Brown recluse spiders: Facts, bites & symptoms
Here's what to know about brown recluse spiders and how to avoid getting bitten by them.
Jessie Szalay
The brown recluse spider is the most common and widespread of the brown spiders, but it is usually found only in the South and Central United States. It is a small species, with a violin-shaped body that can grow up to 0.5 inches (1.2 centimeters) long. It's bite, however, can pack a powerful, venomous punch.
Brown recluse bites can cause necrotic (rotting) skin lesions and lead to serious reactions or even death in some people, especially children, according to MedlinePlus, a service of the National Library of Medicine.
But about 90% of brown recluse bites are not medically significant, and they "heal very nicely, often without medical intervention and treatment," Rick Vetter, a retired research associate of entomology at the University of California, Riverside, wrote on the university's entomology department's website.
After seeking emergency help, people with less severe bites will usually see their wounds heal quickly after they clean it and apply the RICE method — rest, ice, compression and elevation — to the affected area, he said.
Where do brown recluse spiders live?
Brown recluse spiders (Loxosceles reclusa) are native to a region comprising Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska, according to Vetter. If you do not live in those areas, "it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that you have a recluse spider," according to Vetter. "It is POSSIBLE but incredibly unlikely."
Brown recluse spiders live in an area spanning southeastern Nebraska to southwestern Ohio, south to northwestern Georgia and into Texas (red). Occurrences outside this range are very rare. Related species (purple, blue, aqua, green and yellow regions on the map) exist in the southwestern United States.
Appearance: How to identify a brown recluse spider
The brown recluse is part of the Loxosceles genus of spiders. Members of this group have violin-shaped markings on the top of their cephalothorax (fused head and thorax, where the legs are attached) and may be informally referred to as fiddleback or violin spiders, according to Oklahoma State University.
The brown recluse's violin markings can vary in intensity depending on the age of the spider, with mature spiders typically having dark brown violin shapes. The neck of the violin shape points toward the spider's rear, or bulbous abdomen. However, the violin shape is easy to misinterpret, so it is best to look at the eyes when determining whether a spider is a brown recluse.
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The recluse's eyes are one of its most distinctive physical characteristics. "They have six eyes, instead of eight like most spiders," entomologist Christy Bills, the entomology collections manager at the Natural History Museum of Utah, told Live Science. Other types of spiders have eight eyes arranged in rows of four. Recluses, however, have six equal-size eyes arranged in three pairs, called dyads, in a semicircle around the front of the cephalothorax.
Another distinguishing characteristic of the brown recluse spider is its uniformly colored abdomen (though the shade of brown varies from spider to spider) covered in fine hairs, which give it a velvety appearance. Their long, thin legs are also covered in fine hairs, not spines like some non-recluse spiders, Bills said. According to the Integrated Pest Management Program at The University of California, Berkeley, the genus name Loxosceles means "slanted legs," and refers to the fact that recluse spiders hold their legs in a slanting position when at rest.
Christy Bills is the entomology collections manager at the Natural History Museum of Utah. She manages the insect collection, which dates back to the 1890s, and is coordinating a database to digitize the hundreds of thousands of specimens it contains.
Brown recluse spider bodies (not including their legs) are no more than 0.375 inches (1 centimeter) in length.
The brown recluse's body (not including its legs) is typically between 0.25 and 0.5 inches (0.6 and 1.2 cm) long, according to Oklahoma State University.
In short, brown recluses have all five of these features, according to the Integrated Pest Management Program:
- Six eyes in dyads (pairs)
- Uniformly colored abdomen with fine hairs
- No spines on the legs
- Uniformly colored legs (no patterns, such as stripes or spots)
- Body isn't more than 3/8-inch (1 cm) in length
Classification/taxonomy
According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), the taxonomy of brown recluse spiders is:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
- Infrakingdom: Protostomia
- Superphylum: Ecdysozoa
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Chelicerata
- Class: Euchelicerata
- Subclass: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Family: Sicariidae
- Genus & species: Loxosceles reclusa
Brown recluse behavior and mating
The brown recluse gets its name from its color and its "shy nature," Bills said. "Most spiders go out of their way to avoid humans, which makes sense, considering we are thousands of times larger than they are and don't have a great record of behaving politely toward them."
These primarily nocturnal spiders build webs that serve as shelters as well as trigger systems, alerting them when prey is passing nearby so they can actively hunt it down, according to the Integrated Pest Management Program. They typically eat insects, such as silverfish and crickets, according to Oklahoma State University.
As dawn nears, brown recluses find dark, sheltered hiding places; in nature, they may find refuge in rock cracks and crevices, but if they're near humans, these spiders may camp out in places such as shoes or around human-altered environments, including trash cans, rubber tires or tarps, a quirk that can put them in close contact with people. Male brown recluse spiders may also cross humans' paths when they search for female mates.
Brown recluse spiders are generally shy and only bite if threatened.
This is why brown recluse spiders are considered "house spiders," according to the Integrated Pest Management Program.
Brown recluse spiders get around by hitchhiking on furniture boxes and other items from infested structures, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. These long-lived spiders, who live an average of 2 to 4 years in the wild and up to 7 years in laboratories, have remarkable survival skills, and can go for six to 12 months without eating.
Egg laying season lasts from April to July, but a female brown recluse needs to mate only once to produce fertilized eggs throughout her life, and she can produce 150 or more spiderlings in a year and up to five egg sacs in her lifetime. Thus, a single female hitchhiking into a human-made structure is enough to establish an infestation — a fact that may compel people who are moving around or from recluse spider territory to check their belongings before they leave.
Examples of brown recluse spiders living with people
Brown recluse spiders tend to head indoors during the winter as they search for warmth and food. They are drawn to clutter, often being drawn to attics and basements, where items are left for long periods of time. According to the University of Missouri, they are attracted to boxes of papers and files, which have lots of crevices in for hiding.
"They really are shy, thus the name recluse," Wizzie Brown, an entomologist at Texas A&M University, said in a statement. "They come out to hunt insects, even other spiders, at night, but otherwise they like hidden areas where they aren’t bothered."
She said any seasonal clothes that have been stored away should be shaken out or put in a dryer on a high heat before being worn. She also said shoes that have been sitting in a closet for a long period should be checked.
Brown recluse spiders tend to move into people's homes in the winter as they search for warmth and food.
Once established within a structure, brown recluses are often difficult to control. Though hundreds of brown recluses may be present in a house, they may not be easily observed because of their reclusive, nocturnal habits. Therefore, if you see one brown recluse spider, chances are there are more nearby.
Examples of brown recluse populations around human structures include the discovery of 52 spiders at a dilapidated homesite in Mississippi in the early 1970s and 44 caught in sticky traps under a couch in a Tennessee home in just 24 hours, according to the Integrated Pest Management Program. In a wild case, eight 13-year-olds collected about 60 brown recluse spiders from a pile of bricks (the children didn't realize the arachnids were brown recluse spiders) in Oklahoma, but none of the children were bitten.
Even wilder still, a family living in a 19th-century home in Kansas collected 2,055 brown recluse spiders during a six-month period in 2001, according to a study in the Journal of Medical Entomology. The family had lived in the house for about 10 years, and although they regularly found brown recluse spiders, they only had one instance of getting bitten — when one individual's finger turned red for several days and then healed. "In fact, on many evenings, this family collected more brown recluse spiders per hour in their home than the entire California human population has ever been able to find in the state," according to the Integrated Pest Management Program.
Even if there is an infestation, Brown said people should not be overly concerned about bites. "If there is a recurring problem with brown recluse spiders in a location, I could see the need for action." she said. "But I know of a house that has regular pest control and would catch hundreds of them, but no one had ever been bitten. They want to avoid an encounter with us as much as we want to avoid an encounter with them."
Brown recluse bites and symptoms
Like most spiders, the brown recluse typically only bites when disturbed — though it is possible to inadvertently threaten them. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Program reports that this may happen if a spider is caught in bedding or clothing.
If the venomous brown recluse bites you, you might not feel a thing, although some people remember feeling a sharp sting, according to MedlinePlus. Bites sometimes, but not always, become painful within a few hours. The reaction the bite causes may range from mild to severe, especially in children.
Related: 11 of the deadliest spiders
"People react differently to bites," Bills said. About 10% of brown recluse bites cause moderate or greater tissue damage and scarring, according to Vetter. But the vast majority of bites result in inflammation, can heal without medical intervention and do not leave scars.
After being bitten by a brown recluse spider, a 10-year-old girl in Mexico required two medical procedures to remove blackened, dead tissue from her leg. About 10% of brown recluse bites are serious.
For those with higher sensitivity levels, victims might develop a necrotic lesion that looks like a "dry, sinking bluish patch with irregular edges, a pale center and peripheral redness," Michael F. Potter, an extension entomologist at the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture, wrote for the UK Entomology Department. These bites often develop a central blister. If the venom begins to destroy surrounding tissue, the wound may expand several inches over the next few days or weeks. Sometimes, this necrotic ulcer can remain for several months and leave a deep scar, Potter wrote.
According to MedlinePlus, symptoms of a brown recluse bite may include itching, chills, fever, nausea, sweating and a general feeling of discomfort or sickness. More severe symptoms include coma, blood in urine, yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes (known as jaundice), kidney failure and seizures.
In rare cases, the bite can cause systemic loxoscelism, a severe illness that involves a blood clotting disorder and destruction of red blood cells, according to a 2017 study in the journal PLOS One. "Children are much more likely to develop this systemic syndrome," study senior author Dr. Jeremy Warner, a hematologist at Vanderbilt University, said in a statement. In severe cases, treatment requires hospitalization, blood transfusions and other supportive measures, he said.
Brown recluse bite treatment
There is no effective commercial antivenom approved for use in the United States. If you are bitten, MedlinePlus recommends calling 911 or poison control (1-800-222-1222) or getting to an emergency room immediately.
The NIH says you should wash the area of the bite with soap and water, then wrap ice in a washcloth and place it on the bite area for 10 minutes. Remove the washcloth for 10 minutes, and repeat the process.
Then, go immediately to the emergency room and bring the spider, if possible, for identification purposes.
Brown recluse management
Venomous brown recluses exist within a smaller range than many realize, and their existence may be threatened by climate change.
To decrease your odds of becoming an unwitting host to these six-eyed spiders, remove or reduce outdoor trash and unneeded outdoor structures, such as wood piles or boxes, especially those near the house, according to the Integrated Pest Management Program. You can also seal cracks around doors, electrical conduits and plumbing fixtures with caulk, expandable foam, weather stripping or other materials to prevent the spiders from entering the house.
If you're in brown recluse territory, move your bed away from the wall, remove bed skirts and clear away items stored under the bed. These moves will reduce the chances that a brown recluse will set up shop around your sleeping area and possibly bite you during the night. Moreover, don't leave clothes and shoes on the floor, or make sure to shake them out before putting them on. Store outdoor equipment, such as gardening gloves and baseball mitts, in tightly sealed bags or bins.
Sticky traps laid down on floor boards are a great non-chemical way to catch brown recluse spiders. Chemical control can be difficult, as these spiders can be challenging to find during the day. If used, liquid, aerosol and dust-based insecticides should be applied to cracks and other places where the spiders might be hiding, Potter wrote for the UK entomology department. But bug sprays are not effective against the brown recluse spider, as the long hairs on the bottom of their feet enable them to walk on treated surfaces without getting a lethal dose.
Brown recluse fangs are short and can't bite through clothing, so wearing long sleeves, pants and gloves can help protect you when you're working outdoors.
Originally published on Live Science on Nov. 14, 2014 and updated on March 5, 2024.
Additional resources
Watch "How to catch a spider" on YouTube that the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program produced.
Learn more about brown recluse spiders on the Missouri Department of Conservation website.
Read about ways to protect yourself from brown recluse spider bites from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Bibliography
Medline Plus. National Library of Medicine. Brown recluse spider. Reviewed June 30, 2019.
Rick Vetter. How to Identify and Misidentify a Brown Recluse Spider. Updated January 2005.
Rick Vetter. Brown Recluse Spider Map
Oklahoma State University. Brown Recluse or Fiddleback Spider, Loxosceles reclusa
Rick Vetter. Integrated Pest Management Program at The University of California, Berkeley. Brown Recluse and Other Recluse Spiders. Revised November 2018.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System - Report. Loxosceles reclusa. Generated Feb. 16, 2022.
Illinois Department of Public Health. Brown Recluse and Black Widow Spiders.
Michael F. Potter. University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Brown Recluse Spider. Revised July 12, 2018.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Field Guide to Common Texas Insects: Brown Recluse
Robinson, J.R. et al. PLOS One. "Defining the complex phenotype of severe systemic loxoscelism using a large electronic health record cohort" (2017)
Laura is the managing editor at Live Science. She also runs the archaeology section and the Life's Little Mysteries series. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Scholastic, Popular Science and Spectrum, a site on autism research. She has won multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for her reporting at a weekly newspaper near Seattle. Laura holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in science writing from NYU.
- Jessie SzalayLive Science Contributor