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April Killian
Beware: It's Bite Season For One of Alabama's Most Dangerous Spiders!
2023-10-22
Autumn in Alabama is one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. As nature gives cooler weather to enjoy the gorgeous fall foliage, it's time to break out the hoodies, sweaters, and boots! Unfortunately, there may be a dangerous surprise lurking in that cool weather clothing. Clothes or shoes can be a hiding place for one of the most venemous and feared spiders in Alabama: the dreaded brown recluse....and each year, October brings a huge spike in brown recluse bites.
In a five year study published to Toxicon, researchers gathered data for brown recluse bites and determined that the spiders are most active in the warmer months from April to October. The biggest spike in brown recluse spider bites occurs in the spring around April, with a secondary spike in July or August and the third spike in mid to late October. That means that we are in one of the peak brown recluse bite seasons right now.
Where Do They Live?
The brown recluse spider is found throughout the state of Alabama but is especially predominant in the northern half of the state, according to the Alabama Extension Office. They're extremely reclusive—hence the name, brown recluse. They'll tuck away in any dark, undisturbed spot. Outdoors, they are found in wood piles, sheds, storage spaces, rocks, and leaves. Indoors, they like closets, attics, boxes, cupboards, and cabinets. They also love to hide away in clothing and shoes, and that's one hiding spot that causes a spike in bites this time of year, as people get out winter attire that hasn't been disturbed in a while.
The brown recluse has two body sections with spindly legs that look pointy on the ends. The spiders range in color from a light tan to a darker brown, and the color is a very uniform, solid color. There are no stripes or mottling on its body or legs. Sometimes the spider has a darker spot on its upper body that resembles the shape of a violin or fiddle. This is why the brown recluse is often called a violin spider or fiddleback. This mark can be hard to see on some spiders, however, and in younger spiders, the mark may not be present at all. Most spiders have 8 eyes, but the brown recluse only has 6 eyes, grouped in 3 sets of pairs. If you're brave enough to look at the spider under a magnifying glass, this is one way to be certain it's a brown recluse. Don't look for spider webs to find a brown recluse, however. Unlike most spiders, which trap food in their webs, the brown recluse is a nocturnal predator. It crawls out of its hiding space and actively hunts at night.
The brown recluse is not an aggressive spider. Bites only occur when the spider is threatened or trapped. Picking up a box or putting on clothing and accidentally trapping the spider against your skin, for example, are two of the most common ways that bites occur. The best way to avoid being bitten by a brown recluse is to be aware of the places they hide and take precautions from there. Shake out shoes and clothing before putting them on, especially clothing and shoes that have been stored for a while or lying on or near the floor. Be careful when cleaning out dark, cluttered places or moving boxes and items that have been in storage or undisturbed for a while.
How Do I Know They're In My House?
Although the brown recluse loves cluttered areas, even the tidiest of homes can harbor these spiders. They can live in the smallest cracks or crevices around baseboards, plumbing, or behind appliances. The best way to see if you have these spiders in your home is to put out sticky traps. The brown recluse will become trapped as it crawls out to hunt at night. You can place these traps in or near closets or any other dark and undisturbed place where they may be hiding. Chances are, if you have these spiders in your home, you'll find them stuck to the sticky trap in the morning. Another way to detect the presence of the brown recluse is to look for "spider shells." The brown recluse spider molts, or sheds, its outer layer, much like a snake. The brown recluse molts five to seven times while it's growing. When it does, it leaves behind a perfect exoskeleton. While some people mistakenly think these are dead spiders, they're actually only what's left behind after the spider molts. This exoskeleton looks like a light-colored, perfectly formed, and flattened-out spider (see the photo below). The presence of these shed bodies on boxes, walls, clothing, or other dark and undisturbed spaces almost always indicates an infestation of the venomous brown recluse.
Although the bite of a brown recluse is rarely deadly, it has occurred. In 2014, there was the tragic death of a four-year-old boy in Alabama. There was also a woman in Michigan and a man in Florida who died from the bite of a brown recluse in the same year. By far the worst thing that normally happens is some necrosis, or death of tissue, around the area of the bite. You've probably seen the nightmarish photos of a really bad brown recluse bite with a huge area of dead tissue, but even these types of bites are rare. Factors such as the size of the spider, where the bite occurs, and how much venom is released all determine how bad the bite can be. On average, most bites are not nearly that bad and don't require a trip to the doctor or ER. The bites are most dangerous in children and the elderly.
How to Keep Them Away!
A brown recluse spider can live for 4 to 5 years. This is a long lifespan for an insect. The Brown Recluse is looking for a warm place for the winter and a food source of insects that often come indoors in cooler weather. That's another factor that contributes to the spike in brown recluse bites seen in October. The best way to keep them out of your warm house is to weatherproof any tiny spaces around windows and doors where they can sneak inside. Sticky traps and pest control powders are two of the best ways to eliminate brown recluse spiders indoors. Traditional sprays often don't work because the brown recluse remains hidden away from direct contact with the spray. For more information about the brown recluse, visit the Alabama Extension website here.
Click "follow" to catch more of my articles about the great state of Alabama. I'm a native and resident of the Shoals area of north Alabama, sharing events and unique stories about the places and people of Alabama the Beautiful. Have a story to tell? Email me: april.newsbreak@gmail.com. As always, thanks for reading! Please give a "thumbs up," then share and support a local Alabama writer!
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