BrOwN ReClUsE????????

Question

okay i found a spider that i think was a brown recluse and i am worried that my baby sister may get bitten by one if it was one and i want to know if anyone could identify it

okay here is the desciption, well it was pretty dark brown and there was a half of a diamond elongated and thin in the middle of the thorax and on both sides starting about a forth of the way down the diamond there were four dots on both sides

the problems with me not being able to identify it is that every pic I see is either they all look different or the pics are too small to see the details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Brown_recluse_spider%2C_Loxosceles_reclusa.jpg

in that pic, it is pretty close to what it looked like, but the body was darker and that half triangle on the thorax is lighter and ther are four tiny spots symetrically placed on both sides

Answer 1

It sounds like it could be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Brown_recluse_spider%2C_Loxosceles_reclusa.jpg shows a good detailed picture of it.
I suggest taking her to the hospital to be sure, brown recluse bites are rarely life threatening in adults but children are a different matter. The venom also works slowly, decaying the tissue around the bite. It will look like a red mosquito bite at first (red, swollen, and itchy) and slowly get worse and worse over a month until it becomes extremely swollen and gangrene around the bite.
The also live in the area of the United States east of the Mississippi but west of the Appalachia's and south of the great lakes.

Answer 2

Brown Recluse have a "violin" shaped marking on the cephalothorax (the front part, where the "head" is). They are covered with fine hairs and appear "velvety." They also have fine hairs, though more spaced out, on their legs. They are typically 3/8 inch long and 3/16 inch wide. Even if it is a Brown Recluse it is very unlikely that you will be bitten and, if you are, there is only about a 10% chance that any scarring will occur. If you or your sister is bitten just keep an eye on the mark, especially if it turns blue or white and becomes hard. Still, even then it is not necessary to seek medical attention right away, just keep an eye on it. If you experience any nausea or fever and the skin around the bite area becomes increasingly hard, swollen or scarred then have a doctor or nurse look at it. More than likely, however, you do not have a brown recluse and even if you do it's not likely to cause much of a problem.

Answer 3

Check this article:
http://spiders.ucr.edu/recluseid.html

It has good keys for identifying the spider -- and also descriptions of spiders that are often MISidentified as brown recluse and how to tell them apart.