Brown recluse
Instead of the usual eight, the brown recluse has only six eyes arranged in three pairs, and it leaves its small retreat web at night to hunt on foot.
| Where | South-central and southeastern United States |
|---|---|
| Size | 6 to 10 mm body length |
| When | March to October |
The brown recluse is a plain, grayish yellow brown spider with a dark violin shaped mark on the top of its front body section, its neck pointing toward the abdomen. The oblong abdomen is unmarked and covered in fine short hairs, and the long, slender legs are unbanded and without obvious spines.
Rather than sitting in an orb, this spider keeps a small irregular sheet of silk as a retreat and wanders out after dark to hunt insects on foot. By day it hides in cracks, cardboard, folded cloth and other undisturbed spaces, mostly indoors across the northern part of its range.
Traits
Habitat
Towns
Colour
Brown, Grey
Active
Night
To people
Dangerous
Bites are uncommon and often go unnoticed at first, but about one in ten produces a slow-healing sore, and rare cases bring on fever or other body-wide symptoms; any suspected bite should be washed and watched, with medical care sought if it worsens.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Eight eyes set close together rather than six, no violin mark on the front body section, and males have a pair of unusually long, leg-like palps held out in front of the true legs.
Questions
Is the Brown recluse dangerous to people?
Dangerous. Bites are uncommon and often go unnoticed at first, but about one in ten produces a slow-healing sore, and rare cases bring on fever or other body-wide symptoms; any suspected bite should be washed and watched, with medical care sought if it worsens.
When can you see the Brown recluse?
The Brown recluse can be seen from March to October, at night.
Plate retouched from a photo by florawhite, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Spiders›Recluse spiders›Loxosceles
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.