Spider Experts please - Recluse? Don't look if you're spider wary

[Alterration]

UGH.

So, this year we’ve had an infestation of spiders in the barn, likely because the horses have been in the barn less.

My helper this morning sent me this photo. It’s hard to see. I have seen several of these hideously bulbous spiders, but I can’t see them closely enough (and honestly haven’t wanted to get close enough) to see any sort of violins. Whatever this is is breeding like mad, because there are a bunch of them.

They aren’t wolf spiders, I know those buggers and don’t mind them.

They are not tiny. We’re in MO. They aren’t huge either. In this case, she moved a pallet and they were under there.

This is the first year we’ve had a problem and I’m seriously grossed out. I don’t normally mind spiders but the thought of recluses freaks me out. These also gross me out because they kind of look like ticks with that weirdly distended abdomen. Gross.

Does it look like a recluse?

[NaturallyHappy]

Not to me, but I’m not an expert in any way.

[Alterration]

@NaturallyHappy

Not to me, but I’m not an expert in any way.

Thanks, neither am I and I think I’d feel a whole lot better if I knew what it was. I still need to remove said spiders, but there’s removal and there’s “burn the place down” LOL

[Jarpur]

Brown recluse spiders have a back marking that resembles a fiddle.Adding a link:

How to Identify and Misidentify a Brown Recluse Spider

[Jarpur]

I’ve been bitten twice, once while rolling over in bed while staying at a friend’s, and the other I know not how. Not fun.

Years ago now, but not an experience to be repeated ever again.

[Alterration]

Yeah, unfortunately I can’t see it clearly enough to see a fiddle, even with my glasses on and I’m shy one magnifying glass.

I did also see that you could count the eyes, but the little buggers don’t stand still long enough

I really don’t want to go scorched earth on them if I don’t have to - I like spiders and would rather just relocate their homes, but I’ve seen the equine damage in an old Equus article and this was in where I store the daily hay

[Jarpur]

I never saw either spider that bit me – I was diagnosed by a doctor from the appearance of my bites. The one on my backside looked like a mini volcano crater with black at the bottom. It ached for years afterwards, when sitting. Doctor said that I was fortunate I’d been bitten in a relatively fatty area, due to the decreased chance of important tissue destruction.

I generally think of spiders as beneficial, but personally wouldn’t tolerate brown recluse ones.

[Texarkana]

I can see the fiddle on that spiders back. Not an expert, but I’m pretty sure it is one.

They aren’t the end of the world like many people make them out to be.

[cayuse]

Same here, never saw the spider but the Dr. said she was sure it was a spider bite. It occurred right after I was cleaning out a closet so I’m pretty sure that’s where it happened. It was on my scalp and It took months to heal and was nasty. I lost a good chunk of hair from it and still have a thin spot around the bite area.
I’m not sure if that’s a recluse in the photo.

[skydy]

Until they bite you. The tissue destruction is incredible.

[Alterration]

Thanks guys. I’ve already moved the hay and bought some peppermint stuff that was supposed to be non-toxic to pets in order to spray. Thankfully no one has been bitten (yet) and it’s all precautionary but I will be spraying…everything. Ew.

These give me the same heebie-jeebies that ticks do. It’s something about the abdomen that has made me itchy all day.

[PREs_Rock]

I got bitten by a brown recluse last spring/early summer. I was cleaning up and moving things around in the barn and never saw it. I noticed a 1/2-inch, bright red circle on the fleshy part of my upper arm that later developed a white center, and it doubled in size overnight. I did treat it right away with Neosporin ointment. I went to urgent care the next day and got a tetanus shot and a script for doxycycline, but I never had to start it. The red spot cleared up over a few weeks and no tissue damage occurred. However, the next day (2 days after the bite), I felt like crap. Achy, feverish and the headache from he**. That feeling lasted 2 days and I was a bit off for the rest of the week. Horrible.

I have seen brown recluses around the property and occasionally in my house. We routinely spray for them in the house, but nowhere else. They are reclusive and would prefer to not interact with humans if at all possible. Most bites happen when they are squished between their perch and your body. Luckily, most bites do not progress to tissue necrosis but always wash and carefully dry the bite asap and cover with a topical antibiotic. Add oral antibiotics at the first sign of skin breakdown, doxy is most commonly prescribed.

[phantomhorse]

That looks enough like a recluse to me that I would be doing more than spraying peppermint oil, if you said you are seeing a population explosion.

I had a run-in with one once - it was in my paddock boot and must have gotten just a brief bite as I squished it. I felt a prick on my ankle as my boot went on and assumed it was a piece of hay. By the time I drove the 5 minutes to the barn, it was swollen to twice normal size above the boot… so instead of riding, I went to the ER. I got VERY lucky to have minimal necrosis… but the swelling took weeks to go down.

I am pretty live and let live with spiders, but recluses are a h#ll no.

[beowulf]

Spider nerd here. That’s not a good enough picture to identify. There are several spider species with a dorsal stripe similar to a recluse that occupy similar ecological niches, and confusingly, they’re also brown.

Recluses are unlikely to be together (they are cannibalistic) so if you are seeing a community of them it may be a different spider species.

I have been bitten by one. It was medically significant.

[Alterration]

@beowulf

Recluses are unlikely to be together (they are cannibalistic) so if you are seeing a community of them it may be a different spider species.

Yeah - it was a group of them which is why I got the less toxic stuff as I had also read that they were solitary (e.g. reclusive).

I haven’t been able to capture a better pic, as it’s pretty dark where the spiders were, and I’m not about to stick my hand in there

I’ll likely try to jar one later to see what I’m actually dealing with, but in the short term we moved the habitat and removed where whatever it was was breeding.