ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2005 6:00 pm
Gary Goranson has a vexing problem. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of brown recluse spiders live in a building he manages and one he owns. Over the past two years, exterminators have killed more than 1,000 brown recluse spiders with sticky traps, insecticide dust and bug sprays at 5143 S. 48th St. and the neighboring Sutter Place Mall.
"They are hard to find, hard to get rid of and where they come from nobody knows," said Goranson.
Brown recluse spiders are not your ordinary household spider.
Bite victims can have severe reactions, including sores as a big as a quarter. The toxin destroys cells and rots tissue. If left untreated, it can lead to serious infection and require plastic surgery or amputation of a limb.
In rare cases, a bite can be fatal. An annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers listed one fatality from a brown recluse spider in 2003, the last year data is available.
Brown recluse bites are fairly rare in Lincoln, said Jim Kalisch, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cooperative Extension technologist who identifies the species as part of his job. The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department does not track spider bites.
Fortunately, Goranson said, no one has been bit by a brown recluse spider on his property.
About 40 people work at the Nebraska Division of Vocational Rehabilitation building, which Goranson manages.
"When you come into the building you are not going to see spiders crawling across a desk or up the wall," said Pat Bracken, an agency administrator who worked in the building from 1978 until about two months ago. "They tend to be in areas that are inaccessible to the public."
Still, warning posters have been placed inside the building.
Steve Miller, who works in the west end of the building, found a brown recluse in a kitchen sink more than a year ago, he said. But early on, exterminators were striking it rich, finding about 100 brown recluse spiders at a time.
"I'm real careful about sticking my hands into boxes or drawers," Miller said. "I don't want to get bit because they can put a hole in your skin."
Entomologists say brown recluse spiders hide in boxes, closets, under sinks, storage areas, attics and other dark places. Unlike common spiders, the brown recluse is not a web spinner. Instead, males hunt their prey at night. And they're the ones typically caught in sticky traps.
"We were just never able to flush them out of the areas that you normally expect them to be in," said Carol Miller, office manager for Nebraskaland Exterminators Inc., the company called in about two years ago.
Nebraskaland Exterminators tried for about year to get rid of the spiders, pulling out more than 1,000 of them.
Goranson then hired Usher Pest Control Co., which took over the job last fall. During the first two weeks, Usher employees caught 28 brown recluse spiders on sticky traps, said owner Chick DeMoss, who doesn't doubt the 1,000-plus spider figure.
"We went out and looked at their (Nebraskaland Exterminators) records," he said. "That's what they had down."
And experts and entomologists weren't surprised by the potential brown recluse population in Goranson's properties.
"We do have infestations of brown recluse spiders in some commercial buildings, including apartments," said Barb Ogg, an entomologist with the Lancaster County Extension Office. "We have seen some sticky traps that are loaded with brown recluse spiders."
Leon Higley, a UNL professor of entomology, said some long-term storage buildings on East Campus are also full of the spiders.
"Everybody wears gloves (when they go inside) and we watch what we are doing," he said, adding that the classic way to get bitten by a spider is to turn over or move a box.
At Goranson's properties, Usher launched an aggressive treatment campaign with sprays and sticky traps. Its exterminators also dusted inside some of the walls. Still, DeMoss said, about 20 brown recluse spiders are turning up each month.
"You'll never get rid of them not in a setting like that," he said. "If they were in a residence, a guy might, but it would be a mighty intense deal."
Exterminators could seal a home and fumigate it, DeMoss said, but that would be impractical with retail and office buildings.
The only option, he said, is to try to control them.
"One building (in Lincoln) has had them for 14 or 15 years," DeMoss said.
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.
Tips for dealing with brown recluse spiders
- Not all brown recluse spiders can be identified by a violin/fiddle mark on their body. Many don't have the identifying mark, while other types of spiders do.
- Use gloves to move boxes from storage areas, basements, closets and garages.
- If you are bitten by a brown recluse, apply ice to area, elevate it and seek medical help immediately.
- Sticky traps are among the easiest and most effective way to catch brown recluse spiders.
- Examine outer and inner walls of your home and seal holes, cracks or crevices spiders may use to enter, hide in or leave egg sacs.
- Do not stack wood or create piles of rocks or bricks close to your house.
- Keep furniture away from walls; they provide the easiest route up and around things.
- Remove bed skirts and keep sheets from touching the floor; do not leave clothes on the floor; shake out shoes, clothes and hats before putting them on.
- Increase your house's humidity and decrease temperature; brown recluses prefer it hot and dry.
Source: University of Kansas