The Present Status and a Review of the Brown Recluse and Related Spiders, Loxosceles spp. (Araneae: Sicariidae), in Florida1

INTRODUCTION: The brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch & Mulaik (Figs. 1-2, 6), is frequently reported in Florida as a cause of necrotic lesions in humans. For example, in the year 2000 alone, Loft (2001) reported that the Florida Poison Control Network had recorded nearly 300 alleged cases of brown recluse bites in the state; a subset of 95 of these bites was reported in the 21 counties (essentially central Florida) under the jurisdiction of the regional poison control center in Tampa. I called the Florida Poison Control Network to confirm these numbers, and was cited 182 total cases and 96 in the Tampa region. The actual numbers are less important than the fact that a significant number of unconfirmed brown recluse spider bites are reported in the state every year. Yet not one specimen of brown recluse spider has ever been collected in Tampa, and the only records of Loxosceles species in the entire region are from Orlando and vicinity. A general review of the brown recluse, along with a critical examination of the known distribution of brown recluse and related spiders in Florida, seems in order at this time.