Along with black widows, brown recluse spiders are a venomous spider commonly found in the United States. They're indigenous to the southern United States, but they can be spread elsewhere occasionally by hiding in moving boxes.

Brown recluse spiders aren't aggressive and will run whenever they see humans. However, a brown recluse will bite whenever it feels like its life is in immediate danger — people are commonly bitten when they put on a shirt that has a brown recluse nesting in it or when they accidentally roll over on one that's crawling on their bed.

Their bites are painless at first but begin to cause extreme pain a few hours later as the venom works its way into your skin. While most brown recluse bites heal on their own, they sometimes develop into ulcers that resemble ones caused by staph infections, and they require medical treatment once they reach this stage.

Since there's a risk of developing complications from being bitten by a brown recluse, it's important to keep your home free from them. If you've been seeing spiders in your home and want to know if they may be brown recluse spiders, read on.

How Do You Know If a Spider Is a Brown Recluse?

Brown recluse spiders have long legs and large abdomens. When their legs are fully extended, they're a bit larger than a quarter. Their color is a light brown with slight red undertones.

Unfortunately, many common house spiders fit this description. This includes the cobweb spider, which is not harmful to humans in any way.

In order to distinguish brown recluse spiders from other types, look for a dark brown spot on their head that looks like a violin. The narrow end of the violin points backward towards the abdomen, while their head makes up the body of the violin shape.

In addition, you can also look at the spider's eyes to determine whether or not it's a brown recluse. Brown recluse spiders only have six eyes, and they're set in three pairs of two eyes each. Other spiders that can be mistaken for the brown recluse spider have eight eyes.

How Do You Search for a Brown Recluse Infestation?

You're unlikely to see a brown recluse spider roaming around your home. They rest during the day, and they typically stay out of view when they're hunting during the night. If you do see one, it will most likely run away and hide immediately, so you'll have difficulty identifying it as a brown recluse spider.

Instead, you can carefully look for brown recluse nests around your home. They're irregularly constructed, so they look like very dense cobwebs. They build their nests on wood or cardboard surfaces, and they'll rest in them during the day. You'll most likely find them in places you don't go often, such as your attic, in a closet or in the corners of your garage. During the day, you may see brown recluse spiders in their nests, and you may also see egg sacs.

What Should You Do When Your Home Has Brown Recluse Spiders?

If you find brown recluse spiders in your home, contact a local spider control company. Your spider pest control service will capture one of the spiders so that it can be positively identified as a brown recluse.

Brown recluse spiders are best controlled using a combination of insecticides and glue traps. Glue traps will be placed in multiple out-of-the-way locations in your home where the spiders are likely to travel while hunting. They'll get caught on the traps and die.

Insecticides will kill some of the brown recluse spiders, and they'll also make them significantly more active during the night — brown recluse spiders start to migrate when they realize that insecticides are being applied. When their activity is increased, it's more likely that spiders will wander into one of the glue traps in your home.

If your brown recluse infestation was caused by spiders entering your home from your yard instead of you bringing them home in a moving box, then spider pest control services will also seal up any small cracks in the exterior of your home. This prevents any more spiders from entering, reducing the risk that you'll experience any future infestations.

Due to the potential dangers that brown recluse spiders can cause, it's important to call a spider pest control service whenever you think that you may have an infestation. Even though the risk of being bitten is low due to the spiders' timid nature, it's always a good idea to stay safe.

To learn more, contact a resource like Godfather's Exterminating, Inc.

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