Big spiders in Reno? (apartment complex, homes, landlord)

[Lvpunk]

Originally Posted by NVplumber

All of Nevada has Black Widows and scorpions are pretty common ( more so the further south you go). I carry the Raid Smoking Foggers on my service truck and insist on crawspaces being bombed before I go under. These little gems wipe the Widders and Fiddle Backs ( the latter being far worse than BW's) right out.

I didn't think we had Recluses in NV. The first time I saw one was when I was stationed in Oklahoma City. I'm from Las Vegas though, I guess you may have them up North.

[NVplumber]

Originally Posted by Lvpunk

I didn't think we had Recluses in NV. The first time I saw one was when I was stationed in Oklahoma City. I'm from Las Vegas though, I guess you may have them up North.

Oh yes...they are out there. I've had bug 'experts" guffaw that this is fact and they may or may not be native to the region but they are here nonetheless. Don't know about Vegas but we have had a LOT of confirmed bites up here and I have personally seen these buggers and presented dead ones for examination and confirmation. Look for the famous fiddle (on the carapace..not the abdomen) and they have SIX eyes as opposed to a normal spiders eight. The latter check is best done with a microscope but a good mag glass works just fine in a pinch.

[Tressa]

so are these fairly small spiders? We though possibly we spotted one in our shop but not sure. Do they too build webs and are they different from others like BW are?

[NVplumber]

Originally Posted by Tressa

so are these fairly small spiders? We though possibly we spotted one in our shop but not sure. Do they too build webs and are they different from others like BW are?

Fiddlebacks are not web spinners. They actively hunt. They are actually faily large ( Legs spread out they can cover a quarter to a fifty cent piece) but are built kinda spindly. Thin legs and body. There are a lot of good spiders out there that resemble them ( our big brown spiders and wolf spiders) but the giveaway is the carapace marking. The harmless and far more common spiders that can be mistaken for a fiddleback have markings on the abdomen ( usually yellow and black stripes). Don't be overly alarmed about the fiddleback ( or Brown Recluse in more scientific terms). They are generally found in areas that stay free of human activity for long times. Storage areas, crawlspaces and such. But it does pay to keep things picked up and shake out your shoes. And there are lots of resources out there with information about the critters in the area if you want to see pictures and learn to identify friend from foe. Gotta love the internet.

[Tressa]

oh man I thought they were fairly small spiders but I guess I will have to rethink that.

Might as well go into it thinking that they are everywhere and just be cautious, so far it's been ok, this summer we spotted 1 BW and lots of stink bugs but left them alone. We were digging trenches for our power line and unearthed the stink bugs from 4 feet below ground. Apparently we broke into one of their tunnels and they started just falling out of the tunnel at the 4 foot level.

[NVplumber]

Oh you will run into all kinds of bugs herebouts. Most are harmless and even beneficial. Stink bugs, potato bugs, vicious horseflys (Oh I HATE THEM!) Tarantula hawks ( these are toooo cool) ant lions, scorps, vinegaroons, the list goes on and on. We got some of the coolest lizards to and they are our bestest buddies. I have one thats been living in my pumphouse for the last three years. Big alligator lizard. We call him Big Al. He keeps the rif raf out of there. Not a spider or any other bug lives to invade his turf. And the Bull snakes take care of gophers , moles and other undesireables that tear up lawns. Make nice with these critters. They are AWSOME.

[Spooner3099]

Thanks NVplumber. Im glad to only have this house for a month longer because they keep showing up and everyone i go head to head with is like a girl spider and im still not used to them exploding into a bunch of baby spider things lol it creeps me out lol

[Spooner3099]

Originally Posted by NVplumber

Oh you will run into all kinds of bugs herebouts. Most are harmless and even beneficial. Stink bugs, potato bugs, vicious horseflys (Oh I HATE THEM!) Tarantula hawks ( these are toooo cool) ant lions, scorps, vinegaroons, the list goes on and on. We got some of the coolest lizards to and they are our bestest buddies. I have one thats been living in my pumphouse for the last three years. Big alligator lizard. We call him Big Al. He keeps the rif raf out of there. Not a spider or any other bug lives to invade his turf. And the Bull snakes take care of gophers , moles and other undesireables that tear up lawns. Make nice with these critters. They are AWSOME.

Haha as long as they are on the outside i will not mess with them but im like big al lol invade my turf and it is on lol

[MtnBikeNV]

I've been reading your posts... interesting! I lived in Pahrump for a couple of years, and while I was there, I worked on a Peruvian Paso horse ranch for a very eccentric lady that had moved there with her horses from Hawaii. When she moved there, she built an indoor arena. She never used it. Mammoth building. But she stuffed furniture and old tack in there, shut it up, never touched it. Then one day she decided we should use that to work the horses in, so we opened it up. I'll never forget walking in, picking up a saddle here and there, and every single one had either a brown recluse or a black widow. They were everywhere. And of course the required centipedes and scorpions. We closed it back up, called a bug company, and they took care of it. I think we had to wait a week? to enter the building again.

I also lived in Vegas, all I remember there were cockroaches. Everywhere.

I also lived in Elko.. lots of centipedes and the occasional black widow, brown recluse. Saw one scorpion by our front door one time.

I live in Reno now, haven't seen anything really cool besides the occasional lizzard. When I was in Elko, I did a lot of mtn biking and would see a lot of bull snakes. Cool things, totally respect them, they are our buddies. Bumped into a couple of rattlers, I went my way, they went theirs.

Gotta love the critters!

[asassyvic]

Originally Posted by Tressa

oh man I thought they were fairly small spiders but I guess I will have to rethink that.

Might as well go into it thinking that they are everywhere and just be cautious, so far it's been ok, this summer we spotted 1 BW and lots of stink bugs but left them alone. We were digging trenches for our power line and unearthed the stink bugs from 4 feet below ground. Apparently we broke into one of their tunnels and they started just falling out of the tunnel at the 4 foot level.

Tressa, those little stink bugs are kind of cute. Believe it or not they are great scavengers. I use to have a few in a cage with a tarantula (I was trying to overcome my fear of spiders) and those little buggers kept that cage spick and span. They seem pretty clean and harmless. I had some in a pill bottle for months. Had forgotten about them ( I know horrible) but they fell out of that container just a good as could be. Didn't faze them at all. poor buggers