Listed below are the identification characteristics of the brown recluse.
• The adult body is 1/4 inch in length and 1/8 to 1/4 inch in width.
• The legs span an area roughly the size of a quarter to a half-dollar.
• Most brown recluse spiders are light to medium brown.
• A darker violin-shaped marking found on the carapace (the top of the body directly above the legs) may appear longitudinally lined (lengthwise).
• The second pair of legs is longer than the remaining pairs in both sexes.
• Three pairs of eyes are arranged in a semicircle. Since many other spiders have eight eyes, this feature alone can eliminate many specimens suspected of being a brown recluse spider.
If these characters are difficult for you to see, please bring the specimen to your local county Extension office for identification.
