Loxosceles reclusa bite outside of range

[NYAN]

Hi all,

I found someone online thinking they were bitten by a brown recluse, nothing unusual there. I comment asking if they saw the spider; no, of course not. This person lives in north-eastern Ohio which is outside of the range by about 100 or so miles.


Fast forward the next day and they send me a picture of a dead reclusa that they found in the clothes they were wearing at the time.

Pretty interesting stuff. I told them to contact Ohio State’s entomology department and see if they want the specimen. While it’s not to terribly far from where they should be it’s still interesting.

 

[pannaking22]

Huh that is interesting. Presumably they had either moved to or traveled from somewhere within reclusa range over the last year or so, but it's still something that there's now a confirmed bite record for Ohio. As if people there weren't freaking out enough by "everything is a recluse" already...

 

[NYAN]

Huh that is interesting. Presumably they had either moved to or traveled from somewhere within reclusa range over the last year or so, but it's still something that there's now a confirmed bite record for Ohio. As if people there weren't freaking out enough by "everything is a recluse" already...

I’ve had 4 or so people contact me with confirmed recluse bites. One of them was on the same day as the Ohio case by a L. devia. None developed a necrotic lesion.

The person in Ohio had a fever of 103 though as well as lots of pain, redness and a blister. So far they seem to be on the mend.

 

[The Snark]

With the global warming and weirded out climate, animals of all kinds are moving outside of established boundaries. Ex: Aedes Aegypti found at 10,000 ft elevation active from 04:00 to 23:00. Add globalization and an inclination to be cosmopolitan, expect the unexpected.

 

[SonsofArachne]

With all the package shipping going on now (ebay, Amazon, etc.) it's not that surprising that inverts are showing up in odd places. Years ago I found a small spider (don't know what species) in a package from China. It bolted and escaped into my house.

 

[NYAN]

With the global warming and weirded out climate, animals of all kinds are moving outside of established boundaries. Ex: Aedes Aegypti found at 10,000 ft elevation active from 04:00 to 23:00. Add globalization and an inclination to be cosmopolitan, expect the unexpected.

Right, except it’s too cold for them there. Also, recluses are not known to move outside of their range without help.

 

[Greasylake]

With the global warming and weirded out climate, animals of all kinds are moving outside of established boundaries. Ex: Aedes Aegypti found at 10,000 ft elevation active from 04:00 to 23:00. Add globalization and an inclination to be cosmopolitan, expect the unexpected.

I read a paper last year about how plants were affected by global warming. The gist of it was that the species more sensitive to temperature were being found at higher and higher altitudes, and were pushing other species higher up or completely out.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Years ago I found a small spider (don't know what species) in a package from China. It bolted and escaped into my house.

Muahahahahah

 

[SonsofArachne]

Muahahahahah

Yes, I'm sure there is now an army of deadly Chinese spiders currently spreading from NE Ohio

 

[The Snark]

And now, here in Thailand. Nobody had are serious concern about spider bites. Most people still don't. The meanest spiders were sprassids. In terms of concern from greatest to least, aside from snakes here, are caterpillars, scorps and Ts. Scorps are the biggest problem in that they hide in debris, construction materials and similar and any fool knows just brushing up against any several dozen species of our caterpillars can lay you to whale poop.
But now things have changed. We have L. Hasselltii, Hesperus and L Reclusa rapidly becoming indigenous. They are concentrated around locations where shipping containers are unloaded. Down in Denchai a few years back a man was bit by a Recluse and died. The spider was caught and later examined. He ignored the bite thinking it's just a spider - harmless, the wound went septic, metastasized and he went into toxic shock.

 

[NYAN]

But now things have changed. We have L. Hasselltii, Hesperus and L Reclusa rapidly becoming indigenous. They are concentrated around locations where shipping containers are unloaded. Down in Denchai a few years back a man was bit by a Recluse and died. The spider was caught and later examined. He ignored the bite thinking it's just a spider - harmless, the wound went septic, metastasized and he went into toxic shock.

I’ve never heard of hesperus becoming cosmopolitan. In Israel I’ve read about possible accounts though. Is this concentrated just in the port areas?

Hasselti is definitely expanding in south Eastern Asia and Oceania. I’m just waiting for some to show up here so I can get some new bloodlines.

 

[The Snark]

Is this concentrated just in the port areas?

Rayong area. The commercial and industrial breadbasket of Thailand. Convoluted story and one reason why Trump's tariffs won't work. Huge port and a constant flow of shipping from there to Seattle, Oakland-Richmond and Long Beach. Many manufacturing conglomerates have moved from Japan and China to have some assembly done in Thailand which along with Malaysia has a very cushy low tariff deal going with the U.S. State department.
I was shown a suspected L. Hesperus of which quite a few have been found. Looked very generic Hesperus to me. But I've been a bit remiss and haven't been in contact with those people, University of Chiang Mai and North Chiang Mai U, in almost 2 years. They were pursuing getting DNA matches.

I’m just waiting for some to show up here so I can get some new bloodlines.

That's one way to do it. If the mountain won't come to Mohammed... or rather, the reverse.