My first Brown Recluse hopefully??? - Loxosceles apachea

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Synspermiata » Sicariidae » Brown Spiders (Loxosceles) » Apache Recluse (Loxosceles apachea)

Photo#520054

Copyright © 2011 Racquel Morris

My first Brown Recluse hopefully??? - Loxosceles apachea

Alamogordo, Otero County, New Mexico, USA
May 23, 2011

I have several other pictures but this was my fav. I still have her (think it's a her) and a possible mate? I will take pictures of the other hopefully tomorrow. Found them under some old horse poo left from the previous owner (finally have a use for the barn and riding area..lol). I was so excited because I have been searching for a brown recluse ever since coming out west and have never seen one. I am pretty sure that this is finally it, I will be crushed though if it's not. Judging by the size and shape of the other I am assuming this one is the female. I am wondering too if she was ready to lay eggs, she seems rounder in the rear than other pictures I have seen?? Or is my excited hopeful ID once again wrong?

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Contributed by Racquel Morris on 24 May, 2011 - 8:59pm
Last updated 25 October, 2017 - 10:25am

Moved

Moved from Recluse Spiders.

… Racquel Morris, 25 October, 2017 - 10:25am

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… Lynette Elliott, 24 May, 2011 - 9:37pm

duplicate comment

… Lynette Elliott, 24 May, 2011 - 9:37pm

Not a Brown Recluse

Just a Recluse =]. You are out of the range of the Brown Recluse. See info page here. Nice find. I think you're right it's a female.

… Lynette Elliott, 24 May, 2011 - 9:13pm

Dang it!!

I am getting pretty frustrated then. We are supposed to have Brown Recluse here according to local entomologists I have met. I thought for sure I finally found her. I guess I will hide my head in shame, how many times can I get this id wrong?? LOL Keep in mind too that we are an air force town so we have had some odd bugs that show up through that and occasionally on a hot shot truck to fight a wild fire.

Okay now I have a question. Before I started macro photography I had really bad arachnophobia and the brown recluse stories I heard only fueled that fear. So since this lady is just a recluse is the venom as bad as the dreaded Brown relative? The reason I ask is because I want to get some 3-5x shots for the guide and I want to know if I need my spotter. I know I still have to use care handling, as I always do but for scorpions and black widows I have my husband spot for me since its so hard to track with the mp-e.

Also are there any shots you would need to get further on which species? I still have the pair and plan to keep them for a day or two to observe. I actually have six different spiders that I have been keeping as "pets" to observe with the boys. Oh my, whoda thunk I would have critter keepers with spiders!! I still cannot believe it myself. Crabby (who I need to post pics of) has been with us for almost 6 weeks now. She is a beauty too. Plus two lovely crickets. I think I may have lost my mind.

Thanks again for all your help and comments all the time. I have learned a lot from you.

… Racquel Morris, 25 May, 2011 - 12:04am

Recluse ~

I would double check with your entomologist friends to make sure that you have Loxosceles reclusa there and not just some of the other Loxosceles species.

Definitely don't hide your head in shame. I figure getting the genus right is getting close enough in this case. Consider all the recluse spiders as potentially cytotoxic. You would definitely need a 'spotter' for any recluse in my opinion. For female spiders.. getting them in a plastic baggie and taking a shot of the epigynum is most helpful. However, I've never worked on IDing recluse spiders this way... so I'm assuming it will work with them like it does with most other spiders. I couldn't ID them from the shots, but maybe an expert could.

I used to be an arachnophobe myself. It's great what a little education can accomplish!

… Lynette Elliott, 25 May, 2011 - 12:31am

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