spiders

Black Widow spiders are shy and secretive and found in seldom-disturbed areas. The mature female has a characteristic hourglass-shaped, reddish orange marking on the underside of the abdomen. Black widow spiders are predaceous, devouring small arthropods trapped in their webs. Their bite is relatively painless at first, but may be followed in about an hour by intense pain and swelling. The venom causes nausea, cramps, lack of coordination, and difficulty breathing by interference in nervous functions. Death has occurred in individuals hypersensitive to the venom.

 Brown Recluse spiders generally occupy dark, undisturbed sites, and they can occur indoors or outdoors. In favorable habitats, their populations are usually dense. They thrive in human-altered environments. Indoors, they may be found in attics, basements, crawl spaces, cellars, closets, and ductwork or registers. They may seek shelter in storage boxes, shoes, clothing, folded linens, and behind furniture. They also may be found in outbuildings such as barns, storage sheds, and garages. Outdoors, brown recluse spiders may be found underneath logs, loose stones in rock piles, and stacks of lumber.

The brown recluse spider is not aggressive, and it normally bites only when crushed, handled or disturbed. Some people have been bitten in bed after inadvertently rolling over onto the spider. Others have been bitten after accidentally touching the spider when cleaning storage areas.

 A Banana Spider is a very large common spider in North America. Usually hangs in webs with its head facing the ground. It is brightly colored. Its venom is a neurotoxin similar to that of the black widow. However, its venom is not near as potent. Its bite causes local pain and redness with blisters forming. This bite usually resolves within 24 hours except for the bite mark.

Wolf Spider-Common household pest in the fall when they are looking for a warm place to overwinter. They are commonly found around doors, windows, house plants, basements, garages, and in almost all terrestrial habitats. They do not spin a web but roam at night to hunt for food. Wolf spiders are often confused with the brown recluse, but they lack the unmistakable violin-shaped marking behind the head. The wolf spider is shy and seeks to run away when disturbed.

Grass / Funnel Spider-Very common around homes and edges of foundations. They commonly build a funnel shaped web. They can be teased out by gently touching the outer web with a stick. Their venom is hemotoxic but is much less than severe than the Brown Recluse. The most common symptoms are local swelling, redness and itching.