Brown Recluse

Loxosceles reclusa lives in the central and south-central United States — roughly Iowa to Texas, Ohio to Oklahoma. The body is small (6-10 mm) with a distinctive violin-shaped marking on the cephalothorax. Their venom contains sphingomyelinase D, a phospholipase that destroys cell membranes and can cause locally necrotic skin lesions ('loxoscelism') taking weeks to months to heal. Despite the fearsome reputation, most reported 'brown recluse bites' in medical literature come from outside the species' geographic range — from regions where the spider doesn't exist. Researchers Vetter and Bush (2002, 2008) documented over 1,000 'recluse bite' diagnoses from California, Florida, and Oregon — locations where Loxosceles reclusa has never been collected. Most are mis-attributed: MRSA infections, herpes lesions, fungal infections, contact dermatitis, and even diabetic ulcers commonly get blamed on recluse bites. Real bites are rare and usually accidental — when humans sleep on or roll onto a hidden spider. Recluses don't aggressively attack.