What was that ugly brown spider? Was it a Brown Recluse?


Brown recluse spiders can be confused with many other kinds of spiders, causing needless concern. Spiders of their genus, Loxoceles, are characterized by having three pairs of eyes, and by having a very distinct violin pattern on their cephalothorax. Their legs can look like bent paper clips, no one of which may line up with another. Loxoceles spiders have haywire legs.




Coras medicinalis PEM
Clubiona tanikawa
Ctenus exlineae from Wiki Commons
Loxosceles reclusa adult male 3 from Wiki Commons
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Coras medicinalis
Clubiona tanikawa
Ctenus exlineae
Brown Recluse
Photographer: Patrick Edwin Moran
Photographer: Akio Tanikawa
Photographer: Marshal Hedin
Photographer: Matt Britt
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Note that each member of each pair of legs of the Brown Recluse is oriented in a direction different from the other member of the pair, and different from all other legs.