.
“Even if you are terrified of spiders, learning about common species in our area goes a long way in avoiding situations where you could be bitten, and knowing enough to be able to I.D. those species,” said Larson. “All native spiders make up a huge part of the ecosystem, and they help us more than I think most people appreciate.”
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