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Brown recluse spiders in Austin, Texas

Recluse spiders are, well… reclusive. They are not easy to find unless the home is absolutely infested with them, to the point that that they have trouble finding places to hide that aren’t already loaded with other brown recluse spiders. This home was neat as a pin, and had absolutely no obvious clutter where brown recluse spiders could secret themselves away from the sight of humans with strong flashlights. [...]

Notes on Brown Recluse Spider Behavior

Most of the photos used in this article were taken during inspection and collection visits to locations in Joplin, Missouri, Grove Oklahoma, and various locations in Collin, Hays, Parker, Tarrant, Travis, and Wise Counties, within the state of Texas… [...]

Loxoscelism

Researchers analyzing venoms from spiders in the genus Loxosceles succeeded in identifying–as early as 1981–the toxin Sphingomyelinase D (SMaseD) as a sufficient cause of the dermonecrotic lesions that bites from these spiders produce in humans. The mode of action involves cleavage within the molecular structure of the eukaryotic membrane phospholipid sphingomyelin. Normal cleavages of phospholipids are necessary housekeeping processes for maintenance of healthy tissues, but when abnormal, wholesale cleavages occur in sphingomyelin, specifically between the choline and phosphate junction–i.e., at the D site–the result is actual tissue necrosis, or cell death. [...]

A Brown recluse Spider from Wichita Falls, Texas

— BugsInTheNews is a VIEWER-PARTICIPANT WEBSITE. This article by Jerry Cates and Ralph E., first published in June 2007, was revised last on 7 July 2012. © Bugsinthenews Vol. 8:06

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Related Links:

Brown recluse Anatomy Brown recluse encounters in Austin, Texas Brown recluse behavior; encounters in Joplin [...]

A Brown recluse spider at Lake Travis,Texas

Tom sent me this photograph of a brown recluse spider his wife had earlier found in their garage, on 09 December 2008. Earlier, along with some photos of a green lynx spider, Tom mentioned that his wife had found a recluse spider in a box of blankets stored in the garage, and offered to provide photos. In 28 years of collecting spiders in Central Texas, including the area around Lake Travis [...]

A Brown recluse spider in Collin County, Texas

This brown recluse spider was found in a shop in north central Collin County, Texas on 18 January 2010. It may have come in via boxed equipment and supplies, or from the outside. If from the outside, we can expect more to drop in from time to time… [...]

Brown Recluse Spider Anatomy

The brown recluse spider (Loxosceles reclusa) is one of thirteen species of recluse spiders recognized in the genus Loxosceles that are native to North America. The genus is distributed worldwide, and a total of 100 species of recluse spiders have been descri… [...]