Subject: Recluse or Harmless?
Location: Antelope Valley, California
July 30, 2015 2:50 pm
I found this big guy in my yard, polled my friends, half say it’s a brown recluse, half say it’s harmless… One guy said “it’s just a penny”…
I live in the high desert in Southern California, it’s super dry and hot. Help me out here!
Signature: -Roni
Male Crevice Weaver Spider, we believe
Hi Roni,
We are going to side with the half that say it is harmless. Brown Recluse Spiders have a violin pattern on the cephalothorax . Male Crevice Weaver Spiders in the genus Kukulcania, including the male Southern House Spider, Kukulcania hibernalis, are frequently mistaken for Brown Recluse Spiders. BugGuide only lists the Southern House Spider as far west as Texas, but a relative, Kukulcania geophila, is found in California and this image from BugGuide looks very similar to your individual. Of the entire genus Kukulcania, BugGuide notes: “Males look very similar to the Recluse spiders, except they have much longer pedipalps, eight eyes (not six as in the Recluse family), and very long front legs.” Finally, according to BugGuide, the Brown Recluse Spider does not get as far west as California.
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