Where Do Brown Recluse Spiders Live

Summary: Where to Brown Recluse spiders live? Anywhere they want to. Old joke, but true. These spiders want to be left to themselves in cultered, dark corners.

In nature, brown recluse spiders are found under rocks and in crevices. Dense populations are found when a habitat is conducive to recluses. As an example of their abundance we found 50 brown recluses in a commercial storage facility in one hour.

Recluses like hiding in boxes. When they get established it typically is in the basement of a building and there is little expansion beyond the structure unless connected to other structures by underground pipes or passageways. When sorting through boxes or materials, wear long sleeves and gloves to avoid being bitten.

Any dark, undisturbed area can serve as a hiding place for the brown recluse and many such places occur within buildings. You will need a bright flashlight to do a thorough inspection to find the location and extent of infestations. Likely hiding places for brown recluse spiders include crevices, corners, and wall-floor junctures, especially behind clutter and furniture in garages, basements and living areas. A key element to controlling the brown recluse is to reduce clutter.

Brown recluse spiders also live behind walls and may inhabit the voids of hollow block foundations. Infested locations will contain the distinctive shed skins, often found between joists, sills and rafters, as well as under insulation. Brown recluse spiders also reside above suspended ceilings, behind baseboards and woodwork, and within heat ducts and registers.

Brown recluse spiders captured on glue board

If you want to know if you have an infestation of brown recluse spiders we suggest doing a little pest control sluthing by installing the flat, sticky cards known as glue boards. The best glue traps for capturing brown recluse spiders are flat, like thin pieces of sticky cardboard, without a raised perimeter edge. They can be purchased at grocery or hardware stores or you can buy them from us by the box. The more glue traps the better. Put out dozens throughout your home to find where spiders are most abundant. Place traps in corners and along wall-floor junctures, especially behind furniture and clutter.

In addition to being a great detection tool, glue traps will capture and kill large numbers of spiders, especially the males, which are more likely to wander into places where people are accidentally bitten. If you are going to treat with pesticides be sure to install glue traps before the treatment, as some insecticides will cause spiders to relocate and wander into traps.