Brown recluse
- Eyes
- Six, in three pairs
- Legs
- Plain, one color, no bands
- Web
- Messy retreat web in a corner, like a dusty cobweb; not used for catching
- Where you find it
- Boxes, closets, attics, under furniture, shoes and clothes on the floor
Specimen 01 · Loxosceles reclusa
Updated
Kansas pesticide business license #3403
Brown recluse spiders in Wichita homes
Brown recluses are the one spider Donnie finds in numbers inside Wichita houses. They hide under boxes, in piles of papers and in attics.
Opens your messages. Donnie replies the same day, Mon–Fri 8–5.
Quiet
Oct–MarActive
Mar–OctPrice
$125–165 a visitHow do I know it's a brown recluse?
If two or three don't match, it's probably one of the look-alikes.
4checks
Legs all one color
No bands, stripes or spines. Young recluses have straw-colored legs that darken to cocoa brown.
The violin
A dark brown violin on the front half of the body, the neck pointing back toward the abdomen. A few other spiders have a violin-like mark too, so don't stop here.
No other markings
The abdomen is plain, yellowish-brown to slate gray, covered in fine short hairs.
Six eyes in three pairs
Set in a semicircle. You'll likely need a magnifying glass or a zoomed-in photo.
Wolf spider
- Eyes
- Eight
- Legs
- Long, fuzzy, may look spiny or banded
- Web
- No web for catching prey; makes a small web where it rests. Hunts on the ground
- Where you find it
- Outdoors in lawns and beds; wanders in, especially in fall
Are brown recluses common in Wichita?
The range
Wichita sits in the middle of the brown recluse's home range
K-State
Most homes in that range have some (MF3133)
Sources: K-State Research and Extension, Household Pests of Kansas (MF3291) and MF3133; University of Kentucky Entomology, Common Spiders Found Around Homes and Buildings (EF622).
Do brown recluses bite?
Recluses are shy. K-State says a brown recluse may bite as a defense when trapped against the skin. No one in the family of four had been bitten, though researchers collected 2,055 brown recluses from their Lenexa house (Vetter and Barger, 2002).
Reactions to a brown recluse bite vary greatly, depending on the victim's health, the spider's size and age, bite location, and amount of venom injected. Tissues in the area around the bite may break down and die, creating a slow-healing wound with significant scarring. In rare cases, the poisonous venom may cause a life-threatening systemic illness (K-State, MF3133).
Think you've been bitten? See a doctor or call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. If you can catch the spider safely, bring it along. Donnie is a pest control operator, not a doctor.
Seen one?
Text Donnie a photo.
It tells him whether it's something to jump on or not a concern at all.
Take a clear photo from above, with a coin beside it for size if you can.
Opens your messages. Donnie replies the same day, Mon–Fri 8–5.
Where do brown recluses hide in Wichita houses?
At night they roam for food.
- 01
Attics and upstairs rooms
Warm, dry and still, with little light.
- 02
Under furniture
They also hide in piles of papers or books.
- 03
Under and between stored boxes
Dark places where nothing gets moved.
- 04
Shoes, toys and clothes on the floor
At dawn they tuck into whatever is close.
What makes one house worse
Older houses
Settling opens cracks and crevices that let spiders and their prey move in.
Stored items and clutter
They give recluses endless hiding places.
Moving things in
Recluses aren't restricted to older buildings: they may be transported into new ones on construction materials or with items brought from another structure. Brown recluse spiderlings can't “balloon” through the air on silk as other spiderlings do. Those spiderlings can only get in by physically crawling into a structure or being introduced by human activities.
Their year in Kansas
October to March
Inactive, even in structures with relatively constant temperatures and lighting.
Long fasts
When prey is scarce they don't hunt, and can live without food or water for up to 10 months.
Growing up
8 to 15 months from egg to adult, depending on temperatures; adults can live 2 to 3 more years.
Reinfesting
Spiders keep reinfesting from sources such as items brought in, so K-State suggests sticky traps checked weekly from March through October to detect it.
Source: K-State Research and Extension, Brown Recluse Spiders (MF3133).
What can I do about brown recluses myself?
What K-State and the University of Kentucky suggest.
5steps
Tick the ones you're already doing.
Source: K-State Research and Extension, Brown Recluse Spiders (MF3133).
What doesn't work
Bug bombs and foggers. The fog can't reach recluses tucked deep in boxes and walls, and can drive them deeper (Illinois health department).
Worth knowing
Eliminating brown recluses from a structure may be difficult, but it is possible with an approach that emphasizes removing their habitat (K-State, MF3133).
Where DIY stops
Traps that keep catching them
Finding them in beds or living areas
Can't reach where they live
Wall voids, a crawl space, a packed attic.
If any of these fits, text Donnie.
What does Donnie do about brown recluses, and what does it cost?
Price · brown recluse work
$125–165
a one-time visit. No contract.
Quarterly · $140 a visit*
Monthly · $120 a visit*
*For a home that's $165 one-time.
A visit is traps and spray, inside and out, and takes 45 minutes to 1½ hours. Donnie works alone, so it's him at the door on every visit. Most visits are booked within a week.
Ants and spiders together don't cost more.
See every priceArrival · A window of about an hour; he texts when he's on the way
Paying · After the visit: card, Venmo, cash or check
If pests come back · Text Donnie. He talks it through and tells you before he comes whether a return visit costs anything.
No contract
You pay for each visit.
Same-day reply
Mon–Fri 8–5
Licensed in Kansas
In Wichita since 1992
Text or call Donnie
(316) 681-2255
Opens your messages. Donnie replies the same day, Mon–Fri 8–5.