Alabama has hundreds of harmless spiders that eat insects and keep to themselves. Two deserve real caution: the black widow and the brown recluse. Here's how the Alabama Cooperative Extension System describes them, where they hide and what to do if you think you've been bitten. For service details, see spider control or our guide to pest control in Prattville.
Black widow
- Look: females are jet black with a red hourglass under the abdomen, up to 1½ inches including legs. Males are smaller and brown.
- Where: quiet, undisturbed spots like stacked cement blocks, water meter boxes, outdoor faucets, eaves, sheds, garages and trash piles. They rarely come indoors.
- Bite: often painless at first, then within about 10 to 60 minutes, sweating, pain, muscle cramps, nausea or trouble breathing can develop.
Brown recluse
- Look: light tan to dark brown, body about 3/8 inch, with a dark violin-shaped mark and six eyes in three pairs instead of eight.
- Where: indoors under furniture, behind pictures and in boxes, closets, shoes, coats and bedding, as well as barns and sheds.
- Bite: usually an initial blister, with symptoms in 2 to 8 hours. Severe cases can involve tissue death and slow-healing sores.
Alabama Extension says anyone who believes they were bitten by either spider should seek immediate medical treatment. Children, older adults and people with health problems tend to react worst.
Reducing them around your home
- cut clutter in closets, garages and attics, and swap cardboard boxes for lidded plastic bins
- remove stacks of blocks, bricks and firewood, and clean out water meter boxes
- shake out shoes, gloves and stored clothing, and wear gloves outdoors
- if recluses are suspected, run stored clothes through the dryer and keep bedding off the floor
Alabama Extension notes that sprays offer only temporary relief and must contact the spider, while sticky traps help monitor and control recluses. Persistent recluse problems are a job for a professional.
Using sticky traps
Alabama Extension notes sticky traps help monitor and control brown recluses. Place them flat along walls, in closets, behind furniture and in storage areas, where recluses travel at night. Check them every week or two: catching several in one spot tells you where to focus cleanup and treatment, and catching none over time is a good sign.
If you find one
Outdoors, Alabama Extension advises leaving spiders alone in natural settings. Indoors, they can be crushed under a sturdy closed-toe shoe. It also notes that pesticides may make recluses more active for a few days after treatment, so don't be alarmed by a short-term increase in sightings.