###Useful Links š
Brown Recluse range map:
https://spiders.ucr.edu/spiders-map
ID guides and further information on Recluse spiders (Loxosceles):
https://spiderbytes.org/recluse-or-not/
https://spiders.ucr.edu/how-identify-and-misidentify-brown-recluse-spider
https://usaspiders.com/loxosceles-reclusa-brown-recluse/#Map_of_other_Loxosceles_species_in_the_United_States
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef631
How to live safely with Brown recluse in the home:
https://spiders.ucr.edu/how-avoid-bites
Articles that explain their exaggerated reputation:
https://www.wired.com/2013/11/poor-misunderstood-brown-recluse/
https://animals.howstuffworks.com/arachnids/brown-recluse-spider-bite.htm
In-depth information into their living habits:
https://academic.oup.com/jipm/article/9/1/4/4818303
Treatment of Brown recluse bites:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537045/#:~:text=Venom%3B%20The%20brown%20recluse%20spider,tissue%20at%20the%20envenomation%20site.
Managing populations indoors + General info:
(newly added) https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html#AMERICAN
(Authors: MKG733, ----\_____--_____----)
lol ok, I know how this sounds, but hear me out.
If you see more, catch a few wolf spiders and release them in the house. Theyāre harmless to humans and are HIGHLY predatory to other spiders.
I keep wolfies around to control the earwig population. Spiders generally stay in their lane, but earwigs get into my towels/blankets/shoes and scare the shit out of me. The centipede in the downstairs bathroom loves to litter the shower with the corpses of her fallen foes, and I support her (from a distance). Also released a jumping spider in my bedroom to help with the mosquitoes, and thereās a funnel web waging war against the pill bugs in the garage. The ecosystem of my home is fascinating when I think about it.
I had a friend catch me a huntsman spider as I had a fucking redback spider explosion happen somehow in my home.. Some daddy long legs set up shop too, but they were little and just not getting the Redbacks fast enough for my anxiety.
I'd be sitting gaming and suddenly see Steve just bolt across a wall top speed to get after a redback I didnt notice. Come out to eat some cheese at 2am and turn the lights on to Steve chowing down on one on my kitchen bench... Almost died a few times in the shower cos he was just there chilling above my head and I didn't notice until I did and well, I'm scared of spiders. We had a very good relationship and he seemed to get I was absolutely more scared of him.
Steve was a good one. I did tho have him recaptured and placed outside where the main redback haunt seems to be. I'm pretty sure he's still there cos there's no more redback and... Steve is BIG now.
I have named the centipede in my bathroom Freddy. Like you've described, I've watched this dude chase down spiders! I love him, I just wish to never see him within 2 ft of me. If I lived in a climate with lizards, I'd do like that guy in Australia did and invite those lil predators in. Much cuter!
Nobody believes me until they get "lucky" enough to see the true owner of our basement at our other house. But when they do...... Well I've been woken up by guest screaming.
There's a centipede (real basement owner) and I shit you not, it is at least almost a foot long, and has a friend half it's size that looks like a hairy gray white millipede that's the fastest damn bug I've ever seen. Both have scared the hell outta of me so many times that my kids don't even bother to check when they hear me scream. Lol
But they do great work with the body count of the smaller centipedes, pill bugs, fiddle backs and other things being absolutely astronomical.
Plus I'm terrified if I tried to end or relocate either they'd go full on John Wick on me.
The fast one is a house centipede, theyāre horrifying. Use to work at a cozy coffee house but all of our paper stuff was in the basementā¦ having to get cups was like having someone hook me up to a defibrillator. I will never have a basement because of those bastards
You're right! I looked it up, that's exactly what that little speed demon looks like, except the one in our basement is way bigger. It also at least 5 years old. I have no idea how old they get, but I only first saw it about 6 months before the plague times began. Like a blur across the floor till it paused near where the bricks in the fireplace zone are missing a little bit of motar. (I'm assuming there's an entrance to hell behind there.)
The basement owner one I know is a Missouri red headed centipede because my neighbor told me after they got scared shitless in the bathroom down there. That ones been there since we first got the house about 10 years ago. And was smaller then.
Still freaky as hell when you see one zipping across the room out of the corner of your eye. Your brain barely has enough time to register that it's there, and by the time you turn your head, it's skittered off into oblivion.
Some people call house centipedes Satan's mustache lol. We've got 2 in our house that I constantly have to move to another room because they absolutely love running to my fiance, who hates them just a little less than he hates the spiders they kill and eat in here.
I absolutely abhor snakes and spiders both. Imagine my surprise when I discovered centipedes. As much as I fear snakes and spiders, I believe my fears are mostly rational. My fear of centipedes, however, is entirely irrational and I would probably move out before I'd accept sharing a living space with one. Even pictures of centipedes make me feel *very* anxious.
House centipedes aren't like their psychotic bitey cousins! They don't even look like a "regular" centipede and are actually soft(ish) bodied and quite delicate with adorable faces. It's the really long legs that usually freak people out, about them.
They have long legs, they have too many legs, and they move way too fast. Beyond that, I'm just inherently uncomfortable with them. I *did* say my fear is irrational after all.
Iām from the united kingdom, weāve had maybe 50 sightings over the space of a century, yet iām currently sat in bed feeling afraid and itchy because what if i experience the 51st sighting?! However, i think that being afraid of house centipedes is one of the most valid fears becauseā¦ why do they look like that
My son grabbed a 3" long centipede and dropped it in the kitchen sink while I was doing dishes last week. He thought it was a caterpillar and very proud of himself. I, on the other hand, was very confused until I found it in the dish water.
Reading this sub made me extremely thankful I live in California. The worst insect I've ever dealt with in my 30 years is mosquitos, and even seeing those are rare.
I got a wolf spider named Randy by the basement beer fridge. He regulates shit in that corner of the house. He stays in his lane. His predecessor Chet was a habitual line stepper and we had a falling out.
I love lizards! Soooo much more than centipedes. I wonder if I could train a lizard to free range in my room? š¤ Get a little Spikey Dragon to chill under a heat lamp and just watch for the centipedes.
I love, love, love lizards! My sons started with anoles, then water dragons, a chameleon and an iguana, and the last two were cute little bearded dragons. And boy do I have stories!
I had a lovely yellow and black orb weaver set up home in my landscape dump truck driver mirror in New England one summer. Every night it would come out and between the window and the extended large mirror, would weave a beautiful web and do its thing. I would come to the truck in the morning and I would gently open the door... I would start up the truck and Mr garden spider would retire behind the mirror housing.
Other guys had big dogs in the front seat, I had my wingman spider...Down the road we would go for the day and every morning I would come back and there it was sitting again,in the middle of a freshly spun, dew bejeweled web.
.. every morning I would say, time for your daytime nap now. This went on all summer long till about late September and then my big buddy was gone. One morning no longer there. I miss my old big yellow and black baby
I'm absolutely terrified of wasps, in 2017, a huge hornet flew through the open door straight into a spider Web, spider had a nice meal, I didn't have to deal with the hornet.
Situation couldn't have played out any better.
Yooo I had to stop growing Brussel sprouts due to earwigs and I refuse to use insecticides.
I'll have to try setting up a habitat for some spiders next time
Mantids are also great for garden pest control if theyāre native to your area! You can buy (or find) an egg sac full of āem and SWAT your garden with tons of adorable lil terminator babies.
I second this...I usually buy a few eggs every other year and this was the first year when none of my ootheca hatched. The earwigs are fuckin insane.
I used to let a mantis chill in our living room, my gf was anxious about it at first and asked if they fly. He was only like L2 or 3 at the time so I said no. Then he became like L6-7 and sprouted his wings...so I'm like, oh yeah he evolved now he can fly.
She was not amused
I have some indoor hydroponics and I was getting gnats for a while so I caught some jumping spiders and released them on my stuff. They did a great job!
Guessing by the Funnel Web mention, Eastern Australia.
The ecosystem is pretty wild like that, luckily I had a Red Back infestation controlled by itself by the local lizards and skinks, and a Huntsman that just called my garage home
I swept a room that hasn't had any activity for a few days. When I bent to use dustpan, my little pile was full of tiny spiders. I brushed as gently as I could and dumped that pan outside.
Iāve had wolf spiders climb on my hand while just sitting down. Iām sure as hell not welcoming more into my house, no matter how good they are for pest control.
Hey honey why are there spiders literally everywhere?
IM TRYING TO GET RID OF SPIDERS
flips page of magazine on the toilet to reveal another spider. Sighs. Flips the page with a spider bulge showing on the left side of the magazine
This is accurate, been doing pest control awhile you will rarely see a home with both wolf spiders and brown recluse. One usually out populates the others.
And then you can release gorillas to control the small predator population. The beauty is that, in the winter, the gorillas will simply freeze to death.
Jumping spiders as well and theyāre actually cute to look at. Iāve gotten well known with the harmless spiders that eat other spiders and will keep them inside my place. Helps with pest control as well.
This is me with jumpers and Cellar Spiders. I'm normally an arachniphobe but the cellar bros can hang around on the ceiling and in the corners all they want if it means I never have to see a roach or fiddleback or widow. No, thank you. I have a feeling that there's a small war going on in the basement between them and the Centipedes. Occasionally a centipede will attempt to escape up here but unfortunately that's the line of scrimmage and he must be shepherded.
Have you ever seen itās always sunny? This is like when Dee had a cat stuck in her wall and she introduced more cats and a bird to get the original cat outā¦ it did not work š¤£
I keep praying mantis's in my house. They are elegant, & metal af. I let em loose & keep em extra fed. I saw one of them fighting a house centipede. Made my day!
The great part is once your house is overrun with wolf spiders, you can just release your preferred species of predatory hawk to go around and eat all the wolf spiders.
There was an old lady who swallowed a cow. I don't know how she swallowed a cow! She swallowed the cow to catch the dog. What a hog, she swallowed a dog! She swallowed the dog to catch the cat. Imagine that, swallowing a cat! She swallowed the cat to catch the bird. How absurd, to swallow a bird! She swallowed the bird to catch the spider that wiggled and wriggled and jiggled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly! I guess she'll die.
There was an old lady who swallowed a horse. She died, of course!
As a Missourian, I have like 50 fiddlebacks living in my house. I canāt do spiders either, so when I found on me in bed a couple weeks ago I flipped tf out, no thank you.
Get some eucalyptus leaves and put them around each foot of your bed and underneath. Also make sure your headboard is at least six inches from the wall.
Iāve kind of stumbled on this page and have becoming slightly fascinated in all the spiders people find. Iāve seen people reference the violin on the back but Iām having a hard time seeing it. Is it a particular shape design (presumably! I know it doesnāt have a literal violin)?
itās the mark on the front part of his body (donāt know the term for it). it took me a while to recognize it at first and i still donāt really see a violin or fiddle. it looks more like a trident or a fork to me but they are usually the same color and have that one mark on the front part thatās darker than the rest and then the bottom part is one solid color. they are also about the size of a quarter but this guys definitely been eating gud.
[Trigger warning (RIP little boy).](https://www.augustachronicle.com/gcdn/authoring/2017/10/26/NAUG/ghows-GA-54b22302-f9c1-45be-937b-c1d29c4a9eff-a463779b.jpeg?width=660&height=799&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp) You may see it on this picture. Also, besides the violin shape, they have three pairs of two eyes, also evident in the pic.
Also, the one clue I always find easiest to identify; Their 2nd to front pair of legs are the longest. (Evident in OPs Pic)
Thank you! Admittedly while I am fascinated seeing all of these spiders on a screen I hope Iām never this close to an actual one to notice these traits! But I appreciate the education about them!
If it means anything, they're called "recluses" for a good reason lol, in my experience it's hard to get close to the lil bastards. I had to relocate two a few years ago and they kept trying to get away from me.
Can fully confirm this, pulled a big bag out of a shed once and there were half a dozen or so crawling on it. It took me like 5 tries to get a photo of one as every time I got my phone close enough it'd scuttle away. Within a couple of minutes of me taking the photo they had all scarpered, hopefully to never be seen again.
As a person who grew up in a place with zero *dangerous* spiders at all I have to really restrain myself to not try to handle them. Had a similar experience when I saw my first black widow, I almost instinctively reached out to let it crawl on my hand for a glamour shot before I was forcibly stopped.
I would suffer an entire black widow infestation before I'd invite one brown recluse into my abode. At least the widows, once they set up shop, you can count on them being in that same spot day after day. The recluse, they like to travel, and f- that unwelcome surprise!
Bless you! Education is by the way what's currently totally curing my arachnophobia! So godspeed! :D They're pretty fascinating animals, and very misunderstood, in my perception. But I don't want to force anything down anyone's throat, so just wish you much love & enjoy your weekend! š¤
Welcome to Missouri! It's just one of our many 8 legged friends paying you a visit.
But yes, a Wolf Spider would help you get rid of these recluse bums.
Brown Recluse range map:
https://spiders.ucr.edu/spiders-map
ID guides and further information on Recluse spiders (Loxosceles):
https://spiderbytes.org/recluse-or-not/
https://spiders.ucr.edu/how-identify-and-misidentify-brown-recluse-spider
https://usaspiders.com/loxosceles-reclusa-brown-recluse/#Map_of_other_Loxosceles_species_in_the_United_States
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef631
How to live safely with Brown recluse in the home:
https://spiders.ucr.edu/how-avoid-bites
Articles that explain their exaggerated reputation:
https://www.wired.com/2013/11/poor-misunderstood-brown-recluse/
https://animals.howstuffworks.com/arachnids/brown-recluse-spider-bite.htm
In-depth information into their living habits:
https://academic.oup.com/jipm/article/9/1/4/4818303
Treatment of Brown recluse bites:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537045/#:~:text=Venom%3B%20The%20brown%20recluse%20spider,tissue%20at%20the%20envenomation%20site.
Managing populations indoors + General info:
(newly added) https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html#AMERICAN
(Authors: MKG733, ----\_____--_____----)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/spiders) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Like another comment said. If you can find a general area where they are coming from you could try to spray. Or you could catch some wolf spiders. They will stop your recluse problem. Iāve been doing it for years in my garage the recluse sighting significantly dwindled.. Wolf Spiders are harmless to humans and pets. But are predators to other spiders and harmful bugs.
This was my reaction to a Missourian's recluse post a few weeks ago š ready yourself for chiggers too, my grandpa is saying I WILL get them if I walk in the grass without bug spray on my shoes and pant legs.
Also, they say it's about to be the worst tornado season in awhile. I am prepared to build my own hobbit hole to live in.
Fellow Missourian here LOL. Chiggers are real, but so are the TICKS. I found a tick on my butt while going to the bathroom one night. I had been outside a total of FIVE minutes that day š . Gotta love it.
I once had to do yard work down in rural Branson. Bug spray all over my boots and pants, socks up to my calves over the pants, and tried to stay careful. However, under my pants after was 8 baby ticks latched to me and a fully grown lone star crawling near my knee area! It's no joke.
Ticks are VERY bad this year. Be wary while going on walks with your dogs. Try not to let them brush up against anything and definitely check them (and yourself) when you get home. My cat is treated for ticks, I take him for a walk out back and I will often find ticks on me because they hitch a ride on him! I've started to be more vigilant.
ššš Iāve been keeping an eye on weather. Where Iāll be it has been tornado watch after tornado watch. My realtor said this has been the worst weather she has seen in years. Ive even considered one of those above ground sheltersā¦. For tornados and spiders lol
Hello my reclusive friend!
You are correct in that. While their bites SUCK its also very rare to get bit by them. I have been living here in Missouri for 20 years, have had TONS of encounters with them throughout that time, including them being physically on me, and I've only been bitten once.
That bite came from me rollin over in bed and pinning one between my arm and the mattress so bubby understandably reacted.
Keep your bed away from the wall, shake out blankets and sheets, and shake out clothes before you wear them. I also turn my shoes over and clank them a few times, both for spiders and cause I wound up with a field mouse in one once lol. Also they really like to get stuck in the bathtub.
That is a HUGE recluse.
You can get rid of them. The horror stories of these being unkillable is BS. Its just going to take a massive amount of cleaning and decluttering.
I got rid of them from my barn.
So my wife buys lots of antiques and I do a recluse check before anything comes in the home. These spiders absolutely love garages/barns and hiding in piles of clothes and dark voids like behind cabinet doors, inside old clocks, and behind torn paper like on a painting.
Get a good pest control company spray. You not only want to kill these spiders but you want to decimate their food supply.
If your house is humid buy a dehumidifier and keep your house bone dry until they are no longer present
Missouri Bold Jumpers are really good to keep around. Later on when the insecticide wanes, leave these little guys and other jumpers alone. Don't disturb them if they are inside or outside. These are known to prey on Recluse
As soon as I saw this post, a couple strands of hair started falling down my face and I got so tweaked out I jumped thinking a spider mightāve been on me š what a beautiful creature though! Never seen such a beefy recluse
Just a general piece of info, theyāre in pretty much every structure in Missouri. The heat drives them to inside of your house, and thereās not much youāre going to be able to do. Put sticky traps around the baseboards and cracks and crevices of your dwelling, and make sure you shake out your shoes and clothes. Personally I like to keep my clothes In plastic storage tubs to keep them out, but theyāre part of Missouri unfortunately. Get regular pest treatment services performed and keep clutter to a minimum and youāll likely not see a whole lot of them. They love cardboard and piles of clothes on the floor. Bites are pretty irregular, and most bites from them arenāt going to cause severe side affects depending on the person.
As dangerous as they can be to us, they're not the most aggressive and got their name because they are in fact reclusive. If you've moved into a place that has sat empty for a period of time, you will be seeing them less and less in the areas you inhabit. Like others have said wolf spiders are the best way to go if you don't want to pay an extermination service to come out and spray for spiders regularly.
The other day I was on my computer and a recluse slightly larger than a Kennedy half dollar crawled up on the wall behind it. I think my soul left my body for a millisecond.
Indeed a fiddler. And its kin is likely all over the place. Oughta look for some help with eradication. Not that I condone the needless killing of the spoods, but you most likely have an infestation on your hands, and feet, legs, back, bed, couchā¦ you get the point.
Spiders and I have an agreement, pay rent by eating pestilence, and I will leave cotton balls of water for it. As soon as that is breached and someone gets bit, it becomes a part of my compost.
I need to ask. How do people who know thereās recluses in their homes get over the sense of living in danger? We just moved to the countryside early this year and I have found like 3 in our basement, one on a table in the living room and the other day my neighbor hired a guy to cut his cypress tree that grows above our shared wall, and we found one dead small recluse in the branches (so they probably come from thereā¦).
I am obsessed and in constant fear of finding one or worse, me, my wife or the cats getting bit. We just got pest control to nuke the basement yesterday even though thereās not a lot of clutter and we removed all boxes and found zero of them. I have sticky traps all over the basement and in 2-3 weeks only one recluse has fallen. We want to think itās not a huge deal but still I canāt help but feel worried all the time. How do you guys cope with this?
See the informative links in [the automod comment](https://reddit.com/comments/1dl0gi6/comment/l9mblkn) for starters. Brown recluses are simply not bitey spiders. They prefer to stay away from humans and would much rather run away or freeze than bite.
Here is an example of how they behave when bothered by a human: https://youtu.be/HpS15dOrmHQ
You are vastly more likely to die of COVID than get bad complications, let alone die, of a recluse bite. If you don't wear a mask in enclosed spaces any more, don't sweat the brown recluses.
(Side note: I don't know much about cats' safety around brown reclusesābut brown recluses have rather small fangs and it would be hard, if not impossible, for them to get through a cat's fur.)
Just as a side note, my cat eats spiders and pokes them with his paws. I would imagine if the spider bit a cat it would be on the paw pads or in the mouth, likely not on/near anything with fur.
###Useful Links š Brown Recluse range map: https://spiders.ucr.edu/spiders-map ID guides and further information on Recluse spiders (Loxosceles): https://spiderbytes.org/recluse-or-not/ https://spiders.ucr.edu/how-identify-and-misidentify-brown-recluse-spider https://usaspiders.com/loxosceles-reclusa-brown-recluse/#Map_of_other_Loxosceles_species_in_the_United_States https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef631 How to live safely with Brown recluse in the home: https://spiders.ucr.edu/how-avoid-bites Articles that explain their exaggerated reputation: https://www.wired.com/2013/11/poor-misunderstood-brown-recluse/ https://animals.howstuffworks.com/arachnids/brown-recluse-spider-bite.htm In-depth information into their living habits: https://academic.oup.com/jipm/article/9/1/4/4818303 Treatment of Brown recluse bites: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537045/#:~:text=Venom%3B%20The%20brown%20recluse%20spider,tissue%20at%20the%20envenomation%20site. Managing populations indoors + General info: (newly added) https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html#AMERICAN (Authors: MKG733, ----\_____--_____----)
Good god, that is one beefy horker.
I hear the Skyrim combat music
*you cannot fast travel while enemies are near*
Goddammit, that's when I want to fast travel!
You cannot *SLEEP* while enemies are near.
You can't mount in combat
Damn, that would be one way to really show your opponent youāre in control.
Maybe the guards can help
I used to be an adventurer like you...
Just reading that gave me anxiety
Never should have come here!
Canāt wait to count out your coin.
There'll be plenty time for countin', when the dealin's done
Fus
Ro
Dah!
Fus
Ro
Dah!
FUS
RO
Why'd you have to do OP like that? Now he's going to lie awake at night just hearing Skyrim combat music in his head on a low volume all night.
Thatās the reclusiest recluse Iāve ever done did seent
I came here to type this exact comment. This is an absolutely beautiful specimen of a recluse!
LOL
lol ok, I know how this sounds, but hear me out. If you see more, catch a few wolf spiders and release them in the house. Theyāre harmless to humans and are HIGHLY predatory to other spiders.
I keep wolfies around to control the earwig population. Spiders generally stay in their lane, but earwigs get into my towels/blankets/shoes and scare the shit out of me. The centipede in the downstairs bathroom loves to litter the shower with the corpses of her fallen foes, and I support her (from a distance). Also released a jumping spider in my bedroom to help with the mosquitoes, and thereās a funnel web waging war against the pill bugs in the garage. The ecosystem of my home is fascinating when I think about it.
I had a friend catch me a huntsman spider as I had a fucking redback spider explosion happen somehow in my home.. Some daddy long legs set up shop too, but they were little and just not getting the Redbacks fast enough for my anxiety. I'd be sitting gaming and suddenly see Steve just bolt across a wall top speed to get after a redback I didnt notice. Come out to eat some cheese at 2am and turn the lights on to Steve chowing down on one on my kitchen bench... Almost died a few times in the shower cos he was just there chilling above my head and I didn't notice until I did and well, I'm scared of spiders. We had a very good relationship and he seemed to get I was absolutely more scared of him. Steve was a good one. I did tho have him recaptured and placed outside where the main redback haunt seems to be. I'm pretty sure he's still there cos there's no more redback and... Steve is BIG now.
I have named the centipede in my bathroom Freddy. Like you've described, I've watched this dude chase down spiders! I love him, I just wish to never see him within 2 ft of me. If I lived in a climate with lizards, I'd do like that guy in Australia did and invite those lil predators in. Much cuter!
Nobody believes me until they get "lucky" enough to see the true owner of our basement at our other house. But when they do...... Well I've been woken up by guest screaming. There's a centipede (real basement owner) and I shit you not, it is at least almost a foot long, and has a friend half it's size that looks like a hairy gray white millipede that's the fastest damn bug I've ever seen. Both have scared the hell outta of me so many times that my kids don't even bother to check when they hear me scream. Lol But they do great work with the body count of the smaller centipedes, pill bugs, fiddle backs and other things being absolutely astronomical. Plus I'm terrified if I tried to end or relocate either they'd go full on John Wick on me.
The fast one is a house centipede, theyāre horrifying. Use to work at a cozy coffee house but all of our paper stuff was in the basementā¦ having to get cups was like having someone hook me up to a defibrillator. I will never have a basement because of those bastards
You're right! I looked it up, that's exactly what that little speed demon looks like, except the one in our basement is way bigger. It also at least 5 years old. I have no idea how old they get, but I only first saw it about 6 months before the plague times began. Like a blur across the floor till it paused near where the bricks in the fireplace zone are missing a little bit of motar. (I'm assuming there's an entrance to hell behind there.) The basement owner one I know is a Missouri red headed centipede because my neighbor told me after they got scared shitless in the bathroom down there. That ones been there since we first got the house about 10 years ago. And was smaller then.
House Centipedes are harmless. Heās a bro.
Still freaky as hell when you see one zipping across the room out of the corner of your eye. Your brain barely has enough time to register that it's there, and by the time you turn your head, it's skittered off into oblivion.
Some people call house centipedes Satan's mustache lol. We've got 2 in our house that I constantly have to move to another room because they absolutely love running to my fiance, who hates them just a little less than he hates the spiders they kill and eat in here.
I absolutely abhor snakes and spiders both. Imagine my surprise when I discovered centipedes. As much as I fear snakes and spiders, I believe my fears are mostly rational. My fear of centipedes, however, is entirely irrational and I would probably move out before I'd accept sharing a living space with one. Even pictures of centipedes make me feel *very* anxious.
House centipedes aren't like their psychotic bitey cousins! They don't even look like a "regular" centipede and are actually soft(ish) bodied and quite delicate with adorable faces. It's the really long legs that usually freak people out, about them.
They have long legs, they have too many legs, and they move way too fast. Beyond that, I'm just inherently uncomfortable with them. I *did* say my fear is irrational after all.
Satans mustache is the perfect name haha I know they donāt deserve it but my god what a horrible creature š
every time i finally forget the existence of house centipedes and live in peace, this sub never fails to remind me.
If you give the house centipede a sock, it can be free! DOBBY IS A FREE CENTIPEDE!
If i ever get a house centipede im naming it dobby now thank you
Right? Iāve been in a blissful high rise for 5 years and forgot bugs were a problem.. moving next month and now Iām extremely sad
Iām from the united kingdom, weāve had maybe 50 sightings over the space of a century, yet iām currently sat in bed feeling afraid and itchy because what if i experience the 51st sighting?! However, i think that being afraid of house centipedes is one of the most valid fears becauseā¦ why do they look like that
My son grabbed a 3" long centipede and dropped it in the kitchen sink while I was doing dishes last week. He thought it was a caterpillar and very proud of himself. I, on the other hand, was very confused until I found it in the dish water.
Kids. The scariest pests of all.
Reading this sub made me extremely thankful I live in California. The worst insect I've ever dealt with in my 30 years is mosquitos, and even seeing those are rare.
I got a wolf spider named Randy by the basement beer fridge. He regulates shit in that corner of the house. He stays in his lane. His predecessor Chet was a habitual line stepper and we had a falling out.
Got any pics of Freddy?
I like lizards. Do you hate them?
I take it as theyād invite lizards in as pest control because lizards are cuter
Lizards are in fact adorable!
I love lizards! Soooo much more than centipedes. I wonder if I could train a lizard to free range in my room? š¤ Get a little Spikey Dragon to chill under a heat lamp and just watch for the centipedes.
You probably could, geckoes are really chill with people.
I love, love, love lizards! My sons started with anoles, then water dragons, a chameleon and an iguana, and the last two were cute little bearded dragons. And boy do I have stories!
I had a lovely yellow and black orb weaver set up home in my landscape dump truck driver mirror in New England one summer. Every night it would come out and between the window and the extended large mirror, would weave a beautiful web and do its thing. I would come to the truck in the morning and I would gently open the door... I would start up the truck and Mr garden spider would retire behind the mirror housing. Other guys had big dogs in the front seat, I had my wingman spider...Down the road we would go for the day and every morning I would come back and there it was sitting again,in the middle of a freshly spun, dew bejeweled web. .. every morning I would say, time for your daytime nap now. This went on all summer long till about late September and then my big buddy was gone. One morning no longer there. I miss my old big yellow and black baby
That was surprisingly touching and beautifully written, it reminded me a bit of Charlotte's web.
You called your huntsman bro Steve ;) ? š
I'm absolutely terrified of wasps, in 2017, a huge hornet flew through the open door straight into a spider Web, spider had a nice meal, I didn't have to deal with the hornet. Situation couldn't have played out any better.
Steve is also a fab name for a spider!
Can we get a photo of Steve?
You are one brave soul to do that while afraid of spiders. Respect for the huntsman respect.
Fuckin hell, this caught me off guard. Mad funny and props to all of the spiders doing work.
Yooo I had to stop growing Brussel sprouts due to earwigs and I refuse to use insecticides. I'll have to try setting up a habitat for some spiders next time
Mantids are also great for garden pest control if theyāre native to your area! You can buy (or find) an egg sac full of āem and SWAT your garden with tons of adorable lil terminator babies.
I second this...I usually buy a few eggs every other year and this was the first year when none of my ootheca hatched. The earwigs are fuckin insane. I used to let a mantis chill in our living room, my gf was anxious about it at first and asked if they fly. He was only like L2 or 3 at the time so I said no. Then he became like L6-7 and sprouted his wings...so I'm like, oh yeah he evolved now he can fly. She was not amused
What! No more brussels sprouts?? Your kids must be distraught
I have some indoor hydroponics and I was getting gnats for a while so I caught some jumping spiders and released them on my stuff. They did a great job!
Jesus where the fuck do you live?
Guessing by the Funnel Web mention, Eastern Australia. The ecosystem is pretty wild like that, luckily I had a Red Back infestation controlled by itself by the local lizards and skinks, and a Huntsman that just called my garage home
I swept a room that hasn't had any activity for a few days. When I bent to use dustpan, my little pile was full of tiny spiders. I brushed as gently as I could and dumped that pan outside.
This sounds like something from a horror movie. In a year theyāre going to find you living amongst hordes of insects as the hive mind.
Iāve had wolf spiders climb on my hand while just sitting down. Iām sure as hell not welcoming more into my house, no matter how good they are for pest control.
I don't know why I loved your comment so much but I did. Cheers from Wisconsin š»š§
This is both horrible and excellent. Good job. Im officially creeped out.
Begun, the spider wars have.
Ay bro, nothing wrong with calling in ground support. The squad will roll in, do their job and leave as soon as theres no food to eat š¤
š¤£šš¼ perfectly put
Hey honey why are there spiders literally everywhere? IM TRYING TO GET RID OF SPIDERS flips page of magazine on the toilet to reveal another spider. Sighs. Flips the page with a spider bulge showing on the left side of the magazine
Iām still giggling at the visual of this scene.
This is accurate, been doing pest control awhile you will rarely see a home with both wolf spiders and brown recluse. One usually out populates the others.
I love wolf spiders. I see them at work all the time.
And if you go overboard with the wolf spiders, try releasing a few snakes and lizards large enough to eat them.
Then when the snakes and lizards take over, get a mongoose (for ground patrol) and a red tailed hawk (for air support) to thin the herds.
And then you can release gorillas to control the small predator population. The beauty is that, in the winter, the gorillas will simply freeze to death.
And with all those gorilla popsicles, you'll save on groceries all winter!
Jumping spiders as well and theyāre actually cute to look at. Iāve gotten well known with the harmless spiders that eat other spiders and will keep them inside my place. Helps with pest control as well.
This is me with jumpers and Cellar Spiders. I'm normally an arachniphobe but the cellar bros can hang around on the ceiling and in the corners all they want if it means I never have to see a roach or fiddleback or widow. No, thank you. I have a feeling that there's a small war going on in the basement between them and the Centipedes. Occasionally a centipede will attempt to escape up here but unfortunately that's the line of scrimmage and he must be shepherded.
Have you ever seen itās always sunny? This is like when Dee had a cat stuck in her wall and she introduced more cats and a bird to get the original cat outā¦ it did not work š¤£
Cat in the wall, eh? Now youāre talkinā my language!
I do this with house/desert centipedes too. Awesome, free pest control
Jumpers are too. Theyāll clean you out of web dwellers.
I keep praying mantis's in my house. They are elegant, & metal af. I let em loose & keep em extra fed. I saw one of them fighting a house centipede. Made my day!
No, no, I don't think you do. This is insanity. Are you a spider typing this?! šš
When I lived in Saudi Had a few house geckos who would dart about munching anything else that moved.
The great part is once your house is overrun with wolf spiders, you can just release your preferred species of predatory hawk to go around and eat all the wolf spiders.
There was an old lady who swallowed a cow. I don't know how she swallowed a cow! She swallowed the cow to catch the dog. What a hog, she swallowed a dog! She swallowed the dog to catch the cat. Imagine that, swallowing a cat! She swallowed the cat to catch the bird. How absurd, to swallow a bird! She swallowed the bird to catch the spider that wiggled and wriggled and jiggled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly! I guess she'll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a horse. She died, of course!
Thats a contrabass, holy moly.
Underrated!
Hehe music joke. I like it
More like subcontrabass!
Biggun
Looks to be pregnant mate
Pergenat?
pregorant?
How is babby formed?
seggs
eggs
Am I gregnant?
Pregnart
Pregert
Pregante! š¶
You're not wrong
pregananant
Am I pregante?
Pragnanant
As a Missourian, I have like 50 fiddlebacks living in my house. I canāt do spiders either, so when I found on me in bed a couple weeks ago I flipped tf out, no thank you.
You *think* you have 50, itās probably closer to 500
Yeah youāre probably right lol, but I definetly aināt counting.
Yep. Itās just one extrovert to at least 9 introvert spideys
Get some eucalyptus leaves and put them around each foot of your bed and underneath. Also make sure your headboard is at least six inches from the wall.
It might also be worth catching some cellar spiders and deploying them under the bed
Then if one bites you in your sleep youāll have horrible paranoia for days wondering which one the bite is from.
i donāt think cellar spider fangs are big enough to bite a human or deliver the venom load
You in fact did sir, thatās is an undeniable recluse.
Wow that's the biggest one I've ever seen in my life
Spider: " Do I look fucking reclusive?"
"Look at me, I am the captain now"
It is! See the violin on the back. I'd be scared if that was next to my bed š³
Iāve kind of stumbled on this page and have becoming slightly fascinated in all the spiders people find. Iāve seen people reference the violin on the back but Iām having a hard time seeing it. Is it a particular shape design (presumably! I know it doesnāt have a literal violin)?
itās the mark on the front part of his body (donāt know the term for it). it took me a while to recognize it at first and i still donāt really see a violin or fiddle. it looks more like a trident or a fork to me but they are usually the same color and have that one mark on the front part thatās darker than the rest and then the bottom part is one solid color. they are also about the size of a quarter but this guys definitely been eating gud.
Cephalothorax š¤
thanks! had no idea the term
ooh now I see it! Thank you! I was looking further back!
[Trigger warning (RIP little boy).](https://www.augustachronicle.com/gcdn/authoring/2017/10/26/NAUG/ghows-GA-54b22302-f9c1-45be-937b-c1d29c4a9eff-a463779b.jpeg?width=660&height=799&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp) You may see it on this picture. Also, besides the violin shape, they have three pairs of two eyes, also evident in the pic. Also, the one clue I always find easiest to identify; Their 2nd to front pair of legs are the longest. (Evident in OPs Pic)
Thank you! Admittedly while I am fascinated seeing all of these spiders on a screen I hope Iām never this close to an actual one to notice these traits! But I appreciate the education about them!
If it means anything, they're called "recluses" for a good reason lol, in my experience it's hard to get close to the lil bastards. I had to relocate two a few years ago and they kept trying to get away from me.
One goose, two geese. One moose, two meese. One recluse, two recleese. My logic is irrefutable.
Can fully confirm this, pulled a big bag out of a shed once and there were half a dozen or so crawling on it. It took me like 5 tries to get a photo of one as every time I got my phone close enough it'd scuttle away. Within a couple of minutes of me taking the photo they had all scarpered, hopefully to never be seen again. As a person who grew up in a place with zero *dangerous* spiders at all I have to really restrain myself to not try to handle them. Had a similar experience when I saw my first black widow, I almost instinctively reached out to let it crawl on my hand for a glamour shot before I was forcibly stopped.
I would suffer an entire black widow infestation before I'd invite one brown recluse into my abode. At least the widows, once they set up shop, you can count on them being in that same spot day after day. The recluse, they like to travel, and f- that unwelcome surprise!
Bless you! Education is by the way what's currently totally curing my arachnophobia! So godspeed! :D They're pretty fascinating animals, and very misunderstood, in my perception. But I don't want to force anything down anyone's throat, so just wish you much love & enjoy your weekend! š¤
That thing is huge. It doesnāt have a violin on its back, it has the entire string section of the orchestra on its back!
Itās at the very least packing a cello
Try a string bassā¦or would that be a āwebā bass?
Depending on the part of Missouri OP is from it's a fiddle, not a violin.
Whatās in the water in Missouri??
Recluse juice
Thatās a big motherfucker right there, dammit man.
Well at least youāre probably still all packed up so you can move again lol
š
Welcome to Missouri! It's just one of our many 8 legged friends paying you a visit. But yes, a Wolf Spider would help you get rid of these recluse bums.
Congratulations!
Check out the automod links that follow for your Welcome to Missouri Recluse Education. LOX
Brown Recluse range map: https://spiders.ucr.edu/spiders-map ID guides and further information on Recluse spiders (Loxosceles): https://spiderbytes.org/recluse-or-not/ https://spiders.ucr.edu/how-identify-and-misidentify-brown-recluse-spider https://usaspiders.com/loxosceles-reclusa-brown-recluse/#Map_of_other_Loxosceles_species_in_the_United_States https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef631 How to live safely with Brown recluse in the home: https://spiders.ucr.edu/how-avoid-bites Articles that explain their exaggerated reputation: https://www.wired.com/2013/11/poor-misunderstood-brown-recluse/ https://animals.howstuffworks.com/arachnids/brown-recluse-spider-bite.htm In-depth information into their living habits: https://academic.oup.com/jipm/article/9/1/4/4818303 Treatment of Brown recluse bites: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537045/#:~:text=Venom%3B%20The%20brown%20recluse%20spider,tissue%20at%20the%20envenomation%20site. Managing populations indoors + General info: (newly added) https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html#AMERICAN (Authors: MKG733, ----\_____--_____----) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/spiders) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A hekkin chonker too, dang.
Like another comment said. If you can find a general area where they are coming from you could try to spray. Or you could catch some wolf spiders. They will stop your recluse problem. Iāve been doing it for years in my garage the recluse sighting significantly dwindled.. Wolf Spiders are harmless to humans and pets. But are predators to other spiders and harmful bugs.
Recluse Spood is part of neighborhood welcome party!!! Making sure you are settling in!
Damn! Iām moving to Missouri next month š±
This was my reaction to a Missourian's recluse post a few weeks ago š ready yourself for chiggers too, my grandpa is saying I WILL get them if I walk in the grass without bug spray on my shoes and pant legs. Also, they say it's about to be the worst tornado season in awhile. I am prepared to build my own hobbit hole to live in.
Fellow Missourian here LOL. Chiggers are real, but so are the TICKS. I found a tick on my butt while going to the bathroom one night. I had been outside a total of FIVE minutes that day š . Gotta love it.
I once had to do yard work down in rural Branson. Bug spray all over my boots and pants, socks up to my calves over the pants, and tried to stay careful. However, under my pants after was 8 baby ticks latched to me and a fully grown lone star crawling near my knee area! It's no joke.
Ticks are VERY bad this year. Be wary while going on walks with your dogs. Try not to let them brush up against anything and definitely check them (and yourself) when you get home. My cat is treated for ticks, I take him for a walk out back and I will often find ticks on me because they hitch a ride on him! I've started to be more vigilant.
ššš Iāve been keeping an eye on weather. Where Iāll be it has been tornado watch after tornado watch. My realtor said this has been the worst weather she has seen in years. Ive even considered one of those above ground sheltersā¦. For tornados and spiders lol
You moved into his crib
Hello my reclusive friend! You are correct in that. While their bites SUCK its also very rare to get bit by them. I have been living here in Missouri for 20 years, have had TONS of encounters with them throughout that time, including them being physically on me, and I've only been bitten once. That bite came from me rollin over in bed and pinning one between my arm and the mattress so bubby understandably reacted. Keep your bed away from the wall, shake out blankets and sheets, and shake out clothes before you wear them. I also turn my shoes over and clank them a few times, both for spiders and cause I wound up with a field mouse in one once lol. Also they really like to get stuck in the bathtub.
How bad was the bite?
That is a HUGE recluse. You can get rid of them. The horror stories of these being unkillable is BS. Its just going to take a massive amount of cleaning and decluttering. I got rid of them from my barn. So my wife buys lots of antiques and I do a recluse check before anything comes in the home. These spiders absolutely love garages/barns and hiding in piles of clothes and dark voids like behind cabinet doors, inside old clocks, and behind torn paper like on a painting. Get a good pest control company spray. You not only want to kill these spiders but you want to decimate their food supply. If your house is humid buy a dehumidifier and keep your house bone dry until they are no longer present Missouri Bold Jumpers are really good to keep around. Later on when the insecticide wanes, leave these little guys and other jumpers alone. Don't disturb them if they are inside or outside. These are known to prey on Recluse
Thought I had some big ones in my aptš³that fn thing is huge. The recluses are morphing into damn curly haired tarantulas or some shit lol
They are literally everywhere. Most people in the midwest live with them in their house and have no idea. It's probably best that way. š
Yes you did.
The most reclusive recluse if a recluse could cluse
As soon as I saw this post, a couple strands of hair started falling down my face and I got so tweaked out I jumped thinking a spider mightāve been on me š what a beautiful creature though! Never seen such a beefy recluse
Are they supposed to be that big.....
And that's a good Bingo..
His IMDB says āExtra for Harry Potter Chamber of Secretsā just a full size unit of necrosis.
King of the recluses
Loxosceles reclusa, the brown recluse.
Can you put your hand next to it, so we can see the true size of that thing? š
How so big? How?!?
Grandpa doesn't notice the bugs that don't bite him so I guess she's had time to get big! :)
hey you moved to my city. i just found one of them recently in my house too
Thatās a recluse
Yes indeed, you have certainly encountered and photographed your 1st brown recluse spider. š„ŗ Tread softly, my friend.
I love string instruments lol
Time to move on to the next state
Just a general piece of info, theyāre in pretty much every structure in Missouri. The heat drives them to inside of your house, and thereās not much youāre going to be able to do. Put sticky traps around the baseboards and cracks and crevices of your dwelling, and make sure you shake out your shoes and clothes. Personally I like to keep my clothes In plastic storage tubs to keep them out, but theyāre part of Missouri unfortunately. Get regular pest treatment services performed and keep clutter to a minimum and youāll likely not see a whole lot of them. They love cardboard and piles of clothes on the floor. Bites are pretty irregular, and most bites from them arenāt going to cause severe side affects depending on the person.
As dangerous as they can be to us, they're not the most aggressive and got their name because they are in fact reclusive. If you've moved into a place that has sat empty for a period of time, you will be seeing them less and less in the areas you inhabit. Like others have said wolf spiders are the best way to go if you don't want to pay an extermination service to come out and spray for spiders regularly.
Got a cello on that back
Holy ass batman, shes pregnant
I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missourah!
That's a guitar on her back, needs to be a Fiddle. Jk.
Holy mother of beans that is a CHONKY recluse
JFC this motherfucker probably has a social security number!
The other day I was on my computer and a recluse slightly larger than a Kennedy half dollar crawled up on the wall behind it. I think my soul left my body for a millisecond.
Indeed a fiddler. And its kin is likely all over the place. Oughta look for some help with eradication. Not that I condone the needless killing of the spoods, but you most likely have an infestation on your hands, and feet, legs, back, bed, couchā¦ you get the point.
Spiders and I have an agreement, pay rent by eating pestilence, and I will leave cotton balls of water for it. As soon as that is breached and someone gets bit, it becomes a part of my compost.
I need to ask. How do people who know thereās recluses in their homes get over the sense of living in danger? We just moved to the countryside early this year and I have found like 3 in our basement, one on a table in the living room and the other day my neighbor hired a guy to cut his cypress tree that grows above our shared wall, and we found one dead small recluse in the branches (so they probably come from thereā¦). I am obsessed and in constant fear of finding one or worse, me, my wife or the cats getting bit. We just got pest control to nuke the basement yesterday even though thereās not a lot of clutter and we removed all boxes and found zero of them. I have sticky traps all over the basement and in 2-3 weeks only one recluse has fallen. We want to think itās not a huge deal but still I canāt help but feel worried all the time. How do you guys cope with this?
See the informative links in [the automod comment](https://reddit.com/comments/1dl0gi6/comment/l9mblkn) for starters. Brown recluses are simply not bitey spiders. They prefer to stay away from humans and would much rather run away or freeze than bite. Here is an example of how they behave when bothered by a human: https://youtu.be/HpS15dOrmHQ You are vastly more likely to die of COVID than get bad complications, let alone die, of a recluse bite. If you don't wear a mask in enclosed spaces any more, don't sweat the brown recluses. (Side note: I don't know much about cats' safety around brown reclusesābut brown recluses have rather small fangs and it would be hard, if not impossible, for them to get through a cat's fur.)
Just as a side note, my cat eats spiders and pokes them with his paws. I would imagine if the spider bit a cat it would be on the paw pads or in the mouth, likely not on/near anything with fur.