Brown Recluse or not?! Help please! (Wichita, Topeka: houses, crawl space, water heater)

[catyoe]

Hi. I live in south central/western kansas and it was about 9:30 in the morning when I went downstairs to change over a load of laundry. While I was just finishing up folding some clothes I looked over and saw a brown spider between the size of a nickel and a quarter. I am deathly afraid of spiders so I ran out of the room and didn't get a good close look at it. It was solid dark brown.. lol.. of course, but like I said I didnt get to look to see if it had any markings. I threw a number of shoes at it from the other room.. just hoping that one would hit it and kill it, but I guess my aim isnt that great. It ran very VERY quickly and hid behind a basket. I moved the basket and it was gone(not inside or outside of the basket). So again I didn't get a good look at it.

I am messing around in that room almost daily because with 4 kids laundry is a CHORE! But there are a pile of old giveaway or throw away clothes underneath the laundry table. The door to the water heater and crawl space is also in the room. Just wondering if it could be a brown recluse since my older childrens room is also down stairs. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[gigimac]

Because it was solid dark brown, I don't think it was the recluse. The one that bites and makes a person swell is a little lighter brown so you can see the darker curvy warning markings on its body. The size is correct, tho. To keep spiders at bay, at the health food store or online get the essential oil of lemon, put some drops in water, wash it over anything you don't want the spiders to get on, like the washing machine and dryer, the folding table, the floor areas near them, and on over at the crawl space door. You can also wipe down walls. Get those giveaway clothes up off the floor and out of the house soon... spiders and bugs like old clothes and paper stuff, and of course the warmth of the laundry. I don't like spiders either, but I began to keep my eyes on pictures of spiders I came across as long as I could, and any small ones in the house, and that seemed to release some of my fear. Basic rule of thumb is, if it looks scary and holds its ground, the creature is up to no good.

[catyoe]

Alright that makes me feel a little better! Though, I won't be going down there before my husband gets home and checks it out.. lol. He's just afraid of spiders as I am, but when we got together he got over his fear pretty quick! He also tried to tell me that I could get over my fear if he could. I replied that because he got over his fear I dont have too! We have always lived in old houses or farm houses, so spiders are pretty common. Most of them don't bother me much, but that darn recluse always gets my skin crawling.

[SacalaitWhisperer]

Brown Recluse Spider

[thriftylefty]

I know you don't want to go down there ,but the more activity there is down there, the less the brown spider wants to be there. I read recently that a Kansas( State?) University researcher believes they feed on dead bugs, so keeping that food source away from them might help.

[Old Surrender]

My rule of thumb with spiders: If they're inside, kill 'em. Outside, let 'em live. They're OK for me on porches because they will keep your porches pest-free to enjoy during the summer. However, inside they're more likely to bite you, make messy webs, and hurt your pets. Cats have been known to attack and eat a spider and get sick.

[Hueffenhardt]

Brown Recluse

I know someone already posted a picture of one, but their picture did not look much like the ones I usually see in Topeka or Hutchinson because the ones I see are a darker brown than the one in the other picture. So, I posted this picture of one that is much more typical of the ones I see.

The dead give away is the violin shape on its back with the base of the violin at its mouth.

[linicx]

The Brown Recluse is small, fast, normally outside and you don't normally feel it crawl on you or bite. I"ve had six bites. The itch is intense and it is followed by intense deep pain at the bite site. DO NOT STOP at GO to collect $200. Seek immediate medical attention. The bite site will change colors and evenually be black. It sometimes takes months before the skin returns to a normal color.

Wooded areas are bad for spiders. In the past I was bitten six times; they think I's a cousin.

Call a professional pest control and have your house, around the outside, sidewalks and play area sprayed. You, your family and pets need to be removed from the area including your house for 5 hours to be effective. Be sure to turn off all fans, furnace and A/C and close the windows if you want an effective kill. If you spray for flying and crawling insects you will rid your home of the most common house pests. It is worth the money. Those little brown bugs can make you very sick.

Good luck!

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[jasper12]

Hogna is the genus with the largest of the wolf spiders. Among the Hogna species in the U.S., the nearly solid dark brown H. carolinensis (Carolina wolf spider) is the largest, with a body that can be more than one inch long. It is sometimes confused with H. helluo, which is somewhat smaller and entirely different in coloration.

It could have been a wolf spider, big SOB's. Go with getting bug bombs, and I would also do professional pest control. Where there is one...there is probably 50 still in hiding.

[stuckinwichita]

They are in every home in Wichita, I have found them under siding, cracks in the trim floor joists. If you have a home with the shake roof you will never be able to control them at all. They are not aggressive but they will crawl into cloths on floors and then if you put them on in the morning you can get bit. Kansas is lousy with BR spiders. Those who think they do not have them do not know what or where to look. Another reason to hate Kansas, it just sucks here.