Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Add brown recluse spiders to your list of things not to worry about
A Missouri University entomologist warns of brown recluse spiders moving indoors in the winter, leading to more bites as they hide in cluttered spaces, including clothes in closets. But how common is it?
First, the bad news. Brown recluse spiders do move indoors when it turns cold. They find undisturbed storage areas such as attics and basements, filing cabinets and closets. They do bite, and the bites can cause necrosis, permanent scarring and death.
But Wikipedia and several other Web sites temper this alarmist warning. Brown recluse spiders only bite when you press against them. Some bites may cause no reaction. The worst consequences are rare. And, the brown recluse's range is limited to the south central Midwest.
And no one seems to agree on how common brown recluse spider bites are. Missouri University (the same entomologist) issued a similar but more tempered press release two years ago that contained this tidbit: "An MU-based study done in the 1970s concluded that about 80 percent of Missouri homes harbored brown recluse spiders. Some homes can have thousands with residents never suffering a bite." So arachnophobia is most of the problem.
posted by Ryan DuBosar at
10:51 AM
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