[ID Request] Found the first night in my new place in Downtown Los Angeles. Sorry about the bad quality photo.
![[ID Request] Found the first night in my new place in Downtown Los Angeles. Sorry about the bad quality photo.](/api/ImgurImages?id=UPbwVIz)
Posted Sep 20, 2017, 2:37 PM UTC
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3am googling led me to brown recluse which didn’t make sleeping any easier.
1
Eh, maybe: the Chilean recluse (Loxosceles laeta) has apparently been introduced to Los Angeles, but I don't know how common it is. There has never been a bite confirmed with venom analysis. The nearest native Loxosceles species, deserta, doesn't occur near the coast.
2
Even if it is a recluse species: as the name implies, they are shy and avoidant. They don't want to bite you. Plenty of people cohabitate with recluse spiders without being bitten, and if you think you have them around, just take care to do things like shake out any old clothes that have been lying on the floor before you put them on.
2
Thanks for the insight! What led me to recluse was a pretty crude googling of features like big white body & the area I’m in. Know any other species with white - or lighter colored bodies - like that?
1
Sure: sac spiders, Eratigena species like giant house spiders and hobo spiders (which, despite the hype, are harmless), house spiders, spitting spiders, giant crab spiders, barn funnel weavers, woodlouse hunters. Many species occur in a range of colors that includes light tan, and the darkness of any markings or patterns can vary by species.
Recluses have two distinguishing features: a marking on their cephalothorax that looks like a violin, with the neck pointing to their abdomens, and six eyes arranged in three groups of two.
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Having moved to Los Angeles you have escaped all recluse. But take some pictures to learn about your new Spiderbros
1
Maybe a sac spider? Either way, it is not a widow, which is as far as I know the only spider known to have medically significant venom in your area.