This was a true reproducing population of brown recluse spiders consisting of numerous individuals of all life stages including eggs, juveniles and adults. One of these recluse populations, located in a single family residence in Tecumseh, Michigan, in Lenawee County, has been eradicated. Red counties are where it was found in 2017. The counties shown in blue are where the brown recluse had been found prior to 2017. Here is a map of Michigan showing the counties where the recluse spider has been found. There have been multiple finds in Genesee, Washtenaw and Lenawee counties. The new county records were for Livingston, Oakland, Shiawassee and Wayne counties. Five of these represented new county records for the recluse in Michigan. Of these 700 spider photos, only seven turned out to be of brown recluse spiders. Some of these stories were profoundly heart-wrenching. Some people just sent stories about bites thought to be recluse bites. In the past 14 months, over 700 Michiganders have sent me photographs of spiders thought to be recluse spiders they had encountered in their homes and yards. Large universities like Michigan have large transient populations of students and visitors from all over the country, so it is not too surprising for a recluse or two to show up there. The owner of the garage indicated she had not traveled out of Michigan prior to finding the spiders. In the spring of 2017, a brown recluse spider was found in an unheated garage in Genesee County and in a building on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor (see the 2017 Michigan State University Extension article, “ Update on brown recluse spiders in Michigan”). Recluse spiders are known to hitchhike in boxes, suitcases and articles of commerce. The Kent County find came from a home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the residents had just returned from a trip to Missouri, where the spider is common. Prior to 2017, it had been found in Genesee, Hillsdale, Lenawee, Ingham and Kent counties. I am not saying it’s impossible that both of these people were bitten by a brown recluse spider, but it is very unlikely.Įven though Michigan is not in the accepted native range of the brown recluse, it has been found in 10 Michigan counties. It is very difficult to diagnose the perpetrator of a bite based on the appearance of a bite. The spider the lady sent me was a yellow sac spider, Cheiracanthium spp.and (Miturgidae). The attending physician diagnosed the bite as that of a brown recluse spider. The bite festered and she went to the emergency room at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Last year, a woman sent me a spider she captured in the act of biting her. The attending physicians based their diagnosis on the appearance of the bite. The offending spider was not collected and identified in either case. Both bites were reported to have occurred outside. One person was reported to have been bitten up in Leelanau County, the other in Nunica, Michigan, in Ottawa County. There were two stories of people diagnosed with brown recluse bites in the media this past week, “ Muskegon woman hospitalized after brown recluse spider bite” from Detroit Free Press and “ Rising temps may mean more brown recluse spiders” from Wood TV.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |