Spider scares prompt awareness at Illinois college

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- A venomous spider known as the brown recluse is once again making its home at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville this spring. Housing Associate Director Bob Legate said this semester there were eight calls to Facilities Management asking for treatment in housing for spiders, though the kind of spider was never specified. \nBiology professor Paul Brunkow said homes offer the spiders many hiding spots -- perhaps even more than in the wild. \nThe brown recluse spider is known for hiding in dark and undisturbed places and lives in the Midwest. \nNormally, brown recluse spiders will hibernate during the winter and become active in the spring, but those indoors can remain active all year. \n"The spiders are really starting to wake up," Brunkow said. "Human habitation allows them to stay active year-round." \nCougar Village apartments can have many hiding spots for brown recluses. They can often hide in boxes, under furniture and in dark corners. \n"This is the time of the year we see the spider movement," Legate said. "They come back in the spring." \nOne complaint was in Bluff Hall and three in the last half of March and four in April were for Cougar Village. \nAll requests for treatment of spiders were completed within a week, Legate said.\nBeginning last year, Facilities Management treated apartments in Cougar Village for pests. \nOne spider incident that involved a bite was reported to Facilities Management on March 23. According to the report, the doctor of the Cougar Village resident who was bitten said it might have been a brown recluse bite, but it was still unconfirmed. \nLegate refused to release the name of the resident citing privacy concerns. \nIf residents have a problem with spiders, Legate said Facilities Management is available to help. \n"The most proactive thing students can do is call us," Legate said. \nBrunkow said that the best way to avoid brown recluse spiders is to keep corners clean of cobwebs, clean out underneath beds, corners and closets and clean up small insects they may eat. \nBrown recluse spiders, like all spiders, are predators and hunt for food. \n"If you have areas that have a food supply with cockroaches or little beetles, they eat them," Brunkow said. \nBrown recluse spiders have a brown color and hairless bodies. They also have a violin-shaped marking on their heads with the neck pointing to their abdomen, which is where they get the nickname "fiddleback". \nBrunkow said their bodies could grow as long as an inch to an inch and a half including leg span. \nAnother common spider to the area, known as the wolf spider, is often mistaken for the brown recluse. Brunkow said that the wolf spider is brown and about the same size. However, unlike the brown recluse, it has a hairy body and is not venomous. \n"We have quite a diversity of spiders on campus," he said. \nBrunkow said spiders can be useful in the home because they kill insects that may inhabit homes. Brown recluse spiders, however, are not something you'd want to have there, he added. \nBrown recluse spiders are not aggressive and will only bite if a person or animal makes contact with it. Bites often occur because someone will put their hand in a dark corner or onto a spot the spider inhabits. \nBites from brown recluse spiders begin with red swelling, a different reaction than bites from other spider species, which usually do not swell. After that, cells near the bite will begin to die from the venom and necrosis, or the death or decay of tissue, will begin to appear. This can lead to scarring and infection. \n"(It's a) wound that resists all attempts to heal it," Brunkow said. \nReaction to the venom can be overnight or take a few days. The effect can vary by the individual's body chemistry, prior exposure to the spider's venom and strength of immune system.