KANSAS (KSNT) – A Kansas State University entomology specialist is talking about brown recluse infestations and how to treat them.
K-State Extension Specialist in Entomology Jeff Whitworth said brown recluses are likely the most common indoor spider in Kansas. He said that, true to their name, they tend to hide in cluttered or undisturbed places and some houses may have more hidden than you’d realize.
“In my opinion, and I’ve been in the pest control business, urban pest control advising, the brown recluse spider in Kansas is probably the number one most common spider indoors,” Whitworth said. “Whether that’s garages, basements, sheds, they’re really, really common, but as the name implies, they’re reclusive.”
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Whitworth said there’s less of a problem from October to March as brown recluses go into a period of inactivity.
Whitworth mentioned one home he’d visited that had a bad infestation of brown recluses. He said the home, despite being treated multiple times by pest services and despite being around September, had a serious infestation.
“They’ll produce 30-50 young in an egg case and two to three egg cases in a year,” Whitworth said. “They can be pretty prolific.”
Whitworth said that even well-kept homes can have 20–30 per year. Whitworth recommended putting sticky traps in dark places. He said it doesn’t help or hurt a lot, but it can give you a better idea of how many are in your home.
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Regarding insecticides, Whitworth said they’re not very effective directly on brown recluses because they have long hairs on their feet that prevent contact with insecticides. Whitworth said that spraying mainly helps by killing their food sources but said direct contact with insecticides can kill them.
“Spraying doesn’t hurt, but mainly what you’re doing is trying to kill the food source,” Whitworth said. “If you spray, you’re going to kill the crickets or rolly polys that the brown recluse might use as a food source.”
We asked Whitworth if any other spider species can cause infestations in Kansas. Whitworth said the only spiders that are likely to affect people are brown recluses, black widows and wolf spiders. He said that black widows are generally easier to get rid of because they make a web, wait for prey and are generally easier to spot. Whitworth said wolf spiders often wander indoors, but only brown recluses and black widows pose a significant risk to humans.
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Brown recluses can deliver a venomous bite that is hemotoxic, according to resources from the K-State Research and Extension Office. Recluse bites can result in a bleeding, ulcerous wound that takes a long time to heal.
The spiders can be recognized by a few different features that make them unique. Brown recluses are sometimes referred to as violin or cello spiders or fiddlebacks due to the pattern located on the spider’s body. Brown recluses are also the only spiders to possess six eyes arranged in three pairs in a semicircle.
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