The desert recluse is a brown colored spider belonging to the Sicariidae family. Found in certain parts of the United States, it is often confused with the brown recluse, though both are different from the other in many aspects and the latter does not dwell within the closest vicinity of the former.
Size: Both the males and females are of the same size being about ½ inch in length, having a leg span between 1.5 inches and 2 inches.
Color: Tan, yellowish-tan, with their abdomen being light brown in color.
Other Characteristic Features: Their body has a fiddle-shaped marking and like most recluse spiders they possess six eyes instead of eight, arranged in pairs of three.
The eggs are small and round in size.
The spiderlings of the desert recluse like most others detach from their mother in a span of few days from hatching.
Their webs are irregular in shape and spun in areas which remain undisturbed. Moreover, these spiders of hunting origin do not weave webs in order to obtain their food.
The bite of the desert recluse may be toxic, since it has a necrotic nature, damaging the skin as well as surrounding tissues severely, resulting in lesions which might take a considerable period of time for healing. Some people have also reported symptoms like nausea, fever, abdominal cramps, joint stiffness, headache, and fever. If someone has encountered the bite of this spider, then the first step of the treatment would be to care for the wound at the earliest and control the symptoms (if any) from increasing.
| Lifespan | 1 to 3 years on an average |
| Distribution | Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, California and parts of Mexico |
| Habitat | Mostly found outdoors amidst dense vegetation as well as dens of packrats, they hardly thrive indoors |
| Diet | Small live insects and sometimes even the dead ones. |
Image Credits: Utahpests.usu.edu, Blueskypest.com, Images.terro.com, Bioweb.uwlax.edu
The desert recluse is a brown colored spider belonging to the Sicariidae family. Found in certain parts of the United States, it is often confused with the brown recluse, though both are different from the other in many aspects and the latter does not dwell within the closest vicinity of the former.
Size: Both the males and females are of the same size being about ½ inch in length, having a leg span between 1.5 inches and 2 inches.
Color: Tan, yellowish-tan, with their abdomen being light brown in color.
Other Characteristic Features: Their body has a fiddle-shaped marking and like most recluse spiders they possess six eyes instead of eight, arranged in pairs of three.
The eggs are small and round in size.
The spiderlings of the desert recluse like most others detach from their mother in a span of few days from hatching.
Their webs are irregular in shape and spun in areas which remain undisturbed. Moreover, these spiders of hunting origin do not weave webs in order to obtain their food.
The bite of the desert recluse may be toxic, since it has a necrotic nature, damaging the skin as well as surrounding tissues severely, resulting in lesions which might take a considerable period of time for healing. Some people have also reported symptoms like nausea, fever, abdominal cramps, joint stiffness, headache, and fever. If someone has encountered the bite of this spider, then the first step of the treatment would be to care for the wound at the earliest and control the symptoms (if any) from increasing.
| Lifespan | 1 to 3 years on an average |
| Distribution | Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, California and parts of Mexico |
| Habitat | Mostly found outdoors amidst dense vegetation as well as dens of packrats, they hardly thrive indoors |
| Diet | Small live insects and sometimes even the dead ones. |
Image Credits: Utahpests.usu.edu, Blueskypest.com, Images.terro.com, Bioweb.uwlax.edu
