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Old 04-08-2007, 08:28 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,093,806 times
Reputation: 10370

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Idaho View Post
Quote from Steve-o: "...The other true spider that is also world renowned is the brown recluse. These DO NOT RANGE INTO AZ! ..."

Quote from AZLoafer: "One of the local post office employees in Green Valley was bitten by a Brown Recluse. The spider was captured and that is how the hospital made the id. The story made front page news with photos. What made his bite so bad is that he ignored medical treatment for several days and his skin started to slough off at the site of the bite. I didn't think that they were in AZ until this incident."

Ummm...I must concur with AZLoafer. Brown Recluse are alive & well in the Tucson area (including town of Green Valley) of Arizona.
Seen them. Killed them. My daughter & I have both been bitten by them, and medically treated.

They look just like the ones in your photos, but their 'brown' isn't quite as dark.
However, I cannot speak for the rest of the state of Arizona. Other's experiences?

http://www.associatedcontent.com/use.../herstory.html
Thats a new one to me! There may be small populations of other subspecies in the desert SW, but theyre hardly an annoyance like they are in OK, KS, MO, etc. Do you have any photos of it? Ask anyone in the medical field and theyll tell you recluse bites are the most infamous of ALL spider bites. Something like 1 in 1,000 hospital visits are actually victims of recluse bites. Im not saying that youre one of the people who wasnt bit, just so you know... How bad was the bite?

http://geo-outdoors.info/brown_recluse.htm
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Old 04-08-2007, 09:22 PM
 
Location: SCW, AZ
8,221 posts, read 13,299,623 times
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There are other types of spiders known under the name "Recluse" and often mis-id'ed as brown recluse. Of course there might be exceptions to this but the link Steve-O gave shows the areas where it is generally found in.

Also, bark scorpion is quite common in many states outside AZ as well. Far from aggressive and not lethal to most. If threaten or scared to much, they could even sting themselves and commit suicide.

Thanks for the info Steve-O, beautiful pics too!
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Old 04-08-2007, 09:48 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,093,806 times
Reputation: 10370
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurcoLoco View Post
There are other types of spiders known under the name "Recluse" and often mis-id'ed as brown recluse. Of course there might be exceptions to this but the link Steve-O gave shows the areas where it is generally found in.

Also, bark scorpion is quite common in many states outside AZ as well. Far from aggressive and not lethal to most. If threaten or scared to much, they could even sting themselves and commit suicide.

Thanks for the info Steve-O, beautiful pics too!
No prob! Glad you enjoyed the pics.

As for the bark scorpion, youre correct. Lots of other states have the bark scorpion, although a less dangerous species, Centruroides vittatus.
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Old 04-08-2007, 10:12 PM
 
1,657 posts, read 2,680,013 times
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"Quote from Steve-o: "...The other true spider that is also world renowned is the brown recluse. These DO NOT RANGE INTO AZ! ..."

Steve , I agree completely with your statement. There are many other recluses and yellow sac spiders that reside in Arizona, and any brown recluses found would most likely have hitchhiked in on planes, trains, or trucks.

In the early eighties an office building in LA received a paper shipment which was infested with brown recluses. The pest control technician servicing the building was bitten while treating the storage area in the basement. He reported the incident to his supervisor and was told not to worry about it. The wound eventually required surgery which left a 12 inch scar on his forearm. Those spiders still don't range into LA, but can certainly be delivered there.


You may be familiar with the work of Rick Vetter at UC Riverside. Have attended many of his seminars and the guy is an expert at drilling holes in spider myths. He once found 500 brown recluses in a home in Mexico, and none of the family members was bitten. Another time folks in Oregon were claiming to have been bitten by brown recluses so Rick asked that the dead spiders be sent to his lab. Over 300 spiders were sent and not one was a recluse.


Rick used to conduct very informative field trips at night . Don't know if he has the time anymore. He has a terrific sense of humor that is not evident in his published papers, but they are definitely worth reading by anyone interested in arachnids.





Last edited by JustPassinThru; 04-08-2007 at 10:25 PM..
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Old 04-08-2007, 10:56 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,093,806 times
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Very true indeed. Almost 100% (Ill have to dig up the medical article) of spider bite patients claim it was a brown recluse. Most of the time theyre bitten by harmless brown house spiders, which ironically look NOTHING like brown recluses. That spider gets horrible publicity, seems like everyone you meet knows someone that was "bitten by a brown recluse". Ive studied them in MO and KS, and theyre really neat spiders, I happen to enjoy working with them and photographing them. They truly are reclusive spiders, and bites only occur when theyre getting harassed or happen to get stuck in some clothing or bedsheets. In fact, I was touching some in KS (near Lawrence) and theyd just sit there and curl up, 100% non-aggressive. Same goes for black widows. Can they give nasty bites? Sure, if youre allergic. Are they aggressive? Not any more so than a puppy dog.
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Old 04-09-2007, 10:14 AM
 
Location: SCW, AZ
8,221 posts, read 13,299,623 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve-o View Post
Same goes for black widows. Can they give nasty bites? Sure, if youre allergic. Are they aggressive? Not any more so than a puppy dog.
The male spiders of the same species would disagree with your Steve-O. After a mating session, the male spider finds himself on the dinner menu! ...lol...
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Old 04-09-2007, 12:49 PM
 
Location: NOTfromhere, Indiana
341 posts, read 1,483,266 times
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After spending 14 1/2 years in Phoenix metro area & then moving to or visiting several states from Calif to Florida I can EASILY state that you will encounter far LESS bugs in AZ than alot of states. I find the more greenery..the more daily bugs! In IN/KY you can NOT stand outside for 2 minutes come spring or summer with a swarm of gnats in your face. The wasps population is wicked bad as well as ticks & fleas. Gawd forbid if you don't remember to douse yourself in Repel! And even that doesn't always work lol! I grew up in El Paso scared of tarantula wasps. But I realize now how infrequent my encounters were with them. And unlike these ill tempered red wasps here..they were too busy to notice me. I prefer standing in my yard bugless thanks! I'm not afraid of them. I just prefer to not need to dig them out of my nose & ears! Guh!
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Old 04-09-2007, 10:12 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,093,806 times
Reputation: 10370
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coyote_Blond View Post
After spending 14 1/2 years in Phoenix metro area & then moving to or visiting several states from Calif to Florida I can EASILY state that you will encounter far LESS bugs in AZ than alot of states. I find the more greenery..the more daily bugs! In IN/KY you can NOT stand outside for 2 minutes come spring or summer with a swarm of gnats in your face. The wasps population is wicked bad as well as ticks & fleas. Gawd forbid if you don't remember to douse yourself in Repel! And even that doesn't always work lol! I grew up in El Paso scared of tarantula wasps. But I realize now how infrequent my encounters were with them. And unlike these ill tempered red wasps here..they were too busy to notice me. I prefer standing in my yard bugless thanks! I'm not afraid of them. I just prefer to not need to dig them out of my nose & ears! Guh!
Sounds like a huge exaggeration based on my experiences right outside of Oak Grove, KY. We lived there for a few months and the bugs were hardly bad at all? As for tarantula hawks (pepsid wasps), one sting from those and youll wish you were dead. Ive heard the experience is, well, quite profound.
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Old 04-10-2007, 05:37 PM
 
Location: NOTfromhere, Indiana
341 posts, read 1,483,266 times
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No exaggeration at all. Even the locals will tell you EXACTLY how bad it is. In fact our bugspray guy moved here from Florida and is shocked by the bugs population here!
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Old 04-20-2007, 03:17 PM
 
Location: USA
11,169 posts, read 10,623,502 times
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The scorpions are nothing to get all bent out of shape about. I am in Fountain Hills and scorpions are a common thing here. I have been stung 4 times already, it aches a few minutes after as the venom spreads around a bit inside- lasts maybe max 45 minutes - and your day goes on. Got stung in my behind about 4 weeks ago because I did not shake out my running pants that were folded on my bathroom counter. The shock was worse than the sting itself. Before that - I stepped on one that was in my fluffy white wool rug on the ground in front of my bed. I have my house sprayed monthly - but scorp's will still make their way in and mosey around - same for several of my family members who also reside here in Fountain Hills. Scorp's seem pretty resilient. Anything to worry about? No, not exactly. My cat has even killed a couple. If your cat or dog gets stung - just give your animal Benedryl. That is what my Aunt's Vet advised her when her Pomeranian was stung when the dog was messing with one with his nose. In summer, I do give my shoes a quick tapping before I put them on. Not just for scorpions, but for anything that might crawl into them. I own a cleaning service and have been in quite a few homes across the valley - and really, it is something that just happens in many homes - this is the desert, after all. It's really no big deal. If you are going to make yourself nuts with paranoia, well, perhaps smack in the middle of the desert is not for you. I do not even check what is under my bedsheets before I crawl in - I am way too tired to do that by the time I hit the hay - and look, I am still here alive and well - and have yet to be bitten/stung while in bed by a spider or a scorpion. Now, I did at one time have an army of Fire Ants make their way into my home because a landscaper left a can of Pepsi by the foundation outside and they made way into my home somehow through the closet opposite of that pop can outside - they made it up my bedskirt and up onto me - and I woke up with many several of them on me stinging me - I did have to have immediate medical attention for that. Fire Ants are mean and very nasty! THAT was worse than any scorpion sting and that made me feel quite ill. Again, my home is exterminated monthly...if something really wants to get in - it will find a way and get in. Just check to make sure that your landscaper does not hide his pop cans near your foundation as mine did.
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