Color: Light to dark brown, with characteristic dark brown violin marking on back
Legs: 8
Shape: Round
Size: 5/8″
Antennae: False
Brown recluse spiders are tan to dark brown, with a characteristic violin marking on their bodies. They have six eyes rather than eight, with long, non-banded legs.
Brown recluse spiders are nocturnal and eat other insects, such as cockroaches and crickets. Male brown recluse spiders wander farther than females and will crawl into shoes or other clothing. They don’t make regular geometric webs to catch their prey – they create untidy webs that they use as a shelter.
Like the black widow spider, the brown recluse spider bites in defense and does not bite humans instinctively. This can happen to humans when the clothing they are hiding in is worn. The brown recluse spider bite is painful and has a potent venom that can cause tissue damage, ulceration, and necrosis.
These nocturnal spiders make their homes in logs, crevices, and under bark. Indoors, they are drawn to dark and safe places such as basements, crawl spaces, attics, and inside furniture. They are social spiders, but don’t form colonies – it’s possible for large numbers of brown recluse spiders to inhabit the same area.
Brown recluse spiders are shy and will avoid humans, but they can hide in shoes and in clothing. To avoid brown recluse spiders, avoid keeping clothing on the floor. Store clothing and shoes inside plastic containers, and shake out all clothing that has been in a hamper before wearing or washing.
Brown recluse spiders are nocturnal hunters that mostly eat small, soft-bodied insects like crickets, flies, and moths. They also eat other spiders, including other brown recluse spiders, but can survive for months without food.
The webs of brown recluse spiders are irregular and messy, unlike the structured webs made by other spiders, such as orb weavers. They’re not used to catch prey, but to provide shelter, and are normally found in corners or on the ground.
Eliminating harborages like debris and unused equipment is the first step in spider prevention. Maintaining high sanitation standards reduces the insect prey that attracts them, but because Brown Recluse bites pose a significant safety risk to employees, professional intervention is required. RK Environmental provides targeted treatments and monitoring to ensure these spiders do not compromise your facility's safety protocols.