Posted: 2/15/2008 5:26:10 PM EDT
Found this big dude near my kids room on the ceiling. It was just kicking it in a jaunty spider pose when I captured it. My feeble attempts to identify it have proven, well, feeble. The closest I can find is the Loxosceles Deserta, which is the "Desert Recluse" and has similar tissue necrotizing venom as the feared brown recluse. can anyone put my mind at ease, or do I gotta get one of those hot-air balloon covers for my house?  Sorry for the six-legged spider action, apparently lost a couple of 'em during attempts to evade me. |
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Well, that's two that agree with me, so i have called in the cavalry. Unfortunately the cavalry was not in their office and will return my call "at their earliest convenience." In the meantime I have instructed my children to construct couch cushion forts for the weekend and to be on the lookout for more. They should have fun with that. But when they tell the old lady when she gets home form work, I'll be in all the damn closets and crap with a flashlight. I thought of pre-empting this, but would just have to repeat it anyways when she gets home. |
Yeppers. Don't let him bite you! After 10 Days 
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Them is Nasty stuff,seen a guys Knee swell up like a Cantaloupe I kid you not and what the Venom does in Tissue Destruction?(as posted)!Holy Smokes this guy was recovering for months theres Anti-Venom though, But as a Precaution: Shake out Footwear Shake out your Linen Do Not! stick hands in Dimly lit areas You get the Idea and no Paranoia intended know what I mean Jelly Bean?  |
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ishoot2live, check that pic on snopes - not verified. But regardless, that desert recluse is what bit me October 2006. They have six eyes (three pairs) unlike the standar 8 eyes. Nasty little bastard, and I still have a mark from it. Felt sluggish for a week with frequent headaches. Bite developed necrosis in the center, with a large red ring on the outside. Started off looking like a mosquito bite, ended up about the size of a quarter overall. We have them out here, so be on the lookout. Check out this website, and do a search for Nevada: http://www.highway60.com/mark/brs/default.asp |
buttercup, Thanks for reminding me of the unconfirmed Snopes report. I had a student who is an Entomologist and I mentioned the picture that I posted earlier in this thread. Although she agreed that the picture could not be confirmed, she did say that a wound like that was possible from a Brown Recluse bite. Here is something I found that seems to be more up to date and believable Brown Recluse Case Study Be Safe. Joe
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| my grandfather was bitten by a recluse of some sort about 15 years ago (pretty sure it was a brown). when his forehead began to swell and puss, he had a Native American friend tell him to put an onion on it.... believe it or not, it worked. No medication. weird. |
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I generally think that spiders are beneficial and I have a soft spot for predators in general. I do kill black widows, but normally if I find a spider in the house, I just pick them up and put them outside. Well, a couple of years ago I found one in my bathroom and did the same thing. About that time, someone started posting about brown recluse bites. So I did some searching and sure enough, the spider I'd carried outside on my hand (alive of course) was a Recluse. From that point on, if I don't positively know what kind of spider it is, I don't pick it up! |
LMAO,thats a good one |
 Joe, thanks for grossing me out again.    I was lucky, my bite never got too bad, thank God. Took some Cephalexin for 7 days and kept the area sterilized. That poor man in the post...ouch! I usually catch spiders in a bug jar and throw them outside. After that bite, just observing them made me nauseous! Took a while to get over that. Hubby does many of the spider inspection/tossing duties these days. ETA: I'll have to remember to try using an onion, if it happens again. Interesting. |
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Okay, good news! Some spider enthusiasts at arachnoboards.com have ruled out the recluse as the eyes are not in a distinct "3 sets of pairs". The spider I caught has a single cyclops eye cluster and longer "palpi" (the little arm things near the mouth). They have positively identified it as an adult male Kukulcania sp, also known as the "southern house spider". I still have the pest control dudes coming on Monday, but the couch forts have been disassembled and we are standing down from our spider detection posture. Some pics to compare: MINE: RECLUSE:  KUKULCANIA:  |
ETA:NM, I knew it, I just didn't know I knew it...
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The trick with the onion is to cut thin slices out of the center, and tape them to the bite, changing them out every 2 hours. there is some kind of chemicle reaction that causes the onion to get very hot, almost boiling! |
Hahaha. We have a semi-weekly ritual at home where my wife and 2-year-old go on a "Spider hunt! Kill them!" adventure that involves a pair of flashlights, mirrors, and tennis shoes. Since we live next to a creek, there are a lot more animals in general, including spiders, that hang about. So, we Search and Destroy on a regular basis to discourage the domestic spider population. Some friends up the road have a much newer place and employ the pest control people regularly, but it doesn't seem to be very effective since we are surrounded by natural vegetation. |
My place is infested with scorpions. Killed 3 last week. No spiders lately. |
Hey I have the same problem. Send me a PM and I'll give you my pest guys number. Most company's won't garantee their work. But thease guys will. SLM |
