Are you having problems keeping creepy, crawling brown spiders out of your Baltimore home? If it’s a light cream to a dark brown solid color, it’s more than likely a brown recluse. Brown recluse spiders—also known as a violin spider or a fiddleback spider—are only occasional visitors to Maryland. But, if they infest your home, you’ll want them gone as soon as possible.You don’t really have to worry too much about the brown recluse spider if you’re a Maryland resident. Its usual habitat is the Midwestern and South Central United States, although it does sometimes sneak into this state as a hitchhiker on packages.
A brown recluse spider has several distinctive features, including:
- A dark violin-shape marking on the cephalothorax (the part of its body where the legs attach), with the neck of the violin pointing to the bod
- Long, thin legs with fine hairs (no spines)
- Uniformly colored abdomen and legs (no stripes, bands or mottling)
- Color ranging from cream to dark brown
- Six eyes arranged in pairs
Think you have brown recluse spiders in your home in Baltimore or a surrounding area? Contact Brody Brothers and we will send out our team of pest control professionals to get rid of your intruders!
There’s a reason that this spider is called the recluse—it likes to hide away during the day in dark, sheltered areas. It comes out at night to hunt cockroaches, firebrats, crickets, and other crawling bugs, and will eat them dead or alive.
Outdoors, these spiders live under rocks, logs, woodpiles, and debris. Indoors they can be found in attics, basements, crawl spaces, between joists, under insulation, and in bedding, closets, clothing, shoes, and stored items.
Female brown recluses spin off-white, silken egg sacs about a half-inch long for the 20-50 eggs they lay at one time. Small spiders mature about a year after hatching, going through several molts and leaving a rigid skeleton behind each time. Typically, brown recluse spiders live 2-4 years.
As a Home Protection Plan customer, if you’re not satisfied with our pest control service, we will service your home at no additional cost until your issue is solved or receive your money back from your last scheduled service.
Although bites by brown recluses are rare—they only attack when they feel threatened—they do have some lingering, serious effects. The bite may feel like a sting at first, but over the next few hours it will become red, purple, and swollen or red rings may form around it. Eventually, it becomes a fluid-filled blister that pops to reveal a deep ulcer in the skin, which can grow in size over the next weeks or months. It may take up to a year before the bite is completely healed.
If you suspect you have been bitten, extend the bitten area over your head and seek medical help. Capture the spider if possible to avoid being bitten again—or call Brody Brothers Pest Control in Baltimore at 410-653-2121.
Think a Brown Recluse Has Invaded Your Maryland Home?
If you think you have found a brown recluse in your Maryland home, take precautions to limit your risk of getting bitten by a brown recluse spider. To do so, you need to:
- Shake out bedding, towels, and clothing and check shoes before using
- Wear gloves when working outdoors around rocks or woodpiles
- Handle any stored items in your basement or attic carefully
- Keep spiders out by sealing cracks and crevices in your home, using screens on windows
Because the brown recluse spider’s bite can have serious consequences, it’s best to let the experts at Brody Brothers clear them out for you. We know how to find their hiding places and how to apply the right insecticides in all the right spots.
Call us today at 410-653-2121 to schedule pest control or contact us online!
