Is this a brown recluse?

I'm afraid this one is a Brown Recluse. You were dead-on in identifying it by the violin marking on the cephalothorax (head section). I too have to deal with these in my house occasionally. The bite of this spider normally causes the flesh at and surrounding the bite site to rot. These Spiders are nocturnal and usually live in dark, sheltered areas such as under appliances that aren't moved much, under furniture, in sheds, cluttered rooms, closets, attics, and basements.

Eeewww.. Well, I guess I better get the sticky traps and keep my eyes open. I never know which kind of spider I might come up against and my daughter likes to poke them!

Thanks,
Carrie

as a part of bountys new quilted softer paper towels......a brown recule spider will be included for measure......tired of your kids wasting paper towels? Sure as hell they'll use one numerous times before going back to the roll!

No question...definitely a recluse pic here. I deal with recluses on a regular basis. I live in the wilderness and have a quiet, dark basement that recluses love. Therefore, they frequent the living areas of the house. I have to be especially careful in that I have a 18 mo. old girl and 4 yr old boy. The best defense against these are the Raid smoke bombs. However, it only keeps them away for a little bit.

I need some clarification from someone knowledgable about their bites. With the problems I have had, I have done quite a bit of reading on recluses. I have read more than once that a recluse bite is dangerous only when the victim has a reaction to it. I read that many people living around recluses are bit and never know it because the reaction didn't take place. Some reasons listed for this are the chemical state of the spider's venom, the chemical structure of the victim's skin/blood, and the area of the bite. From what I understand, the bite can be quite severe when the victim reacts to the venom, but that alot of time the victim never even knows, passing the unreacting bite off as a mosquito bite, rash, or never even sees the bitten area. Can someone confirm this, or is this myth? Thanks.

I don't know the norm about brown recluse bites but I can tell you about the bite I had. The doctor said it was probably recluse or a relative. And I obviously have them around here so it probably was one that bit me. I started out thinking I had a mosquito bite. It only itched. Then it started getting red around the bump like it was infected. The skin never broke open on mine. But the red swelling started to streak in lines towards my armpit. The bite was on my upper arm. When the streaks just continued to get thicker I went to the doctor because I had no idea what it was. It wasn't really very painful. Just itchy and sore. I do have a high tolerance for pain though. The doctor said the infection was spreading to the lymph node under my arm and that my flesh probably would have started to rot had I not come in and gotten antibiotics. But it never came to that. So in my case it was pretty slow spreading. I must have waited 3-7 days before I went to the DR. Can't remember for sure how long it was. So I think those nasty pictures you see online may be of people who never got treatment for their bites.

I might agree with ChrisT, up at the top, I live in Oregon and Im pretty sure I've seen these around, cant be too sure but Im definitly sure its a Brown Recluse

Irishbug needs to do some homework. Brown Recluse spiders are only native to the southeast in Kentucky/Alabama/Arkansas area. They are rarely seen outside that area, and usually only when they are moved with someone. Check out the web for more info on it.