|
|
The brown recluse spider was collected from the home of a Bug-Out Service customer. “One of our customers said they had gotten bitten by a spider, had to go the emergency room and the doctor classified it as a brown recluse spider bite,” said Bug-Out Senior Manager Robert Holyfield. “I told the customer that I doubted that was the case because I’ve been hearing reports about brown recluse spider bites for the last 25 years and it always turns out to be something different. The customer said ‘I believe it is a spider bite because I think the doctor knows more than you.’”
|
|
When Holyfield was presented with the spider in question he changed his tune. Holyfield recognized that the spider had several physical characteristics, including eye pattern, of a brown recluse spider and sent it to Duval County Extension Service Agent Pam Mattis. “The eye pattern is a defining characteristic of brown recluse spiders,” Mattis said. “Most spiders have four sets of eyes — for a total of eight eyes. Brown recluse spiders have three sets of eyes — for a total of six.”
Mattis, in turn, sent the spider specimen to the University of Florida Entomology Department’s Dr. Lyle Buss, who verified that the specimen was, in fact, a brown recluse spider.
Since the initial spider was collected, two additional spiders have been collected on glueboards from the same Jacksonville house and sent to Buss. One of the samples was tentatively identified as a juvenile, however that has yet to be confirmed by Buss. Presence of juveniles would suggest that the spiders have been breeding and the home is infested. Mattis, however, cautions against such speculation. “At this point the only thing we can confirm is one brown recluse spider was found in one isolated spot and that we have a total of three specimens,” she said.