Which area is the core of the brown recluse’s range?

Kansas to Kentucky, southern Iowa to Louisiana

What should you do if you think a brown recluse has bitten you?

Tell an adult and get medical help

Grab the spider with bare hands

Brown Recluse Spider

Loxosceles reclusa

The brown recluse spider (Loxosceles reclusa) is a six-eyed brown spider of the family Sicariidae. It lives in the south-central and midwestern United States, roughly from Kansas east to Kentucky and from southern Iowa south to Louisiana, often inside houses, barns and sheds. It is shy and hunts insects at night. Its bite is uncommon and usually heals well, but it can sometimes cause a serious skin wound, and many wounds blamed on it have other causes.

Also known as Fiddleback spider, Violin spider

Brown recluse abilities

3 pairs of eyes: the surest clue
The surest way to recognise a recluse is not the violin but the eyes: six of them, in three pairs.
- With a magnifying glass, look for one pair at the front and one pair on each side, with gaps between.
- Next clues: legs of one colour with no spines or bands, and a plain abdomen with no pattern.
- With this checklist, more than 99% of spiders found by Californians can be ruled out as recluses.
- Doctors, pest controllers and other authorities have mistaken many harmless spiders for brown recluses, so experts ask for a proper identification.
Sources [1, 2, 8]
≥ 9 mm crack width it picks
By day it squeezes into a dark, quiet gap, and the flap of a cardboard box is perfect.
- In tests, brown recluses picked cracks at least 9 mm wide and preferred upright gaps to flat ones.
- They chose hideouts already lined with recluse silk over fresh ones or ones used by an unrelated spider.
- Some stayed in the same hideout for a whole 30-day test; others moved every 2–3 days.
- In homes they turn up in boxes, cupboards, behind furniture and in shoes and clothes left on the floor.
Sources [4, 6, 7]
≈50 nm thin ribbon, spun into loops
It spins flat silk ribbons and twists tiny loops into them, a trick that can make the silk tougher.
- The ribbon is only about 50 nm thick, a few layers of protein, yet it rivals the best spider silks.
- Recluse silk ribbons are built from protein fibres about 20 nm wide and more than 1 μm long.
- Scientists found that the tiny loops recluses spin into the ribbon can make the silk tougher.
- Its messy webbing lines the hideout and is also used to build egg sacs.
Sources [2, 5, 9, 10]
5–8 moults to grow up
To grow, a young recluse sheds its whole skin 5–8 times, leaving an empty spider-shaped copy behind.
- Shed skins look like a spider with its legs stretched out. Finding them is a sign that recluses live nearby.
- Day length matters: in a winter lab test, 8 of 10 young brown recluses moulted under 14-hour days, but none under 10-hour days.
- Young spiders started moulting again in spring even though they were not being fed.
- Chilean recluses in the same test moulted whatever the day length.
Young brown recluses that moulted in winter (out of 10)
14 hours of light a day8 of 10
Natural daylight3 of 10
10 hours of light a day0 of 10
Lab test in California, November 2015 to March 2016.
Sources [2, 11]
≈50 eggs per sac
A female wraps about 50 eggs in a small off-white silk sac and keeps it in her hideout.
- An egg sac is about 8 mm (1/3 in) across.
- In one lab study, sacs held 50 eggs on average (0–91), each female made 2.7 sacs and about half the eggs (48%) hatched.
- A female can make up to 5 egg sacs in her life.
- That is few for a spider: many common spiders lay hundreds or thousands of eggs.
Sources [2, 4]
≈10% of bites cause bigger skin damage
Venom glands in the front body feed the fangs, and silk glands sit in the abdomen. The venom is for insects; most bites on people heal well.
- The key venom ingredient is an enzyme called sphingomyelinase D. It breaks down a fat in cell membranes and causes the skin damage some bites lead to.
- This enzyme has been found in every recluse species tested and their close relatives, the six-eyed sand spiders, but in no other animals.
- About 10% of bites cause moderate or worse skin damage and a scar. Most cause only redness and swelling and heal on their own.
- Rarely, mostly in children, a bite can make a person ill all over. That is why anyone who may have been bitten should see a doctor.
Sources [1, 2, 4, 12, 13]
4–7 months without food at 5 °C
Its body runs on very little energy, so it can wait months for its next meal, especially when it is cool.
- For its size, its heart beats slowly, at a rate like a tarantula’s.
- Starved in a lab, field-caught brown recluses lived 4–7 months at 5 °C, but only 1–2 months at 30 °C and under 2 weeks at 40 °C.
- Recluse spiders in general can survive 6 to 12 months without food.
- All brown recluses survived 30 days at 0 °C, but none survived 30 days at −5 °C.
How long starved brown recluses lived (lab)
At 5 °C4–7 months
At 30 °C1–2 months
At 40 °Cunder 2 weeks
Bar lengths use the middle of each range. Cool spiders use less energy.
Sources [1, 4]
99 of 100 other spiders scavenged tooStill debated
At night it hunts insects, and it will also eat insects that are already dead.
- It leaves its hideout after dark to hunt, or waits for insects to come within a few inches of its retreat.
- In a 2003 study, brown recluses preferred dead crickets to live ones, even crickets killed with insecticide.
- A later study found scavenging is common: 99 of 100 other spiders tested also ate dead crickets. How much recluses rely on it in the wild is not known.
Sources [1, 2, 14, 15]

Tap a pin on the model or a part below.

6 eyes in 3 pairs
- Six eyes of the same size, grouped in three pairs called dyads: one pair at the front and one on each side, with gaps between them.
- Most spiders have eight eyes, often in two rows of four.
- Together the three pairs form a half-circle.
Sources [1, 2]
- The dark violin shape sits on top of the front body part, the cephalothorax, never on the abdomen.
- It is fairly clear on adult brown recluses but can be faint, so it is not a reliable clue on its own.
- People often “see” violins on harmless spiders, including dark marks on the abdomen.
Sources [1]
0% median bite response when pinched (lab)
- Its fangs are very small. It cannot bite through clothing.
- In a lab test, brown recluses that were gently pressed or pinched almost never bit. Wolf spiders in the same test bit back in most trials.
- Bites happen when a spider is pressed against bare skin, for example in bed or while getting dressed.
Sources [2, 3, 4]
- Palps are the two short feelers beside the fangs. A spider uses them to touch and hold things.
- In adult males the palp tips are swollen, because males use them to mate.
- Male brown recluses have much shorter palps than male Chilean recluses, whose palps are exceptionally long.
Sources [4]
US quarter about its size with legs spread
- Long, thin legs, the same colour all over, with fine hairs and no stout spines, stripes or rings.
- The name Loxosceles means “slanted legs”, for the way recluses hold their legs at rest.
- With its legs spread out, an adult is about the size of a US quarter coin.
Sources [1, 2]
≤ 9.5 mm body length (3/8 in)
- The abdomen is one plain colour, covered in fine hairs, with no stripes or spots.
- The whole body is no more than about 9.5 mm (3/8 in) long.
Sources [1]
4–7 months without food at 5 °C
- For a spider its size, its heart beats slowly, at a rate similar to a tarantula’s.
- This slow, low-energy body helps it survive for months without a meal.
- It copes with winters in unheated basements and hot summers in attics.
Sources [2, 4]
≈50 nm thick silk ribbon
- Its silk comes out flat like a ribbon. Only recluse spiders are known to make silk this shape.
- Each ribbon is about 50 nm thick, only a few layers of protein molecules.
- It lines its daytime hideout with messy webbing and uses the same silk to make egg sacs.
Sources [2, 5]
≥ 9 mm crack width it prefers
- Indoors it hides in cardboard boxes, especially under folded flaps, and behind bookcases and dressers.
- In tests it chose cracks at least 9 mm wide, preferred upright gaps to flat ones, and liked hideouts already lined with recluse silk.
Sources [4, 6, 7]
44 caught on sticky traps in one home in a day
- Around dawn, a spider out hunting may tuck itself into a shoe or clothes left on the floor.
- Adult males and older young wander more than females, so they are the ones most likely to end up in shoes and bedding.
- Shaking out shoes and clothes before putting them on prevents most bites.
Sources [1, 2]

Real brown recluses

Photos from Wikimedia Commons. Some of them can repaint the 3D model.

From above: the violin mark sits on the front body partPhoto: CDC Public Health Image Library, Public domain
Close-up: six eyes in three pairsPhoto: Insects Unlocked, CC0
Face to face: fangs and palpsPhoto: Insects Unlocked, CC0
Adult maleSwollen palp tips, used for mating. His palps are much shorter than a male Chilean recluse’s.Roams at night looking for females; lived 897 days on average in a lab studyAdult male beside a penny for scale. Photo: mattb, Public domain
Adult maleSwollen palp tips, used for mating. His palps are much shorter than a male Chilean recluse’s.Roams at night looking for females; lived 897 days on average in a lab studyAdult male from above. Photo: mattb, Public domain
Spiderling (young)A tiny copy of the adult. It grows by moulting 5–8 times and is adult after about a year.Hatches from a sac of about 50 eggsA young brown recluse, 3.6 mm long, with a beetle it caught. Photo: xpda, CC BY-SA 4.0
About the size of a US quarter with its legs spreadPhoto: Br-recluse-guy, Public domain
A brown recluse beside a longhorn beetlePhoto: xpda, CC BY-SA 4.0
Out of hiding, on stonePhoto: Chrissy McClarren and Andy Reago, CC0

Brown recluse by the numbers

Measured by scientists, with comparisons you can picture.

Body length: ≤ 9.5 mm; 3/8 in at most⁠[1]
With legs: US quarter; about its size with legs spread out⁠[2]
Eyes: 6; in 3 pairs; most spiders have 8⁠[1]
Lifespan: 2–4 years; on average; adult after about 1 year⁠[2]
Oldest (lab): 4.8 years; a female; a quarter of females lived over 1,000 days⁠[4]
Eggs per sac: ≈50; 0–91 in a lab study; 2.7 sacs per female⁠[4]
Moults: 5–8; before it is adult⁠[2]
Without food: 4–7 months; at 5 °C; 1–2 months at 30 °C⁠[4]
Silk ribbon: ≈50 nm; thick; a few protein layers⁠[5]
Kansas house: 2,055; recluses caught in 6 months, and nobody was bitten; ≈ 11 spiders a day for 6 months⁠[16]

Brown recluse myths and facts

Tap Myth or Fact for each claim, then check the answer.

0 of 8 answered

“A violin mark proves a spider is a brown recluse.”
“Brown recluses live all over the United States.”
“A doctor can tell a recluse bite just by looking at the wound.”
“Every brown recluse bite turns into a big wound.”
“Brown recluses can go months without eating.”
“A house full of recluses means someone will be bitten.”
“Brown recluses will eat dead insects.”
“Brown recluses chase and attack people.”

Brown recluse records

Superlatives and big numbers, each checked against its source.

A silk shape like no other
≈50 nm
Recluse spiders, including the brown recluse
thick flat ribbons; no other spider silk or human-made fibre has this shape⁠[5]
A one-of-a-kind venom enzyme
SMD
Recluses and six-eyed sand spiders
sphingomyelinase D is unknown anywhere else in the animal kingdom⁠[13]
Busiest house, zero bites
2,055
A home in Lenexa, Kansas
recluses caught in 6 months; at least 400 were big enough to bite, but nobody was bitten⁠[16]
A barn full of recluses
1,150
A barn in Oklahoma
brown recluses collected in three nights, with numbers barely dropping⁠[4]
Longest life in the lab
4.8 years
A female brown recluse
the oldest in a lifespan study where females averaged 794 days and males 897 days⁠[4]

A brown recluse’s life

From a small silk egg sac to a spider that can live for years.

Day 0
Egg sac
A female lays about 50 eggs in an off-white silk sac about 8 mm across, inside her hideout.⁠[2, 4]
Hatching
Spiderlings
Tiny spiderlings come out. In one lab study, about half of the eggs hatched.⁠[4]
First year
5–8 moults
Each spiderling sheds its skin 5–8 times as it grows. Short winter days can pause moulting until spring.⁠[2, 11]
About 1 year
Grown up
It becomes an adult after about a year.⁠[2]
Adult nights
Night life
Males roam at night looking for females. Females stay near home and can make up to 5 egg sacs in their life.⁠[1, 2]
Winter
Waiting it out
It can live through winter in an unheated basement and go months without food.⁠[2, 4]
2–4 years
Old age
The average lifespan is 2–4 years. One lab female lived 4.8 years.⁠[2, 4]

Where brown recluses live, and the bite mix-up

Brown recluses are common inside their range and very rare outside it. Yet “recluse bites” are reported far from where the spider lives.

Kansas → Kentucky
core range
The range runs from Kansas east to Kentucky and from southern Iowa south to Louisiana. Recluses become scarce towards the edges, such as near the Gulf coast.⁠[18, 4]
1,773
spiders and relatives sent in from 49 states
In a nationwide “is this a recluse?” survey, people from 25 of 29 states outside the range sent in no recluses at all.⁠[17]
1 of ≈600
Californian “recluses” that really were one
That one spider came with a family who had moved from Missouri. California has no brown recluse populations.⁠[1]
2,055 · 0 bites
in one Kansas home
If a heavily infested house had no bites, a bite is very unlikely where recluses are almost never found.⁠[16, 21]
85.7%
of “spider bites” were infections
Of 182 emergency patients who blamed a spider, 156 were diagnosed with an infection and 7 with a real spider bite.⁠[19]
19 of 220
Florida properties with recluses
Checking 220 Florida properties reported to have recluses, scientists found breeding recluses at only 19, and those were Mediterranean recluses, not brown ones.⁠[3]
Further north?
with climate change
Computer models suggest a warmer climate could let the range spread north into states such as Nebraska, Michigan and Ohio.⁠[18]

Blaming a spider can delay treatment of the real cause, such as an infection. Experts say a bite should only be diagnosed when the spider is seen biting or found and identified.

Staying safe around brown recluses

Brown recluses don’t hunt people. Bites happen when a spider is trapped against skin, so a few simple habits prevent almost all of them.

Shake
shoes and clothes
Shake out shoes and clothes before putting them on, and keep them off the floor.⁠[2]
Gloves
for stored boxes
Wear gloves and long sleeves when sorting boxes in garages, basements and attics.⁠[2]
Plastic
storage boxes
Keep rarely used things in plastic storage boxes instead of cardboard, and clear away clutter.⁠[2, 4]
Beds
away from walls
Move beds away from the wall and remove bed skirts so spiders can’t climb in.⁠[2]
Sticky traps
to check
Flat glue traps placed by an adult along walls and in corners show whether recluses are around.⁠[2]
Doctor
if bitten
Tell an adult, put something cold on the bite, raise the arm or leg and get medical help. If it is safe, an adult can trap the spider in a jar, without touching it, so an expert can identify it.⁠[2, 1]
No antivenom
in North America
None is sold there, so doctors treat the wound and symptoms. Most bites heal well.⁠[4, 12, 1]

This page is for learning, not medical advice. If in doubt, call a doctor or a poison control centre.

Brown recluse vs Chilean recluse vs wolf spider

Two recluses and the brown spider most often mistaken for one. The Chilean recluse has its own deep card.

Brown recluse spider vs Chilean recluse spider vs wolf spider
	Brown recluse	Chilean recluse	Wolf spider
Scientific name⁠[1, 4]	Loxosceles reclusa	Loxosceles laeta	Family Lycosidae (many species)
Eyes⁠[1, 22]	6, in 3 pairs	6, in 3 pairs	8: a row of 4 small eyes below 4 bigger ones
Legs⁠[1, 23]	One colour, no spines	One colour, no spines	Often banded
Markings⁠[1, 22]	Violin on the front body; plain abdomen	Violin on the front body; plain abdomen	Often stripes or spots
Egg sac⁠[2, 4, 22]	≈50 eggs, kept in the hideout	≈88 eggs on average	Carried on the mother’s spinnerets
Crack width it prefers⁠[6]	≥ 9 mm	≥ 6.4 mm	—
Starved in the lab⁠[4]	4–7 months at 5 °C	≈1.2 years on average	—
Bit back when pinched (lab)⁠[3]	Median 0%	—	Median 80%
Bites⁠[1, 13, 4, 23]	≈10% cause moderate or worse skin damage	Venom also contains SMD	No serious effects noted

— means not measured in these sources. Telling recluse species apart takes a microscope and an expert.

Is the brown recluse endangered?

No. It has never been assessed for the IUCN Red List, and it is common in homes and barns across its range.

IUCN Red List

Not Evaluated (NE)

Inside its range it is abundant and reliably found, often in large numbers around people.⁠[24, 25, 4]

Not evaluated (IUCN status checked via GBIF, 2026)

Threats

No known major threats22 of 25 homes
It does well around people: in one Kansas survey, 22 of 25 homes had brown recluses, 83.5 per home on average.⁠[4]
Pest control
People remove recluses from homes with sticky traps and pesticides, yet the species stays common.⁠[2, 4]

What’s helping

Correct identification
Experts ask people to check the eyes and to send spiders to an arachnologist rather than guess. This also prevents misdiagnosed “bites”.⁠[8, 1]
Mapping its range
Scientists map where it lives and model how climate change could shift its range north.⁠[18]

Relatives

Chilean recluse (Loxosceles laeta)Not Evaluated
Also not evaluated. It has its own deep card.⁠[26]

Brown recluse quiz

Twelve questions. Every answer is somewhere on this page.

Question 1 of 12Score 0

How many eyes does a brown recluse have?

Brown Recluse Spider field notes

Diet, food web, safety and badges from the Snappit field guide.

Diet & Feeding

Brown Recluse Spiders are nocturnal hunters that eat small insects and other arthropods.

Primary Foods

cockroaches
crickets
silverfish
moths
beetles
Foraging Method: Ambush

Ecological connections

German CockroachEats
A common indoor insect prey.
Fall Field CricketEats
A common outdoor insect prey.

Safety

Danger 4/5 · High

Do not touch or pick up. Tell an adult. If you think a spider bit you, see a doctor.

Traits

Collections

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Sicariidae
Genus: Loxosceles

Sources for these brown recluse facts

26 studies and references · checked Oct 16, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How to identify Brown Recluse Spider?

Compare body proportions, leg shape, abdomen markings and the web, if there is one. Eye arrangement can be decisive but rarely shows up in a casual phone photo. A web is a supporting clue, not proof of who built it. Spider Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

How big is Brown Recluse Spider?

6-9.5 mm

How long does Brown Recluse Spider live?

730-1460 days

What does Brown Recluse Spider eat?

Brown Recluse Spiders are nocturnal hunters that eat small insects and other arthropods.

Where is Brown Recluse Spider usually found?

Dark corners of homes and buildings

How does Brown Recluse Spider hunt?

Ambush

How many legs does Brown Recluse Spider have?

Is the brown recluse spider dangerous?

It can be, but bites are uncommon. It is shy and bites only when trapped against skin. About 10% of bites cause moderate or worse skin damage, and most heal on their own. Rarely, mostly in children, a bite makes a person ill all over, so anyone who may have been bitten should see a doctor.

How can you tell if a spider is a brown recluse?

Look at the eyes: six eyes in three pairs, where most spiders have eight. A brown recluse also has legs of one colour with no spines, a plain abdomen and a body no longer than about 9.5 mm. The violin mark alone is not reliable. If in doubt, ask an expert to identify it.

What should you do if a brown recluse bites you?

Stay calm and tell an adult. Put something cold on the bite, raise the arm or leg and get medical help. If it is safe, an adult can trap the spider in a jar without touching it so an expert can identify it, which helps the doctor.

Is there an antivenom for brown recluse bites?

Not in North America. Antivenom for recluse bites is used in South America, but none is sold in North America, so doctors treat the wound and symptoms. Most bites heal well.

Where do brown recluse spiders live?

In the south-central and midwestern United States, roughly from Kansas east to Kentucky and from southern Iowa south to Louisiana. They are rare near the Gulf coast and very rarely found outside this range, usually after being carried in boxes or furniture.

Are there brown recluses in California or Florida?

California has no brown recluse populations: of about 600 suspected recluses sent in from California, only one was a brown recluse. In a Florida survey of 220 properties reported to have recluses, breeding recluses were found at only 19, and they were Mediterranean recluses.

How long can a brown recluse live without food?

In a lab, starved brown recluses lived 4–7 months at 5 °C, 1–2 months at 30 °C and under 2 weeks at 40 °C. Their slow heart and low energy use help.

How long do brown recluse spiders live?

They become adult after about a year and live 2–4 years on average. In one lab study, males averaged 897 days and females 794 days, and one female lived 4.8 years.