第 0653 號，共 1 402 號

Brown recluse

Loxosceles reclusa

名字的由來： The scientific name reclusa means 'recluse', which refers to the spider's shy, hidden way of life.1

需要看醫生很少致命，但被咬了需要看醫生。

蜘蛛

咬吃：肉

對人的危險: 嚴重被咬了需要看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

The brown recluse is a small spider with a violin-shaped mark on its back. It lives mainly in the central and southern United States, where it hides in dark, quiet places such as woodpiles and sheds. It is one of only two North American spiders with dangerous venom, the other being the black widow.1

分布在

Southern and central United States, from southeastern Nebraska south to central Texas and western Georgia1

北美洲

首頁

Brown recluses build irregular webs in dry, undisturbed places such as woodpiles, sheds, closets, garages, plenum spaces and cellars. In homes they seem to favour cardboard. People are usually bitten when the spider is trapped against the skin, for example inside clothes, shoes, towels, bedding or work gloves.1

長度

6 mm 到 2 cm (0,2 in 到 0,8 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,8 km/h（0,5 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

Brown recluses leave their lairs at night to hunt, unlike most web-weaving spiders. If food becomes scarce, they will occasionally, though not habitually, eat other brown recluses.1

Brown recluse 的照片 — Brown recluse。照片：Rosa Pineda。 CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

怎麼認出牠

A dark violin-shaped marking on the top of the front body, with the neck of the violin pointing towards the rear of the spider1
Typically light to medium brown, though colours range from whitish to dark brown or blackish grey1
Six eyes arranged in three pairs, while most spiders have eight1
No obvious patterns on the abdomen or legs, and no spines on the legs1
Usually 6 to 20 millimetres in body length, but may grow larger1

常被誤認為： The violin marking is not a reliable identifier, because cellar spiders and pirate spiders can have similar markings. The Mediterranean recluse, an introduced species, is almost indistinguishable from the brown recluse, so many reports of recluses are misidentifications. A spider in the genus Titiotus is the most common spider mistaken for a brown recluse in California, and its bite is considered harmless.1

毒液力量

咬

咬的時候，毒液會從毒牙或牙齒出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

The venom is necrotic, meaning it destroys tissue. It contains a dermonecrotic agent called sphingomyelinase D, which kills the skin around the bite. In some cases the venom spreads through the body within minutes, causing nausea, vomiting, fever, rashes and muscle and joint pain. Rarely, it can burst red blood cells (hemolysis).1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 嚴重被咬了需要看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

Most bites cause no skin damage, and the spider is rarely aggressive. In one clinical study, skin necrosis occurred in 37% of diagnosed bites and systemic illness in 14%. Rarely, bites can cause organ damage or death. Most fatalities have been in children under seven or in people with weak immune systems. Children, the elderly and seriously ill people may be more susceptible to systemic effects.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

When alarmed, it lowers its body, raises its pedipalps and stands still in a defensive pose. It usually flees, and if caught it may play dead.1

如果牠咬人

清洗咬傷處，用冰敷袋冰敷止痛。如果很痛、疼痛擴散或傷者覺得不舒服，要就醫。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠咬了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

大約跟一根迴紋針一樣長

Brown recluse 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

Brown recluse 大約 0,8 km/h (0,5 mph)

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

值得知道

小知識

One brown recluse survived for over five seasons in captivity without any food at all.1

In 2001, more than 2,000 brown recluses were removed from a heavily infested home in Kansas, yet the four residents who had lived there for years were never harmed.1

When a leg is lost, the brown recluse does not grow a new one in later moults, unlike the huntsman spider.1

Brown recluses do not balloon, which limits how far they can spread across the landscape.1

Males move around more when hunting than females, which tend to stay near their webs.1

破解迷思

迷思： Brown recluses are common in California and the western United States, where they cause many bites.

真相： The brown recluse has not established itself in California or anywhere outside its native range. Many reported bites there are misdiagnosed, and other spiders are often wrongly identified as brown recluses.1

給毒液專家

學名: Loxosceles reclusa
類群: 蜘蛛
家人: Sicariidae2
排序: Araneae
各大洲: 北美洲
寶寶: Each female produces several egg sacs between May and July, with about 50 eggs in each sac. The eggs hatch in about one month, and the young take about a year to reach adulthood.1
對人的危險: 3 / 5: 嚴重3