brown recluse <<<GRAPHIC BITE PICTURES>>>

[Sequin]

The scariest quote from that Venom ER episode last night, was if the Loxosceles reclusa venom proves virulent and destructive to an individual's body, be ready to see a plastic surgeon.

There are between 12-13 species of recluse spiders in the US, depending on your sources, about half will not even be recognized on many sites because they have only bare scientific significance. Our Brown Recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) is the dangerous one, this is the single culprit of major necroticism. Our most venomous native. But there is also small pocket colonies of the Chilean Brown Recluse (Loxosceles laeta) in Southern California, but there has been no frequent bite reports, and usually inhabits cellers and other hideaways, and extremely shy. It is supposedly even more serious and virulent than even the L.reclusa and quite large representive of the genus. Also several cities throughout the States have been colonized by the Mediterranean Recluse Spider (Loxosceles refuscens) but the bite and venom potency is significantly less than L.reclusa and L.laeta.

Here is a map containing the natural distribution of native Recluse Spiders. The most notorious being of course L.reclusa. The others are considered significantly less medically threatening to humans and less likely to cause major irrepairable body destruction. But should always be cautious and safe in treating any Recluse bites because the potential for necrotism remains in each species.

Here is the map of the major native species: http://spiders.ucr.edu/images/colorloxmap.gif

Other great sites:

Entomology - Myth of the Brown Recluse
http://spiders.ucr.edu/myth.html

Brown Recluse and Other Recluse Spider Management Guidelines--UC IPM http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html (check the links on this page!)

In the next week I am going to come into the possession of a couple of L.apachea. Woohoo! Looking forward to maintaining these fascinating little creatures!

wow someones been doing there homework Im going to california soon, i am now afraid....hahah

 

[JPD]

Why some one would keep a Brown recluse, or a black widow as a pet is beyond me. Not saying that the people in the pic's kept them as pets,....who knows.

Truth be told, Black Widows are much more interesting charges then T's.
They are amazing when capturing prey.
Their silk is so strong, that it was once used as crosshairs in rifle scopes in WWII.
They are docile, graceful, and beautiful.
Whoever said Snopes is right on. One of the bite reports associated with those pictures was that it happened in California.
Since L.reclusas range does not include California, I thought this was mildly amusing.

 

[Stormcrow]

JPD knows what I am talking about. Latrodectus is like mother nature at it's most poetic, a nearly entirely blind creature surviving in a maze of high tensile silk cobwebs, and covers herself in an oily secretion in order to avoid getting caught in her own traps. Black Widow is a very elegant predator, sadly people don't realize how ingenious evolution was in designing her and merely see a noxious pest when they encounter the Widow. Save for predacious mud daubers, Latrodectus reigns master of any space she presides over. I have watched the Widow take many a creature, other spiders, mantids, scorpions, solifugids, bees, grasshoppers, crickets, etc, and even discovered dried husks of small vertebrates in her silk. Watching her predacious behavior towards ground bourne prey is especially fascinating. There are lines of silk spun and drawn to the surface below that serve a specific purpose of alerting the spider for any stalking insect below her web and it is amazing to watch her spring into action.

 

[JPD]

Latrodectus is like mother nature at it's most poetic, a nearly entirely blind creature surviving in a maze of high tensile silk cobwebs, and covers herself in an oily secretion in order to avoid getting caught in her own traps. Black Widow is a very elegant predator, sadly people don't realize how ingenious evolution was in designing her and merely see a noxious pest when they encounter the Widow. Save for predacious mud daubers, Latrodectus reigns master of any space she presides over. I have watched the Widow take many a creature, other spiders, mantids, scorpions, solifugids, bees, grasshoppers, crickets, etc, and even discovered dried husks of small vertebrates in her silk. Watching her predacious behavior towards ground bourne prey is especially fascinating. There are lines of silk spun and drawn to the surface below that serve a specific purpose of alerting the spider for any stalking insect below her web and it is amazing to watch her spring into action.

Nothing more to say....you said it so well!

 

[Tarangela]

JPD knows what I am talking about. Latrodectus is like mother nature at it's most poetic, a nearly entirely blind creature surviving in a maze of high tensile silk cobwebs, and covers herself in an oily secretion in order to avoid getting caught in her own traps. Black Widow is a very elegant predator, sadly people don't realize how ingenious evolution was in designing her and merely see a noxious pest when they encounter the Widow. Save for predacious mud daubers, Latrodectus reigns master of any space she presides over. I have watched the Widow take many a creature, other spiders, mantids, scorpions, solifugids, bees, grasshoppers, crickets, etc, and even discovered dried husks of small vertebrates in her silk. Watching her predacious behavior towards ground bourne prey is especially fascinating. There are lines of silk spun and drawn to the surface below that serve a specific purpose of alerting the spider for any stalking insect below her web and it is amazing to watch her spring into action.

*applause*
That was VERY well put. They are amazing creatures. Right now, I have one w/ an eggsac on my fence behind the house. Once the sac hatches, she will be mine I LOVE watching them. And she currently has a sac that was hatched, and the babies are all together in front of her. They are hanging out right there for the time being. Lots of little molts in that webbing. But she is extremely beautiful, and just looking at her gives me chills, and wonders! They are very intelligent, and IMB much more respected than the recluse.

As far as facts, their venom is also about 15x more toxic than the prairie rattlesnake!

 

[Cooper]

It makes me wonder if that guy lost his thumb.

 

[Stormcrow]

I flip when I find Widows on my residence or in my hunting grounds or see them in public (though, my demeanor is slightly more subtle in the latter circumstance and am largely forced to leave them be but occassionally...)

In all the world, I really can not find a better representive of order in all the world than the Widow. A transcendental experience when at my most imaginative and melancholy mood such as now. The rest of the world seems to toil and suffer by comparision. Hanging in her web and with so few invertebrate predators, as Darwin's survival of the fittest rages around her, yes there is something resembling symphonious order. Sorry, forgive me, I enjoy creative writing.